Parliament reopened yesterday and as is customary, the Speech from the Throne was read, outlining the priorities of the Davis administration during the new legislative session.

The speech was built on the theme, "Building on Progress, Driving Change to Strengthen National, Economic and Personal Security".

It gave a lucid picture of where the Parliament intends to go this session and outlined what we consider to be a weighty legislative agenda.

In terms of "personal security", the government plans to move "decisively to boost the number, type and quality of jobs available to Bahamians"; take "a holistic approach to improving educational outcomes for all"; support the "development of our young people"; and promote "better health and wellness among the general population".

To that end, work and education were highlighted.

"Tourism remains our number one industry and the largest source of employment," the speech said.

"My government will continue to advance measures not only to expand jobs and opportunities in the sector, but also to promote greater economic ownership by Bahamians."

To aid in this, the government plans to establish in law a Downtown Management Authority to "oversee the continued revitalization of Downtown Nassau".

Successive governments have made the critical error of leaving the development of Downtown Nassau mainly to merchants and property owners with legislation centering around mainly economic incentives for development.

The construction of the Nassau Container Port at Kelly Island to move the ports from Nassau was never properly taken advantage of as a result.

We hope, against our better judgement, that adding a specific bureaucracy into the mix will not slow progress.

Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper has foreshadowed this entity, and he has so far been consistent with his pledge to reform the area.

Hopefully he will ensure it runs efficiently.

The government also plans to "implement the Family Island Airport Renaissance Project to accelerate the redevelopment of airports throughout The Bahamas".

We were under the impression that it had already been implemented as an international request for qualifying proposals was launched months ago, with little mention of the result since.

The government also plans to "implement the first public service-wide promotion exercise in nine years".

"Amendments to existing legislation will be proposed to prevent the current longstanding backlog of overdue promotions and reclassifications [from] happening again," the speech said.

"A Public Service Reform Bill will also be introduced to modernize the approach and governance of public servants."

Pia Glover-Rolle was recently promoted to minister of the public service.

We assume that move was to facilitate this plan.

However, it has been even longer since there was a public service audit.

We hope this exercise will be scientific in nature and not bloat the public service unduly.

It is noble and sensible to pay public servants well, but it is wasteful to not know if we are using the money efficiently to deliver better service to the public.

The government also committed to a National Youth Commission Bill to support the growth and development of young people throughout the nation.

"This body will be mandated to implement policies, programs and projects consistent with the National Youth Policy, to help support young people in developing their potential," the speech said.

The government also plans to introduce a National Service Bill that "will invite our young citizens to register for national service".

"The participants in this program will serve to meet the needs of our vulnerable communities throughout The Bahamas," the speech said.

Frankly, we thought the speech was light concerning the young people of our nation.

The vast majority of our young people are promising productive future adults, but there is a growing segment of them who are shockingly poorly adjusted.

The recent video of a group of public high school girls viciously beating another girl bloody with fists and a rock while pulling her hair is just a small part of the evidence of this.

It is not the government's job to raise people's children, but without intervention, violent children often become violent adults meaning the state will end up having to intervene at some point.

It would be better to start earlier before major damage is done.

The government also said it will introduce legislation "to provide for adequate care and attention for older generations of Bahamians, on whose shoulders our country has been built".

We welcome this - our elderly people deserve support, respect and dignity in the twilight and sunset of their lives.

We shall explore more of the speech in the coming days.

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