Though criticism of BPL mounted for five years under the woeful PLP, the Christie Administration continued to neglect needed upgrades, choosing rather to pass on the results of their complacency to the next government.

Madame President, before I begin my Contribution I wish to raise in this Honorable place a formal objection regarding the matter of the communication by the AG. Madame President it is clear that the conventions state there should be no controversial material in a communication and nothing that invites debate. However, on Monday pass, ignoring the conventions and rules, the PLP was ambushed and accused of things that it never did or said! I was further surprised and could not believe that the Vice President in accordance with practice allowed the communication and then allowed the Senate to be suspended without, in the interest of fairness, an opportunity to hear the other side...

Madam President, Senate Colleagues, I'm thankful to be here once again to speak on behalf of the Bahamian people and to contribute to this Disaster Reconstruction Authority Bill 2019. However before I begin, I would like to take the opportunity to extend condolences on behalf of my family, my wife Delia and our son Davin, to the family of Frankie Symonette, he was a true friend, and a father, and he took pride in his job working for the privately owned St. Georges Cay Power Company on Spanish Wells. I extend my prayers to his family, especially his 3 year old daughter...

On Thursday 7 November 2019, I received a two line communication from the President of the Senate in response to a letter written on behalf of the Progressive Liberal Party dated 24th October 2019.

The PLP’s letter raised inter alia the fact that a debate on hurricane relief was about to occur in the Senate and given her role as one of the coordinators of hurricane relief in Grand Bahama directly answerable to a Minister of the government, she was in a position of a conflict between her role as presiding officer of the Senate and that of a member of the executive.

It was suggested that at the very least, she should not have presided over the debate last week, given her dual role...

I rise today on behalf of the good people of Exuma and the good, as well as forgotten, people of Ragged Island to contribute to the Disaster Recovery Authority Bill, 2019.

And as is my tradition I will say at the outset that we are not going to support this legislation.

In fact, let me go a step further and say that this is one of the worst drafted, poorly thought-out pieces of legislation I have seen.

It is actually offensive in many regards...

The ongoing persecution of Frank Smith

Madam President, thank you for recognizing me and allowing me to speak for a short while on the compendium of bills today.  As always I thank God for the strength he has afforded me to once again stand up and contribute in this place.

The Speaker of the House of Assembly has been making the headlines for the wrong reasons since the Free National Movement (FNM) assumed office in 2017. As the head of the second arm of government, the Speaker holds a pivotal role in our parliamentary democracy and ought to uphold the highest standard in the discharge of his duties.

On the campaign trail, the Free National Movement (FNM) campaigned on a number of issues that were important to the Bahamian people and the private sector. They created the impression that they cared about a fair taxation system, meritocracy, fighting corruption and conflicts of interest, freedom of information and improving the ease of doing business.

The Free National Movement (FNM) issued the following statement regarding the government’s commitment to maintaining accountably and transparency throughout the recovery and reconstruction process:

The Free National Movement (FNM) issued the following statement regarding the announcement of the new medical school to be built in Grand Bahama:

Yesterday (21 October 2019) the Bahamas Government signed a Heads of Agreement with a newly formed entity called Western Atlantic University School of Medicine Ltd. to establish and operate a School of Medicine in Freeport.

The Free National Movement (FNM) issued the following statement regarding Baha Mar’s coming expansion and its resulting job growth:

The recent resignation of Reece Chipman from the Free National Movement (FNM) came as no surprise to the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) and many Bahamians.

Yesterday (Monday, 7 Oct 2019), my colleagues Glenys Hanna Martin, Picewell Forbes MPs, Senator Clay Sweeting and I travelled to Abaco in response to a call from residents in the Cays. We visited Man-O-War Cay and Hope Town in Elbow Cay.

The Free National Movement (FNM) issued the following statement regarding the PLP’s criticism of the Prime Minister’s consideration of curfew in light of security concerns in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian:

The government seems to be acting on the cogent messages and questions within the recent press release issued by the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) entitled Government must address immigration quandary. This is apparent from the news headlines on the repatriation of undocumented shelter migrants, work permit holders without employment and enforcement of our immigration laws. Regrettably, the damage may have already been done due to initial actions, inactions and negligence...

The Free National Movement (FNM) issued the following statement regarding the PLP’s criticism of the Government over the hurricane relief effort:

The Prime Minister can fly off to New York, party with the rich and famous, speak to the world audience and the Secretary General of the United Nations, but is unable to speak to the Leader of the Opposition in The Bahamas. Since he is intent on ignoring the PLP and the Leader of the Opposition, we make public the following national issues:

The people of Moore’s Island feel abandoned by the FNM government. They have no running water. They complain of lack of a government presence since the storm.

Yesterday the water system in Sandy Point, Abaco failed because the generator in the well field malfunctioned...

The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) listened carefully to the Prime Minister's press conference earlier today for much anticipated updates on a comprehensive plan following Hurricane Dorian. We will address various aspects of the statements made by the Prime Minister in multiple releases. However, we are concerned about the proposed expansion of government and increased layer of bureaucracy created by the establishment of a new Ministry and the appointment of a new State Minister...