Midyear Budget Contribution March 2013

The Honorable Dr. Hubert A. Minnis Leader of the Opposition Member of Parliament, Killarney Mr. Speaker, before I get started with my full contribution to this debate, I think it’s important to make this one point.

I know that with everything I say today, Mr. Speaker, the members opposite will try and divert attention away from their inadequacies and failings and the inadequacies and failings in their proposed mid-term budget by seeking to blame all of our present national woes on the past Free National Movement administration.

But I am sure that anyone who knows this administration - and has seen them in action before and since they came to office - is already well aware of their duplicity and disingenuousness nature, and as such, expect nothing more or nothing less of them. More than ever before, the Bahamian people are seeing that this administration may give you something resembling truth, Mr. Speaker, but for some reason, they’ll never give you the truth.

Sir; here is their modus operandi – say a lot, do little to nothing, and in the process, try to keep the focus off of their do-nothingness by casting aspersions, misrepresenting the truth, and playing the blame game.

Deception and Dishonesty Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has already given us a preview of this when - in his presentation last week - he repeatedly and conveniently mentioned that his government had “inherited a very difficult fiscal situation . . . which . . . featured significant cost overruns and carryover spending.” The Free National Movement was trying to “duck, dodge, avoid and deflect” attention from the role that it played in what this government is calling a “national mess,” his party said.

But you see Mr. Speaker, even they couldn’t contain that untruth and misinformation for long; their own mid-term budget contradicts that mistruth. But I’ll come back to that later Mr. Speaker.

Right now though, Sir, I would like to say that for a man who has been intricately involved in all aspects and facets of government and frontline politics for almost 40 years, our Prime Minister should be well aware that, because Government is continuous and accounts come in for payments post administration changes, there will always be cost overruns and carryover expenses that an incoming administration will have to deal with. This is not unusual; nor is this abnormal. And unless at this stage in life Mr. Christie’s memory is failing him, I am sure he would be aware of the cost overruns and carryover expenses that he left behind when he was thrown out of office in 2007. If he isn’t I’ll remind him of that later as well.

So therefore, Mr. Speaker, it is somewhat harmful for this Prime Minister and his Minister of State for Finance to suggest this government’s failure to deliver has been inhibited by cost overruns that they “inherited” - that their need to borrow $100 million is tied to meeting carryovers expenses from the past administration. The truth of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, these suggestions are just as ludicrous and of jackass proportions as the person or persons who cooked them up.

It would be beyond prudence or good reason, Sir, for the Ministry of Education not to have included provisions in their 2012-2013 budgets so that the Government could have met its $10.86 million labor contract obligation to teachers as contained in its agreement with the Bahamas Union of Teachers.

Similarly, Mr. Speaker, it would be farfetched to think that the Ministries and/or Departments responsible for providing the supposed $23 million in salaries to participants in the 52 week program would not have made provisions in their respective budgets to cover those costs, and that the Ministry of Finance – which coordinated the program - would not have ensured that there were sufficient provisions made in their Budget to cover the costs. Mr. Speaker, is the Prime Minister saying that the Ministry of Finance is irresponsible and was derelict in their duty?

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, what I would like to know is why this government would find it necessary to be so bold-facedly deceitful and deceptive? What are their real intentions for this money? On top of the $550 million they borrowed when they came to office to cover supposed fiscal deficits and other obligations, why would they need to turn around – and without full public disclosure of how they spend the first $550 million of the people’s money – still need to borrow another $100 million, particularly when the obligations they claim they need the funding for - were outstanding and coming due when they prepared their 2012-2013 Budget? It just doesn’t make sense Mr. Speaker.

This one thing is clear though, Mr. Speaker, in trying to cast aspersions on the past administration, the Prime Minister actually revealed two things to this House and to the Bahamian people: (1) either they did something inappropriate with the original monies allocated in the 2012-2013 Budget to meet these obligations – and thus the need to borrow and replenish what has perhaps been squandered, or (2) they irresponsibly did not make provisions to cover these obligations which were coming due at all – and thus the need to borrow money to cover up their incompetence. With this government, either one, both, or any number of things can be true.

But whichever it is, this House and the Bahamian people need a full explanation, and Mr. Speaker, as the Opposition has the majority membership on the Public Accounts Committee, I will write the Ministry of Finance and request the necessary information so that we can have full disclosure on this matter. It is my hope that the Ministry of Finance will cooperate with us on this inquiry, as per their obligation to the body.

But continuing on with the matter Mr. Speaker, I would like to note that when the Free National Movement came to office in 2007, we had to burden the cost of completing or seeking to complete, among other things, the Anatol Rodgers High School, The South Street Magistrate’s Court, the Tourism Center on JFK, the Children and Adolescent Hospital at Sandilands, Baha Mar, the Harbor, administration buildings in Grand Bahama and Abaco, and I can go on Mr. Speaker about the many projects left incomplete in 2007 which had cost overruns and carry-over expenses attached to them, as that 2007 PLP – under the same leadership – was notorious for promising much, starting little, and leaving even more in train. But you know what Mr. Speaker, our government did not complain, cover up, and give excuses; we did what governments are elected to do – work and govern.

So, today Mr. Speaker, I am not here to dissuade this Government from their perceptions of what they think is – far from it. It is their perception; their distorted reality. And one thing that I have learned over the years, particularly in my profession, is that it is difficult and most times fruitless to argue against someone’s warped and misguided perception of reality, especially when the perception is not the “real” crux of the issue under review or up for discussion. So in the interest of prudent governance and leadership, I have decided that it would be wise to dismiss and disregard silly politics coming from the other side, as it is only a waste of time.

Outside of the same old divisive and disruptive rhetoric that the Bahamian people have become so accustomed to getting from this Government, what I look forward to Sir from all members present is a discussion that is not about cost overruns and carryovers or whether The Free National Movement is ‘ducking, dodging, avoiding, or deflecting. The Bahamian people do not want to hear about - nor hear discussed - what was or how it was; or what the past administration did or did not do; or cause or did not cause. That is a waste of time.

Mr. Speaker, What the Bahamian people want to hear about and discuss is what the Government that was elected on May 7, 2012 will do to provide them with the kind of relief that would improve the quality of their lives and the lives of others in their communities – Fox Hill and Bain Town are waiting to hear; Centerville and Blue Hills are waiting to hear; Golden Gates and Tall Pines are waiting to hear; in High Rock and West End are waiting to hear, and all throughout this Commonwealth of islands, we are waiting to hear how you are going to improve the quality of our lives; they want to know how the Government’s Budget proposal will help rid them of crime and the fear of crime, ease their economic hardship, inspire job creation, reduce the cost of electricity, help them put food on their tables, provide their children with quality education, and quality healthcare.

For almost a year-and-a-half before they were elected to office - in every way possible and from almost any bully pulpit that they could find or squeeze onto – this government told the Bahamian people about their problems and the problems that our country faced. They sounded like experts too Mr. Speaker. They said that they had the solutions. According to them, they understood the magnitude of our state of affairs, and based on that, they made all sorts of promises to the Bahamian people about what they could do to fix the “national mess” and get us back on course to the 21st century.

Mr. Speaker, they sold us dreams , dreams of which the Bahamian people bought into, however, the Bahamian people are now awake. The government themselves need to awake, they cannot continue to be Rip Van Winkle. At least Mr Speaker, several of the members are beginning to yawn.

Ready to govern from day one is what they called it, Mr. Speaker. This is now about day number 305, and the Bahamian people are still waiting for them to do something that looks like successful governing.

The problem here Mr. Speaker, is that the Christie administration that was elected in 2012 is very much the same Christie administration that was elected in 2002; they were not ready then, and by all accounts thus far, they are still not ready now. They didn’t have a plan then, and by all accounts, they still don’t have one now.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, without a significant plan for national development to talk to the nation about, I can assure you that this government is going to give us a dragged out week of sentimentalism, theatrics, and spin. So, my advice to the Bahamian people and my Party is to prepare for a long drawn out week of blame-the-Free-National-Movement. Coming from this government, it will be as inevitable as death.

We don’t want to hear blame, we want to know what happened to the mortgage relief program that was promised. We want to know what happened to the ten thousand jobs promised if elected to government. We want to know when will the people receive relief on their BEC bills as promised. The FNM had introduced a program where individuals were required to pay their last month’s BEC bill and make a financial agreement to pay the outstanding balance over a period up to three years.

When are you doing to provide relief? Some electricity bills are more than their mortgage and rent.

We want to know when would we see a significant decrease in crime, our young people including young mothers are being murdered and others left in mourning over murdered loved ones.

We want to know when will the Defense Force receive vessels to properly man our boarders so as to decrease the number of illegal immigrants landing on our shores and illegal poachers compromising their livelihood and threatening their lives.

We want to know, in this time of austery by most prudent governments, how many retirees have been brought back to service still receiving pension and a new hefty salary. We want to know how many individuals were hired at the National Insurance Board and why were three (3) females recently hired for the drug plan at Supervisory salary levels without the necessary qualifications for their respective posts – we want to know what are they doing? We want to know what happened to the national health insurance that was promised within the first year of being returned to government, but instead our health institutions are experiencing shortages of medications and physicians.

We want to know why there were no replacements for the many doctors who left the Public Health Sector since May. Why is there no doctor in Spanish Wells, no doctor in Steventon Exuma, no doctor in South Andros, and no doctor in San Salvador. And you believe in Bahamians? Do you not believe in healthcare for these islands affected? Why is the Elizabeth Estates Clinic closing at 5:00pm inconveniencing the Bahamians you claim to believe in that rely on this clinic in the evenings.

We want to know what the job description of Butch Scavella is? Is he bugging Bahamians telephones in the guise of intelligence?

Mr. Speaker, I know you have read the Budget document that the Prime Minister read into the House records last week, so you don’t have to take my word for it when I tell you what to expect this week. When you hear the Prime Minister read it out aloud, it sounds like a plan. But when you actually have time to look at what it is the Prime Minister said, you recognize that it’s typical Perry Christie: plenty of talk with lots of big words that - close up - say nothing at all, except more taxes, more cuts, more borrowing, more spending, more inflation, more cronyism, more confusion, more cover-ups, more deception, more lies, more same old Progressive Liberal Party.

In any event, Mr. Speaker, this brings me to the heart of the matter before us today – this so-called mid-term Budget report. And since this Prime Minister did not have the courage to do it when he presented last week, it is now my job to tell the Bahamian people, in part, what this budget really says; what this government is really afraid to tell them because they care more about themselves and saving their own hides than they do about protecting and preparing the Bahamian people. I hope that most Bahamians now realize that “Believe in Bahamians” was only a campaign slogan to them, and this mid-term budget report signals that the campaign is over.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to use the Prime Minister’s words when he spoke to the media about his Government’s failed bid to buy back BTC. He said that the bid did not go “in a way that I would have liked it to go.” “We thought,” he said Mr. Speaker, “but something . . . that happened . . . seemed to interrupt what I had anticipated was going to take place.”

That, Mr. Speaker, has been the trending story of this government since they came to office; almost nothing so far has gone the way they liked or anticipated. And if that is the case then Mr. Speaker, are they now asking us to believe or get our hopes up that anything they present to us in this Budget report will go the way they say it will? I hope they’re not Mr. Speaker. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, Mr. Speaker, shame on me.

The problem for this government is that what they like and what they have anticipated are too far-fetched, too unrealistic, too unreasonable, and highly unattainable. This Budget report, Mr. Speaker, is characteristic of that, and like the BTC buyback bid, is based on false hopes and deceptions; all indications say that this Government is setting themselves, the Bahamian people, and the Bahamian economy up for failure.

First of all Mr. Speaker, I don’t know if it is this government’s incompetence or part of their continued plan to intentionally deceive and keep the Bahamian people in a perpetual state of confusion, but here is part of the political hypocrisy this Budget reveals, which in many ways continues to stifle and stagnate our growth as a nation and a people.

In their budget report Mr. Speaker, this Government tells the Bahamian people that “economic and fiscal developments in the first half of 2012/13 fiscal year have been “less favorable,” than they expected. For months now, they have repeatedly tried to get us to buy into this notion that when they came into office things were dire and worse than they expected.

But here is the deception that their report shared which they were afraid to do openly, Mr. Speaker. The report suggests that – in a depressed economic environment - economic and fiscal development did occur and it was favorable. Maybe not what they expected, Sir, but it was favorable.

Their report suggests that, despite a global recession, economic recovery was taking place, albeit weak.

According to this Budget report Mr. Speaker, the world economy improved, the US economy grew 2.3 per cent, and the Bahamian economy grew by 2.5 per cent last year – a better performance than the US economy – and is expected to continue to grow by 2.7 per cent.

This news, Mr. Speaker – that the nation’s economic recovery has started – should have been highlighted and celebrated by the nation’s leader; instead Mr. Speaker, this bit of optimism was hidden under and behind disingenuous negativity to continue perpetuating the deception that this government inherited a national economic mess.

But you see Mr. Speaker, to give credit to the previous administration for the role it played in holding this Bahamian economy together and growing it during a world-wide recession would mean that this Prime Minister and his government would have to admit that they were wrong and, in part, misleading the Bahamian people so as to avoid taking responsibility for their shared role in what is really now a “national mess.”

That kind of spiteful attitude and behavior is reprehensible, irresponsible, divisive and destructive. But I say to this government - if it makes them feel better - continue to blame the FNM. You better believe though, Mr. Speaker, we’ll continue to hold them to the truth.

But until such time Mr. Speaker, we are pleased to know that the Bahamian economy is slowly growing. The questions now are (1) whether this one-time callously wasteful, fiscally undisciplined and irresponsible, scandal ridden administration can keep the economy growing and further grow it to their projected levels with the aim of - as they say - returning “the public finances to a more desirable and sustainable position;” and (2) whether any of this growth and sustainability will, in the end, trickle down into the pockets of the average Bahamian. From all accounts so far in this Mid-term presentation, Mr. Speaker, it is yet to be seen – since the fixes that they propose are based in hope and chance or call for more of the same “recycling” of old monies presently circulating in the economy; what we see is much taking from the poor to feed an overly zealous, money-loving, spendthrift government.

Ill-conceived, Ill-advised, and Ill-time

Until we get “a more detailed elaboration of [their] policy actions” when they present it in the 2013/14 Budget Communication, this is what we know Mr. Speaker about this government’s seeming misguided approach to fiscal prudence:

Before any comprehensive financial review or assessment of any public or publicly funded institution is conducted, this government has already ordered across the board cuts of its departments and agencies. The Minister of State for Financial Services is quoted as saying “We think we can do the spending cuts without cutting back on essential services.” And the Minister of Education suggested the same when he talked about COB. At this crucial stage Mr. Speaker, the Bahamian people don’t want any more of this government’s “thinking;” they want to know that this government’s actions and decisions are being dictated by what they know.

For the jobless Bahamians, Mr. Speaker, how will a 10 to 25 per cent cut in the Department of Labor’s budget impact the necessary services involved with getting them back to work? For the sick and aged, how will a 10 to 25 per cent cut in the Budgets of the Ministry of Health, the Princess Margaret Hospital, the Department of Public Health, and the Public Hospital Authority further impact the quality of their health and healthcare and the health of the nation in general?

How will a 10 to 25 per cent cut in the budget of the Social Service Department prevent them from carrying out their already difficult job of assisting those out of work and hard pressed people in our society? Single mothers and their children? Abused women and their children? Senior citizens and the disabled Mr. Speaker?

How will a 10 to 25 per cent deduction in the budget of BEC figure into increased cost of electricity for the average Bahamian consumer since the corporation would now have to find other means to make up for the shortfall in meeting fuel costs and other financial obligations?

What will 10 to 25 per cent deduction in the budget of the Defense Force, The Police, Customs, and Immigration do our National Security and our ability to provide a safe and secure country for people who already feel overwhelmed by illegal immigration, crime, and the fear of crime?

What impact will a 10 to 25 per cent cut to the budget of The Ministry of Education; Youth, Sports, and Culture; BTVI, and the College of The Bahamas have on the future of our nation’s development because we cannot adequately provide for the education and recreational needs of the thousands of youths and young adults in this nation? With a 10 to 25 per cent cut across-the-board at these and other agencies over the next two year, Mr. Speaker, who and how many new unemployed will be joining an already crowded jobless line as a result?

You see Mr. Speaker, a $2.5 million or $3 million – and even a $1 million cut - may not sound like much to the bureaucrats and well-to-do “fat cats” and “uptown folks” like a good number in here, but to the average Bahamian who need and depend on many of these services, 2.5 million or 3 million dollars is a matter of life or death. Once these cuts begin to take effect, Mr. Speaker, there will be no way that any of these agencies will be able to maintain the same levels of services that they once provided, no matter how this government tries to get us to buy into this false hope. The devil, Mr. Speaker, is in the details and, as usual, this government is providing us with none. Therefore, I say again, Mr. Speaker, not only are these proposed across-the-board cuts by government ill-conceived, ill-advised, and ill-timed, they will also – across the board – have real trickle-down consequences for already struggling Bahamians.

But, Mr. Speaker, maybe there is something that the Prime Minister and his Ministers of State for Finance and Education will reveal to a skeptical Bahamian public that will convince us otherwise, but until such time, these across-the-board cuts can only have a harming effect on the nation and national economy. The question is where will the sting be felt first and who will feel it worse? This government needs to be honest with this House, Mr. Speaker, and with the people of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.

Before it is too late Mr. Speaker, I would advise them to reconsider its public position on this matter and replace this across-the-board notion with a different deficit reduction plan that is more thorough and prudent, even if it means seeking to put in place measures by which programs that help the elderly, the youth, the poor, and the unemployed be exempted from or are off limits to cuts all together. Just some advice, Sir; they do not have to take it because it is coming from the FNM.

Questionable As for their plans to increase Recurrent Revenue, Mr. Speaker, I wish to point out that many of them are not only vague, but they are also highly questionable. Again, I do not know if this is intentional or just incompetence, but eventually we will find out

In this area, first, I would like to commend the Government for seeking to improve the infrastructure of the Customs electronic submission process, seeking to reform real property tax administration, enhance assistance to small operators, and promote growth and job creation in the short-term. Any mechanisms that will make the process of doing business with government more expedient for the consumer and worker are good mechanisms.

But Mr. Speaker, what I question is the feasibility of the government’s proposed plans to increase revenue collection - even a little bit.

Will improving the structure of the Customs electronic submission systems guarantee that the department will collect more revenue? On the surface, Mr. Speaker, it does not appear likely. So, despite being good intentioned, there is no guarantee that investments in this particular infrastructure by the government will translate into increased revenue.

Improving the infrastructure and manpower to track and collect on outstanding goods and entries would appear more likely to “strengthen revenue controls,” as tracking and collection seem to be more of a problem than the ease of submitting documentation. Unless, this administration is suggesting that they are lagging in revenue collections at the Customs Department because the public presently find it difficult to submit their entry documents.And in the event that this is the suggestion, Mr. Speaker, how much does the Minister of Finance anticipate he can collect and what impact will this amount have on national deficit reduction? The same questions can be put to this government’s proposed real property tax amnesty plan for revenue strengthening, particularly since the success of this program is highly dependent on chance and probabilities, with no real guarantees.

From all indications, the success of this initiative as a revenue booster depends largely on people coming forward who, it appears from the report, may be struggling to meet the property tax obligation in the first place. There is a chance that some may take advantage of what the government proposes to offer, but there is also a great chance that many will not.This issue of chance and probability is the same problem that appears to plague their small business operators and job creation proposal as well Mr. Speaker.

If it is unlikely that small business owners can’t afford to purchase a truck at 85 per cent, what it is the likelihood that they would now be in a position to run out and get one just because the rate of duty is now 65 per cent? It’s the same chance and probability, Mr. Speaker; it does not appear as if there are any guarantees here.

And if they did take the Prime Minister up on this offer Mr. Speaker, in what numbers? Are there sufficient small business owners ready to sprint off to Miami or send off to Japan to purchase a small truck that the revenues generated by them will have any major or lasting impact on recurring revenues? Again, Mr. Speaker, possibilities and probabilities, but no guarantees here either.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, it is questionable and unlikely that any of what this government is calling “immediate fiscal actions” will help this government secure the aggressive 6.5 per cent of GDP target that they “intend” to hit. But, Mr. Speaker, in the event that they do not hit their intake targets as they intend, they have a “just in case” contingency in place for that too; and if you look closely at page 8 of the mid-term budget report, you will notice that their plan – it would appear - is tied to authorization for that “additional borrowing in the amount of $100 million” – the same $100 million that they want us to believe they will use to pay off carry-over expenditures from the past administration. But I pointed out earlier why that notion is stinking with deception Mr. Speaker.

“As we go to the end of the year we would hope that some of the initiatives that we announced – the reduction of the excise duty on trucks and of the amnesty program for real property tax – we’ll be able to deliver some more revenue. In that even we will be very happy if we do not have to utilize the entire 100 million authorization.”

That’s what the Minister of State for Finance said to the Tribune on the 26th of February, Mr. Speaker. But I can assure you that, in the event that the amnesty program and the excise duty program do not work, we will be $100 million more in the hole because something else didn’t go in a way that this government would had “anticipated” or “liked” it to go.

Mr. Speaker, for the sake of prudence, this government needs to come up with a real economic plan that does not show a limited and short-sighted focuses only on, what they call “significant and sustainable” reductions in Government debt, but a real economic plan that focuses on and lays out a method by which to achieve substantial and progressive expansion of the economy - extensive enough to reduce debt and increase the standard of living for Bahamians in their own country.

The supposed “plan” that this government of “solutions” presented Mr. Speaker, has failed the people on so many levels. It recognizes challenges in employment, but it provides no evidence that this government – after 9 months in office – sat and strategized a course of action to deal with or tackle the challenge. In this report, after nine months, other than the Baha Mar project, this government can speak of no substantially conclusive opportunity that they have secured to deal with the 30,000 plus unemployed and soon-to-be school leavers.

In their report, they recognize and acknowledge how burdensomely draining fuel and fuel imports are on the economy, yet their “prudent” plans do not even mention or address measures by which this can be addressed; no talk of introducing significant renewable energy initiatives or amendments to the Energy Act that would afford Bahamians even the smallest break or breather.

This government report laid out a slew of problems in the construction and home building markets, owing to challenges that people have borrowing money or borrowers have meeting existing mortgage obligations, but not a mention of an amnesty or plan of relief for this group.

The cost of living continues to increase, Mr. Speaker, and increased competition from other tourists destinations is wreaking havoc on our tourism product - but nothing from this government to improve the industry, despite all of the bitter criticism that it had for my administration when it was in office.

This is how they end their report Mr. Speaker: “Unemployment levels are expected to remain elevated . . . domestic energy prices will continue to be affected by the volatility in the international oil markets.”

These are not good signs for the Bahamian people, despite attempts by this government to spin the truth in their mid-term budget report.

With no real plan of their own to deal with the crux of the matter that is relative to Bahamians – and I am not saying anything that their mid-term budget does not substantiate - the PLP will try to use my Party and the former government as a scapegoat to deflect attention from their lack of doing, Mr. Speaker.

But, Sir, just as I started off this presentation, I end by saying, this is their time now. The people of this Commonwealth will hold them accountable because they said they had all of the solutions. And the shameful part, Mr. Speaker, is that they should have the answers, if not all, at least a great deal.

They have a Leader Mr. Speaker, who has spent almost four decades in frontline politics; he has been the length and breadth of this Bahamas over and repeatedly; he has seen it from the inside out; he has been at the helm of almost every significant agency in this country during his political career; he should know their failings and the successes; he has led this nation before, and says he is a better leader now; and after all of this time in the trenches, he should be better; better able to lead the troops and show this nation what the long number of years in Bahamian politics have taught him.

Yet, Mr. Speaker, the content of this mid-term budget report and the way that this country has been managed from May 7, 2012 to now says that the Prime Minister still seems to have a hard time demonstrating what 40 years of Parliamentary politics have taught him. He still does not appear to have the qualities of a leader.

If this is the best that we can get from this administration at this time Mr. Speaker, the contents of the presentation suggests that this Prime Minister - with his career in frontline politics slowly waning – should do the honorable thing and step aside for a more qualified leadership, particularly since the quality of leadership that the Bahamas should be getting from him ought to be far better. It is only my suggestion, Mr. Speaker; before it gets too late and our country ends up suffering more than it already is, the Honorable Member for Centerville and Farm Road should resign.

Like Pastor Myles Munroe says, Mr. Speaker, “Dull leaders hurt themselves, hurt others, and waste people’s time.”

As I take my seat Mr. Speaker, I just want to say I do not know if it is symbolic and representative, but the content of this report is indicative of that quote, and in many ways appears to be a waste of time. In all of its good intentions, Mr. Speaker, it appears to be a product of a confused, unaware, and/or unsure mind.

After 40 years, the Bahamas and the Bahamian people deserve better. Four more years, Mr. Speaker - that’s all the time they have left – maybe even less at the rate that they are going. But in the meanwhile, we’ll continue to hold their feet to the fire.

Thank you Mr. Speaker.