By
lisa@nasguard.com
Free National Movement Leader Hubert A. Ingraham yesterday accused the Progressive Liberal Party government of poorly managing and coordinating the business of the Bahamian people, adding that the PLP has been lying and pretending that certain social ills do not exist in the country.
Ingraham was addressing attendees of a testimonial banquet held on Sunday at Sandals Resort in New Providence in honour of Dion Foulkes for his service to the people of the Blue Hills constituency.
The Opposition leader revealed that Foulkes has been given the new task of bringing the MICAL (Inagua, Mayaguana, Crooked Island, Acklins and Long Cay) constituency back to the FNM and used the occasion to request that Sidney Collie be embraced and supported as the new FNM candidate for Blue Hills.
Reminding those present that the FNM is seriously preparing to resume leadership of the country, Ingraham said his party’s track record proves its commitment to effective governance unlike the present PLP government who, instead of accepting that the Bahamian people will not give them a second consecutive term in office, is busy fighting over spoils amongst themselves and telling the public ‘tall tales.’
“They fail, at this late date, to understand that the spoils and the rewards of office belong to the people, not to the parliamentarians,” Ingraham said. “They fail to understand that the duty of parliamentarians is to be of service to the people and not to gather-up benefits for themselves.
“So they are busy telling us that we do not see what we see and that we do not hear what we hear ﾖ chaos, incompetence, ineffectiveness, greed, and corruption.”
Ingraham said in New Providence people are being told that they do not feel fear, yet crime escalates and spreads. He said the public is told that the country’s health system is in good order, yet there are constant shortages of essential medication for the sick, aged and informed proliferate. The MP for North Abaco said parents are being told by the PLP government that their children are safe in school, yet some of them are over-crowded with unmanageably over-sized classes, have teacher shortages and have premises that remain construction sites weeks after the end of summer.
“They tell us that they have a good hold on immigration matters as the Department is scandalised and immigration is out of control. As they say, ‘people are able to pay to play,'” he said. “They tell us that there is a job waiting for anyone who wants one when unemployment rates remain stubbornly high.”
They tell us that we do not hear what we hear ﾖ that they have out-stretched palms all over the place taking and grabbing from whomever, whenever and whatever they can.
“But we see and hear differently and our eyes and ears are not playing games on us. In New Providence too many of us are wasting productive hours ﾖ hours that should be spent on the job or enjoying our families ﾖ stuck in traffic.
“In New Providence too many of us live in fear of leaving the security of our barred-up homes after dark. Yes, too many of us have suffered the consequences of shortages of medicines and inoculations at public health clinics and at the hospital.”
Ingraham claimed that highly publicised operations chasing only the poorest illegal immigrants are staged to disguise the deals being pulled at the highest levels for work permits which affect the jobs Bahamians want and for which Bahamians are qualified.
He pointed out that too many Bahamians are suffering the indignity of persistent unemployment as they (government) approve investments that bring money into the coffers of the few and create all too few new and increased jobs.
Too many business opportunities for Bahamians he said, are being lost as many acres of publicly owned land are given over to foreign ownership placing such land beyond the reach of Bahamians.
“The PLP and their apologists want us to pretend that none of this is real. We know that it’s all real, even though they tell us we are not seeing and we are not hearing. Let those who have eyes to see, see and let those who have ears to hear, hear,” Ingraham said.
“The Prime Minister’s ‘go-along, get along’ attitude toward the management and coordination of the people’s business does not work. It provides excuses for incompetence and deflects attention from mistakes. In short, it does not produce beneficial results for the people.
“Their record in office speaks not only of their failure to govern, their refusal to do the right thing, their addiction to power and to protecting their power regardless of the consequences, but it also speaks to what results emanate from a group unprepared and “unready” to govern.”
By: LISA S. KING, Freeport News Asst. Editor
