The Claim: Perry Christie claims that the money borrowed to fund infrastructure improvements should have been spent “on people.”
The Truth: Christie’s accusation is based on the false premise that improving infrastructure comes at the expense of people. Along with infrastructure projects, the FNM government has launched and funded other wide-ranging programmes to offer assistance to Bahamians. In this term the FNM has implemented social outreach programmes, historic increases in social assistance spending for food, school lunch programmes, utilities support, rent and food stamps, and many more.
Christie’s attack also willfully misses the point that infrastructure improvements benefit people. Bahamian firms hiring Bahamians to work on these projects have created thousands of jobs. Better roads, clean drinkable water and better utility services improve Bahamians’ quality of life and help grow our economy, creating more prosperity.
Unlike programmes funded by the PLP during their time in office, it is easy to see how people benefit from the projects funded by the FNM.
Perhaps the “people” that PLP wishes were helped by these projects are themselves.
During their time in office, the PLP hid the details of their spending from the public and had little to show for the money they spent except fat pockets and a litany of scandals–million dollar bleachers, the Korean fishing boat scandal, Anna Nicole Smith, and looting the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) . The list goes on and on.
Same PLP. Same Empty Promises.
