Nassau, The Bahamas - Remarks by Hon. T. Desmond Bannister, MP Minister Of Public Works on The occasion of The Bahamas
Hotel And Tourism Association Board Of Directors and Membership Meeting
11:00 am Friday, 3rd British Colonial Hilton Hotel Bay Street:
SALUTATIONS
-Director General, Mrs. Joy Jibrilu and Senior Managers of the Ministry of Tourism,
-President of The University of the Bahamas,Mr.Rodney Smith and his Executive Team
- Chief Executive Officer,Bahamas Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Edison Sumner and other members of the Chamber
- President, Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association, Mr. Calton Russell and other Executives of affiliate agencies
- Board of Directors and members, Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association
- Other Special invited and distinguished guests
- Ladies and Gentlemen:
A pleasant good morning.
I am delighted to address you this morning at The Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association Board of Directors and Membership Association meeting as the Minister of Public Works with responsibility for the Water & Sewerage Corporation, Bahamas Power & Light, Town Planning, the Straw Market Authority, the Bridge Authority and the infrastructural development of the Bahamas.
I wish to also express my gratitude to your Executives and members of your Association for affording me this opportunity to engage you today on matters within my portfolio that are of critical importance to all of us.
I want to speak with you candidly today about opportunity.
Upon being sworn in as Minister of Public Works I took an inventory of our public infrastructure. It was not impressive:
Ageing roads throughout the capital, and family islands, many of which had not been paved in decades; and so many of which have been dug up so frequently that they look like patchwork quilts.
Old buildings such as the General Post Office, the Clarence Bain Building, and the Rodney Bain Building that were essentially abandoned and remain a blight on the landscape of the city.
A downtown much of which turns into a ghost town as one travels to the east.
An electrical utility that was woefully overstaffed, and which operated on generators that were unable to provide reliable power generation to this city or the family islands.
A Supreme Court where Justices diligently seek to serve their mandate from separate locations in less than ideal circumstances
Poorly throughout and incomplete structures such as the baseball stadium and the proposed post office
Run down schools, many of which have outlived their useful lives by many years...
See attached full version of BHTA AGM REMARKS by MInister of Works
