Leadership is especially tested in times of crisis. In the lead-up to and the initial aftermath of Hurricane Joaquin, Prime Minister Perry Christie performed poorly. He proved indecisive, confused and inarticulate.
There has been a merry-go-round of recrimination and blame by various individuals and agencies, with Agriculture Minister V. Alfred Gray casting blame on NEMA and the Meteorological Department. Christie finally came to NEMA's defense, though he initially reached into his extensive file drawer of excuses, blaming underlings for a lack of preparedness. With bizarre jocularity, Christie initially indulged his penchant for shifting blame, throwing NEMA head Stephen Russell under the bus. It was uncomfortable for those watching, though decidedly more uncomfortable for Russell who looked visibly perturbed by the prime minister's open criticism.
Christie's other excuse, one of his favorites, was to invoke the "teachable moment" mantra, which rolled quickly off his tongue before the extent of the devastation was clear. Leave aside the grammatical question of whether a moment is ever teachable in the sense of either teaching the moment something, or teaching the moment to someone. There is the bigger question of whether Christie and his Cabinet colleagues have ever been teachable.
We seem to have an unteachable prime minister. They have lived in The Bahamas all their lives and they are, or ought to be, fully aware of the sometimes erratic behavior of hurricanes. A hurricane in development so near The Bahamas should have sent off alarm bells in all directions.
Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner, without the resources and communications network of the state, sounded the alarm about Hurricane Joaquin on the Wednesday before the hurricane ravaged several islands. She demonstrated preparedness and forethought, whereas the prime minister was caught off guard.
Butler-Turner assembled a team and formed a partnership with a group of private citizens including Fr. Keith Cartwright and pilot Paul Aranha Jr. of Trans Island Airways, among many others.
Turbulent
As soon as she was able, she took the first flight out in still turbulent weather to assess the damage, in what many on the aircraft described as a roller coaster of a flight. The Long Island MP and her team made an assessment before the prime minister and any of his Cabinet colleagues. She was decisive and acted immediately to help assess the devastation caused by the category four hurricane.
The Long Island MP did not just check on Long Island. Along with her team, she also flew over Crooked Island, Acklins, Long Cay, Rum Cay, Cat Island and San Salvador. She understood that given the devastation, her obligation was not only to Long Island. This carried through in terms of relief supplies, with Butler-Turner directing that some of the supplies and funds earmarked for Long Island be directed to other devastated communities. She reached out to government officials to coordinate relief and recovery efforts.
In successive flights and by boat Butler-Turner kept returning to Long Island to assess the damage and the needs. For his part, Christie made the odd judgment to attend funerals on the Saturday morning after the hurricane, not leaving to assess certain islands until three in the afternoon. With reports of devastation and heartbreak on various islands, Christie should have left at first light.
On the ground on Nassau, Butler-Turner and her team of private citizens set up a command and operations center that channeled communications and supplies. Butler-Turner and her rapidly assembled team often proved to be better organized and have greater coordination than various government agencies which proved overly bureaucratic and sluggish.
Butler-Turner has proven to be a workhorse, continuing to assess the damage and to direct relief aid. She has noted that she has already had discussions with her team to begin to design and put in place a rebuilding program in coordination with the government.
Given the devastation and her stellar performance in the wake of Joaquin, Butler-Turner has the moral authority to press the government even harder on infrastructural and rebuilding efforts. She should do so on behalf of Long Island and other Family Islands requiring various capital upgrades.
Punishment
The PLP has starved Long Island of capital investment, perhaps as a punishment to Long Island and Butler-Turner. If the Christie administration continues to do so, it will be an unmistakable sign of being mean-spirited, the victimizing of an entire island. Whereas some opposition officials have made ridiculous and ungracious comments in the aftermath of Joaquin, Butler-Turner has spoken with deliberation, calm and good judgement. She has continued to praise others, while not descending into backhanded compliments and pettiness like those who could not rise to the occasion during this crisis.
The vast majority of Bahamians and the FNM's base in the country view Butler-Turner as one of the most capable political leaders in the country. Her performance during the crisis of Joaquin has shown that she would make an excellent prime minister and a leader who would perform with good judgement and decisiveness.
The Long Island MP has also demonstrated another essential requirement of a good leader: the ability to communicate intelligently and articulately.
At the end of a difficult week, Butler-Turner addressed the Rotary Club of East Nassau. She offered a post-hurricane assessment and something else equally important. She offered a sense of hope and vision, inspiring her audience beyond the immediate crisis.
In an address entitled "The Infrastructure of Hope", Butler Turner articulated: "Our Bahamian story and the national archive of stories of resilience from which we draw inspiration in moments of crisis, consists of an enduring infrastructure no hurricane, no natural disaster, no tragedy can destroy. The infrastructure of which I speak, is the infrastructure of hope.
"Our Bahamian infrastructure of hope is built on a foundation of core values and ideals, such as a sense of community and of pride in being Bahamian; built also on shared aspirations such as caring for what scripture describes as, 'the least among us'.
"Our infrastructure of hope consists of tremendous talent beyond our size, of a treasury of native genius, creativity, skills, common sense and faith. Our infrastructure of hope is an intergenerational enterprise peopled by the new ideas, technological savvy and energy of a new generation of 20- and 30-something-year-olds alongside the wisdom and experience of older generations."
Generation
She continued: "I am impressed by how this generation of talent is utilizing social media for general communication, crowdfunding and fundraising activities and to connect those in the affected areas with their families throughout The Bahamas and indeed the world.
"The infrastructure of hope within The Bahamas includes groups like Rotary and other service organizations, churches, non-profits, civic groups and individuals who are committed to the common good and who offer untold possibilities for the renewal of our society and for national development. This infrastructure of hope needs to be better leveraged and tapped for the enormous potential, diversity, dynamism and wealth of ideas and imagination it possesses and represents for what can truly be a better and stronger Bahamas."
Butler-Turner offered this vision: "The idea is not to beat up on government and to romanticize the private sphere. The idea is for both to become more effective partners for the common good. Those who fought in earlier generations for racial, economic, social and gender equality were ordinary citizens and heroes who helped to build this country's infrastructure of hope during times of trial and testing. Building hope is hard work. So too, renewing hope.
"Like all infrastructure, our infrastructure of hope needs to be renewed and remodelled, with new additions, which will allow our people to realize their potential, their aspirations, and the promise of being a citizen of The Bahamas."
She concluded: "When I was first asked to deliver this address many weeks ago I chose as my theme, hope, not as a starry-eyed idea from rose-colored glasses, but as an enduring proposition.
"In the last week, amidst the heartache and destruction, I am even more firmly committed to the proposition that hope abounds and that we must restore faith in ourselves, in our national institutions and in our shared aspirations and common, loftier goals."
o frontporchguardian@gmail.com, www.bahamapundit.com.
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