Press Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister Clint Watson defended the prime minister's change in tone on how his government intends to deal with residents living in shantytowns, saying the prime minister is "eloquent and smart enough" to know which tone to present based on his audience.

On Sunday, during a national address, Davis announced a hardline approach, and put shantytown residents on notice that they would need to find alternative housing.

"We cannot have shantytowns on our islands," Davis said.

"They are unsafe, a hazard to public health, they are against the law, and they directly impact our way of life."

"Our priority is decisive action, based on the laws of our land."

However, two days earlier, at the closing press conference of the 44th CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting at Baha Mar, Davis struck a softer tone, suggesting that government was concerned about evicting shantytown residents and thus leaving them homeless.

"Shantytowns [are] a challenge and a problem in this country, and we do propose to deal with it, but cannot deal with it by addressing one problem, to create another problem," said Davis, while flanked by the prime ministers of Barbados and Dominica.

"If we move as quickly as some would wish to take down the shantytowns, destroy them - people are living in these buildings and in the shantytowns. So, taking down the shantytowns could create the other problem of leaving hundreds or thousands of persons homeless.

"Then, what we create is another crisis. So, there is no sense responding to a crisis, to create another crisis. So, thought is being given as to how best we deal with the shantytowns, which is ongoing."

Watson was asked about the prime minister's change in tone, and which tone people should accept.

"You take both," Watson said.

"His message has never changed in both. The tones are different, which signals the attribute of a good leader.

"You have to know when and where and how to say certain messages.

"The prime minister on Friday was among CARICOM leaders speaking to the world. There is a tone that's important as a diplomatic leader in a democratic nation.

"When he is talking to his people, specifically to actions he's about to take, there is a different tone."

On February 10, Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson ruled that the government's shantytowns eradication policy and its actions in seeking to execute it were legal.

The case was brought by a group of shantytown residents after the Minnis administration took action aimed at getting rid of the communities in 2018.

For more than a year, Davis said, officials have "conducted surveillance and gathered evidence establishing that these communities are unlawful and expanding".

Watson said yesterday, "Prime Minister is very eloquent and smart enough to know when is the right tone, to present the right message for the right image for our country.

"It's a lesson so many other people can take a lesson from and take out a page of the prime minister's book that diplomacy is important.

"It doesn't mean that you renege on your promise, it doesn't mean that you renege on what it is you want to do. It just means that you are eloquent enough to know how to present the information, so that it's not offensive.

"And it does not appear as though you are taking something that will create a problem for the nation later on.

"Prime Minister's message has not changed. He's moving in. He's doing the right thing for the Bahamian people.

"He's following the laws, and you will find that from time to time, his tone will change depending on the audience he's speaking to, but his message won't change."

But in 2021, Davis' tone was essentially the tone he had on the issue in May 2021 when he was in opposition.

In May 2021, after United Nations (UN) human rights experts stated that the planned forced evictions and demolitions constituted a serious violation of the human right to adequate housing, and will result in arbitrary internal displacement, then-Opposition Leader Davis said the matter must be addressed in a humane manner.

"If there are no alternative places for those persons, then you are creating a further crisis which may be worse than the one that you are attempting to cure. So, if you destroy all the homes of the illegals, then where are they going to go?" asked Davis.

"Then, you have another crisis on your hands. You have thousands of persons, maybe hundreds of persons, maybe tens of persons, maybe, who then become homeless. Where would they go?"

The post 'PM changes tone to suit his audience' appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

The post 'PM changes tone to suit his audience' appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

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