A New Year Message from Hon. Dr. Hubert A. Minnis, Member of Parliament, Killarney

Tue, Jan 3rd 2012, 04:38 PM

A New Year is upon us! We all have new dreams, new wishes and new resolutions for this upcoming year. We can dream and wish, but without a vision we will not succeed. A vision is the concerted effort of a realized dream; it has substance, drive and determination – a beginning and an end.

To have a vision, one must not only be able to see and to move, one must be flexible. To be flexible one must accept change. Change is inevitable and we must be willing to shift our paradigms to make a difference.

As the world continues in this economic recession, evident by the European nations financial difficulties, we must take a bold step to protect our economy; we can help ourselves by supporting local manufacturers and vendors. Bahamians can purchase our beautiful straw bags, for example, to send to family and friends here and abroad. Our local vendors should be encouraged to sell online to the other Caribbean countries and world. This brings about a shift to obtain and encourage more raw material development locally, and manufacturing of these into Bahamian goods for export. This encouragement can be filtered to the Family Island bed and breakfast hotels who should serve locally grown fruits and vegetables primarily, and use the native bath and body products for their guests. As a nation we should continue to encourage domestic tourism. Families should visit the Family Islands more, to teach their children the values of being Bahamian.

We can continue on our quest for healthy lifestyles, through exercise and proper diet for overall health related improvements. However, we are still challenged with chronic non –communicable diseases, therefore I encourage all Bahamians to have annual screenings and regular checkups by their family physician or a government health facility. I have a personal goal-to provide the vehicle to embark on domestic medical tourism, which will be expanded later. A healthy lifestyle requires a healthy environment- recall the dengue challenges in 2011 - we must continue to keep our environment clean and free of stagnant water, minimize stray dogs and uncontained garbage. These are critical to our overall health and the health of our nation.

The past year was quite challenging for our country as it relates to crime and criminality. It is my belief however; that an expansion of the KYN (Know Your Neighbor) initiative would result in a decrease in the community based crime activities. The development of associations and crime watch communities will bring about unprecedented results in combating crime. Through KYN, we will love, respect and protect our neighbors and neighborhoods. The business sector is encouraged to continue with crime preventive measures like CCTV and business crime watch initiatives. Criminality succeeds when law abiding citizens turn a blind eye and allow the deviants to take control. We must take back our country, our neighborhoods and our families. We can avoid unnecessary deaths in 2012, so I encourage all to drive responsibly, abide by laws of the land including wearing seatbelts and discipline our children on road safety. Over the past years, there were many complaints of the decline in the national grade point average, but have we as parents taken responsibility to become more involved in our children’s education? Parents should assist with homework and projects; ensure attendance, and the safe return of their children home.

To the great constituency of Killarney, we must continue our paradigm shift with KYN and "Killarney Kares" for those that need assistance, and for accountability in government. As your Member of Parliament, it is my intention to continue to serve you with transparency, efficiency and integrity. As we look back on our accomplishments of the past and look forward to the challenges of the future, let us be reminded that attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. Dodinsky reminds us;" the soul does not absorb negativity by accident, always by choice". Let's choose to be positive and optimistic, and to be good neighbours and citizens.

I wish you all a peaceful, happy and prosperous New Year. God Bless us all!

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