Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell suggested yesterday the country’s resources are so limited that the government is having to choose between different areas of national importance.

“There is a resources problem,” said Mitchell, who was a guest on the Guardian Radio program “The Revolution” with guest host Quincy Parker.

“We have finite resources in the country.

“So in order to carry out immigration exercises, in order to remove an unlawful settlement, [it] requires money and resources.”

Mitchell was referring to the removal of shantytowns throughout The Bahamas.

He said the country’s needs are competing for the resources.

“Do you fight crime?” he questioned.

“Do you fight unemployment; do you get the hospitals?”

Mitchell noted this is an issue that every government faces.

“And the only reason I raise it in that context is because when you speak to individual citizens, you get the impression that there is a feeling of there being an infinite pool of money and resources when in fact the whole business of government is balancing one thing over the next,” he said.

Mitchell said that although The Bahamas does not have the infinite resources as other countries, it does have adequate resources that can be used through proper management.

“In other words, I’m saying this country is not broke, but it is not Saudi Arabia either,” he said.

“With the management talent and with the resources that we have, we have enough space to carry out the functions of government.

“And it’s a question of how we manage those resources.”

Mitchell also suggested that the country needs more young people to assist in the management of these resources.

“I think that we need to let go to some extent and allow some of the younger people to run some of these systems, because they tend to be less parochial and less influenced by parochial concerns because they are newer to the system,” Mitchell said.