Remarks Free National Movement Mass Rally R. M. Bailey Park Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham Party Leader 12 April 2012

Fellow Bahamians; Young People; F-N-Ms:

Colour Red, thanks for Red Splash!

I hear others complaining about all those posters of me being put up around this island. They must have had a change of heart since 2002 and since 2007 when they plastered our town with life size posters of Perry Christie declaring him to be “the Right Man for the Job”. Now that he and the Bahamian people know that he is NOT the Right Man for the Job, he wants to protest who’s putting up posters of whom.

Well, that is what we do during election time in The Bahamas. We put up posters to remind voters of their choices. Very importantly, we want to remind voters that they are electing a Government. Each voter will vote for a single candidate but that candidate is a part of a team. Each team has a Leader. So when you vote you are deciding if you want Hubert Ingraham, the leader of the FNM to be Prime Minister or somebody else. You are voting to determine if you want the FNM to be the Government or some other party.

And I remind that as you prepare to vote and you consider your choices take a good look at what you could get when you’re tired of what you gat!

The PLP have an Ad on TV that says that they will be ready to govern on day 1. Well! Something must have happened – something huge and transformational because the last time they got elected they certainly were not ready.

Our Constitution requires that there be a Cabinet of at least 8 ministers and that 2 of those – the Prime Minister and the Attorney General – must be filled at all times. That requires that the first act of a Prime Minister upon being sworn into office is to appoint an Attorney General – forthwith; no delay.

Mr. Christie was sworn in as Prime Minister on 3rd May, 2002 the day after the General Election. It took him until May 10th - 7 days to appoint an Attorney General. So for a full week the office of the Attorney General was vacant.

This has never ever happened before in this country or in any other country with our system of Government. This is distinctly and uniquely a creation and result of Perry Gladstone Christie.

Ready? My foot! More likely never ever ready. Always late! Habit fine tuned; filled with excuses and lots of words. Lots of big words ordinary folk need dictionaries to understand. And all this after he promoted himself all over the place on life size posters as “the Right Man for the Job”. Well we know and the whole world knows, Perry Christie is “the Wrong man for the job”.

When I was sworn in as Prime Minister on the 21st August, 1992 I appointed the Attorney General on the same day – the 21st August. And in 2007 when I was sworn in as Prime Minister on the 4th May, I appointed my Attorney General on the same day – the 4th May, 2007. That’s how a Government ready on Day 1 functions.

FNMs Bahamians:

As we meet here at our home at R.M. Bailey for our first Mass Rally of the General Election we should be clear what this election is about.

It is about bold and effective leadership with a bold and serious vision for our future.

It is about the Party whose promises you can believe. It is about a record of success and accomplishments you can see and feel. It is about proven leadership. It is about FNM leadership.

And most importantly it is about a clear, farsighted and honest plan for the future. You, your families and the voters of this country, must ask themselves “which of these parties has a plan? Which of these parties do I know has the track record of results to accomplish the plan and which of these parties isn’t just writing pretty words on paper to get themselves elected.

Well, my friends let me tell you, I haven’t seen a PLP election platform yet. Have you? I guess they are still trying to figure out how many fake promises they can fit onto a sheet of paper. And even when they do figure that out, the Bahamian people are smart enough to know that it all just a bunch more of Perry Gladstone Christie’s 10 dollar promises and penny-ante action.

Well, our party, the FNM is unveiling as I speak - on our website and across the Internet, this manifesto. It’s straight forward, just like us. It’s honest just like us and it’s focused on building a better Bahamas’ for our children and grandchildren, just like us.

It’s a solemn promise that I and my Party’s other 37 candidates will keep. We’re making you this promise right here, in front of the entire county, that we won’t ever stop delivering for the country we love.

When Hubert Ingraham and the FNM make you a promise you can believe it. We have proven leadership you can trust to deliver for you over the next five years.

Every successful team has seasoned team members and new talent. This is what your FNM is offering: Seasoned leaders with vibrant new energy and talent that will help to take The Bahamas to the next level.

The times are too serious, the challenges to great, to put this country back into the hands of the former Government which was the weakest, most incompetent Government in an independent Bahamas. The country needs a Delivery Team, not a Talking Team.

We also need a Government with clean hands. I told y’all on Monday that I’ll chop off the hands of anybody reaching for that cookie jar!

You can’t be serious about leading this country if you close your eyes to the members of your team reaching for that cookie jar while you pretend that all is well and good.

I am told that Perry Christie was complaining the other night about the fact that my Government awarded the New Providence Road Improvement Contract to a foreign company. While he was busy complaining he didn’t tell the people that his Government put that project out to bid to international companies on two separate occasions and found no takers.

And he didn’t tell those at his Rally that when the first and second bids failed to attract any bids from the international companies it must have had something to do with the fact that so many hands were extended from PLP cronies that the international bidders were scared off. You know who sat as a so called “political assistant” in the Minister of Works’ Bradley Roberts office while discussions were being held with an international contracting company? Funky Demeritte - a political operative very well known to Perry Gladstone Christie - that’s who! In those days Perry Christie and Funky Demeritte were like two peas in the same shell.

And Perry Christie failed to tell his supporters that the third and last time his Government put that road project out to international bid was the 4th April, 2007 – one month before the General Elections. I guess he didn’t believe in Bahamians then! Maybe now he is a convert to believing in Bahamians. The bids from that third invitation for international bids for the New Providence Road Improvement Project didn’t come in until after we were returned to office.

FNM Fellow Bahamians:

In addition to clean hands, the country needs trustworthy and proven hands working together with new talent and innovative ideas. We cannot move forward if we are locked into the past.

Life, like leadership, is about good timing. Some people always late-again. Other people like to rush into things without thinking. There are some things that you should never try to force-ripe – like a green dilly, picked before it is time, it will never ever ripe.

Fellow Bahamians; FNMs:

Our Carifta track and field athletes are back. I was happy to host a luncheon for them and tell them how proud we are of each one of them. Their performance is an example of the kind of talent bursting within our young people. It was one of our best Carifta performances in about 30 years.

Fellow Bahamians; Young People:

I want to create an Opportunity Society.

I was born in Pine Ridge, Grand Bahama to a single mother. I grew up in Cooper’s Town, Abaco with my grandmother.

I wasn’t born with a silver-spoon in my mouth. In fact there were no silvers in my house.

No matter, I had something more precious than silver, gold or precious jewels. I had a grandmother who believed in me and I was fortunate to be born in one of the most blessed countries on Earth – The Bahamas.

When I talk about the Opportunity Society, I speak from experience. That a young boy like me, who grew up materially poor, no electricity, no running water, hence no indoor plumbing, and who went to school barefoot, could have the privilege of serving my country as I have, is the very essence of the Bahamian story.

And, it is not my story alone. It is the Story of thousands of Bahamians who have worked hard and used their God-given talent to pursue their dreams and build this country.

I say to young Bahamians in every neighbourhood, settlement and cay in The Bahamas: This land is your land.

And you too can write your own story. You too can add new chapters to our shared Bahamian story for this land belongs to all of us no matter what your last name might be, who your parents are, or the circumstance of your birth.

I have had one single guiding principle during my public career which spans more than one half of my life, and it is this: To make this Bahamas a land of opportunity for all Bahamians.

Fellow Bahamians; Young People:

When we make a promise you can believe it. We have proven leadership you can trust. It is the FNM which has the leadership and the boldness of vision to take The Bahamas to the next level.

Though there is still much to be done in terms of economic recovery, jobs and growth for small businesses, we are getting through the Great Recession.

One of our great national tasks is to prepare our people to take advantage of an economy on the path to growth and recovery.

Just like we’ve done with our Carifta athletes we will provide our people with the skills and training needed to compete more effectively. We are preparing for a 21st century world of global challenges and opportunities.

So, tonight, I emphasize the upgrade we have planned for the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute. We intend that that institution adopt best practices of training institutes internationally including government-operated and private institutions.

In addition to improved programmes for building skills and fostering a greater work ethic and productivity we will place more targeted attention to improving basic skills such as English, math and communication skills at BTVI so that it becomes our permanent national job readiness and training institute.

And we will link BTVI with programmes like Self-Starters and Jump Starters preparing a new generation of Bahamian entrepreneurs.

For example, the craft and souvenir design and production initiative by BAIC will be married to programmes at BTVI and made permanent. This will enable hundreds of Bahamians to create more authentically Bahamian goods and take advantage of the multimillion dollar souvenir industry

We want to provide those with artistic and creative skills the opportunity to go into creative industries like fashion, making toys for children and other creative ideas. I hear there’s a young man using original Bahamian artwork to create covers for laptops.

There are many more thousands of young people like him with good ideas who want an opportunity to succeed and use their God-given talents just like our athletes. This is exactly what the Opportunity Society is all about.

There is a simple formula for success: Talent + Opportunity + Hard Work = Success.

And so our plan is for BTVI to become the largest public-private sector training institution in Bahamian history to train our people for a whole new world of opportunities and good jobs.

For example, we need more Bahamians trained in ship repair and refurbishment able to repair and refurbish our mail boats, our fishing boats and even some of the world’s largest cruise ships at our Ship Repair Facility in Freeport. We need more Bahamians with skills to be engineers on our boats, skill in fisheries and aquaculture as well as in areas like alternative energy.

Certain academic qualifications should not be a barrier to thousands of Bahamians who have the talent to succeed in so many areas of national life.

We will continue to provide opportunities for those with strong academic skills. And we will do likewise for those who choose career paths requiring a variety of other skills – be they technical or vocational, artistic, involving multi-media or innovative involving science and electronics.

The only barrier to success in this country should be laziness or fooling around with criminal activity – not who your Ma or Pa is, or what Party you support. If you want to build your dreams, the FNM is the party for you. We are the Party of the Opportunity Society.

Young Bahamians:

Come go with us. We want to help you to ignite your future. When we make you a promise you can believe it. We have proven leadership you can trust. We will deliver for you. These are clean hands that will work for you night and day.

Fellow Bahamians; F-N-Ms:

Your FNM has a big vision. Our vision is that of urban transformation and redevelopment. We have already begun this with our massive infrastructure programme on this island. I stress tonight that new economic opportunity with stable jobs will come to the Over-the-Hill communities of New Providence when people who reside there and who want to start or expand businesses there have access to reliable public utilities, good roads with proper drainage, safe water supply and reliable electricity and telephone services and supply and good title to their land.

In our next term we will bring even greater coordination and efficiency in our planning efforts. We will use the lessons learned in the New Providence Road and Infrastructure Project as we continue to provide our capital island with First World infrastructure.

As a part of our programme of urban redevelopment, and in order to reduce crime and congestion we will launch our Back to the Island Initiative.

This far-reaching initiative will further our efforts to provide incentives for hundreds of residents of this island to return or move to the Family Islands. We hope this will be the largest migration ever back to the islands.

This is why in addition to financial incentives we are building the critical infrastructure in every major Family Island so that Bahamians can choose which island they want to live, work on and raise their families.

In addition to our aggressive crime fighting programme, relieving urban congestion here in New Providence will be among the best crime-fighting strategies. To fight crime and provide alternatives to crime much more needs to be done. This is exactly what my Government will do.

We have planned the launch of the most comprehensive youth outreach and social intervention programmes in the country’s history.

This Sunday, in keeping with a promise made at the launch of Volunteer Bahamas, we will deliver one million dollars in grants to assist a number of urban outreach and youth programmes. The grants will be made to groups here in New Providence, in Grand Bahama and on various family islands.

Because we understand that urban redevelopment requires social initiatives and economic development we put in place a phased programme of infrastructural renewal. Then we put in place incentives to encourage and support the private sector to join our renewal initiatives. The City of Nassau Revitalization Act was one such incentive. In our next term the Urban Gentrification Fund will be created at the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation. This Fund will help with the restoration of homes in designated historic areas of our traditional Over-the-Hill communities.

Additionally, just as we created the new Straw Market and Fish Fry, and plan to create the Nassau Craft Market, we will create the landmark Native Food Market.

When you travel around the world there are often native markets where you can savour and try local foods. Why shouldn’t Nassau have a market like that?

We will begin planning to create the Native Food Market in a location Over-the-Hill. This will be one of the biggest urban development and economic empowerment projects Over-the-Hill since independence. Ours is a big and bold vision.

In some ways it will be a return to the native markets many of our ancestors used to run in Bains Town and Grants Town.

We will work with residents of Over-the-Hill and other stakeholders to plan for and find the best location of businesses providing Bahamian produce and products.

We hope that a revitalized Over-the-Hill area will welcome hundreds of Bahamians and thousands of tourists where all can go to buy tamarind sauce, cassava bread, coconut tart and coconut water, dilly syrup or all kinds of whatever fruits are in season.

The Native Food Market will have so many benefits. It will give real hope and economic opportunities to scores of Bahamians. It will help to revitalize Over-the-Hill. It can help to reduce crime.

The Native Food Market in combination with the Backyard Garden programme introduced by the FNM will serve as an outlet for locally-grown foods. And it will help to boost our tourism product.

As a part of the Heritage Tourism Initiative, the FNM will put in place there will be a permanent space to exhibit and showcase the history of Over-the-Hill and of our rich African heritage. There will also be exhibition space to showcase traditions like ring play and traditional African dances.

Those who oppose us claim that we are trailing behind regional countries in attracting increased numbers of visitors to our shores this year. That’s not the hotel occupancy levels tell us. Indeed, Atlantis reports that this is their best tourism season in 10 years! Mr. Christie is not a friend of the truth.

Fellow Bahamians:

In transforming our country we cannot go with the smallness of vision and the weakness of leadership of the PLP. Not only will they take the country backwards; they lack the vision and the quality of leadership needed to move The Bahamas forward.

Their most recent poor record in office and their current unrealistic and unaffordable promises shows that they cannot be taken seriously. The only option they will give you is one of failed leadership, plenty talk, scandal and corruption. Failure is the option they showed you when they were last in office. They will fail you again.

They are yesterday’s news. The FNM offers you the promise of tomorrow building on our accomplishments over the past five years.

Fellow Bahamians; Young People; F-N-Ms:

Before I close I want to express thanks to a special group of dedicated public officers who regardless to circumstances fulfill their duty and provide service to the general public.

Right now some, for political purposes are encouraging public officers in a number of Departments to withhold their services. And some are doing so notwithstanding damage to the interests of our country.

To those loyal sons and daughters of The Bahamas, who provide yeoman’s service beyond the call of duty, filling in for those who shirk their responsibility and duty, I express my heartfelt thanks and that of a very grateful nation.

What I told you tonight are just some of our bold ideas for our next term. We must continue to aggressively fight crime and create jobs and grow the economy. But even as we do so, there is a bigger destiny for our country.

Fellow Bahamians; Young People; F-N-Ms:

It is a destiny we saw in the success of our Carifta athletes. That destiny is to use our talents and the many riches of this country to create a 21st century Opportunity Society.

The FNM is the Party of Opportunity. You can believe what I pledge to do on your behalf. You can believe the FNM. We are the Party that delivers. We are the Party of Proven Leadership.

But, this is not a fight any of us can go alone, we must band together. So tonight, sign up to be a volunteer, take a poster, tell your friends to go FNM and when you go to our website tonight, we’d be grateful if you would click the donate button and help us keep printing posters and making t-shirts and holding rallies.

As we depart tonight FNM’s I ask you, come go with me and the FNM. Let as together, build a better Bahamas. Thank you, God bless The Bahamas, and good night.