Rebuilding the devastated parts of Acklins, Long Island, Crooked Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador will take months, possibly even years. Hurricane Joaquin left much damage.
The man who is responsible for leading this reconstruction effort is Perry Gladstone Christie, our prime minister.
"We have the resolve to aggressively deal with this matter," he said yesterday at a news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister.
"I have already asked the Ministry of Finance to review the opportunities for borrowing money from the Caribbean Development Bank, from monies and concessional financing made available by the Chinese through the region and other traditional sources.
"The country cannot wait and even if we were to have the most successful fundraising campaign these initial requirements must be met."
The Category 4 storm impacted 5,000 people. The government thinks more than $60 million in damage resulted, though this estimate is expected to increase. It remains unclear how many homes were damaged or destroyed.
Christie announced on Tuesday that the government formed a reconstruction team headed by former Director of Works Melanie Roach. Christie has been in frontline politics for more than 40 years. He has been a senator, member of Parliament, Cabinet minister and prime minister twice. He has decided he wants to run again in the next general election.
Despite all the posts he has held, it is difficult to tangibly define Christie's legacy. He has had trouble focusing and accomplishing things. Joaquin has given him a very clear task.
Many Bahamians lost everything. The day Joaquin passed some only had the clothes on their backs. A prime minister who cares will spend every day of the remainder of his term working on restoring those people to normalcy. To do this, though, Christie will have to fight against his nature.
Our prime minister has trouble keeping his mind on one thing until it has been completed. He also has trouble staying focused on what is important. Let's take the Saturday after Joaquin as an example. Instead of being on the first plane able to travel to the storm-devastated areas, Christie went about his regular Saturday morning activity, which is going to funerals. While it is nice for a prime minister to pay his respects to the families of those who have passed on, in moments of crisis a country's leader should focus on the crisis.
Christie is leader of a government that spends in excess of $2 billion per year. He is also minister of finance. There is no excuse for the resources not getting to the affected islands in a timely fashion.
Bahamians across the archipelago feel for our brothers and sisters in the south. We are all watching the prime minister to see if he is a serious man who is committed to helping. There will be a simple test come election time when Christie tries to woo us once again. If Acklins, Crooked Island, Long Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador look about the same then as they do now that will be yet another reason why Christie should not be allowed to continue as prime minister.
The prime minister is searching for a legacy, having done little to cement one during all his years in public life. Let rebuilding these islands be that. These people need your help, prime minister.
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