The Tribune

EDUCATION Minister Jerome Fitzgerald, speaking with a Tribune reporter, confirmed at a Government House reception yesterday that the Christie government planned to honour its election commitment to double the Bahamas’ education budget.

As we have pointed out before, it doesn’t matter how many times the education budget is doubled or tripled, it will not turn out any better educated or disciplined young people unless the standard of education is taken to a new level.

Building more expensive schools — or even classrooms – is not the answer.

What this government must keep constantly before it is that the Bahamas cannot afford any more borrowing, nor can the business community afford to support its foolish spending.

As members of this government should know by now, after the housing scandal and other misspent dollars, we have no faith in the way the PLP government has in the past managed this country’s purse. This is the one area on which we shall keep a constant watch for the next five years.

We are certain that at least one member of the DNA will also be watching. He was a Tribune reporter when contractors started to complain about what was going on in Housing at that time. During the period that he was assigned to the story, valuable information fell into his hands. We are satisfied that the police dropped the ball on this one.

In opposition, the Christie government has complained that the Ingraham government stopped, cancelled and reviewed the PLP’s various contracts after it won the government in 2007. Thank God it did.

The FNM saved this country much foolish spending on over-priced and in many instances shoddy workmanship.

For example, who would construct a school for 26 students at a cost of $2.4 million when a more adequate school could have been built, leaving funds for other much needed public works?

Of course, it was a PLP idea. Not only did they plan to build the expensive school in the settlement with not enough students to justify it, but a site inspection by the FNM government revealed that the foundation on which it was to be built was not acceptable.

Instead, the FNM entered into a $200,000 contract with Julius Chisholm to erect two additional classrooms, a library and an administration block.

Questioned in the House at the time, FNM Minister Earl Deveaux said that Salina would get what it “requires to provide a suitable educational environment for its children.” This, he said, would “adequately and comfortably accommodate the 26 school students, teaching and administrative staff at the school.”

At the same time, Mr Deveaux told the House that school contracts terminated included the Fresh Creek Primary School, Lowe Sound Primary School, Salina Point, Acklins Primary School and an eight-classroom block at the C H Reeves Junior High School in New Providence.

Mr Deveaux said that the contract awarded for the Fresh Creek Primary School in Andros on April 30, 2007 — just a few days before the general election— “was a cheap election ploy”, which the outgoing government had not even mobilised. Mr Deveaux dismissed the $2.4 million Lowe Sound Primary School as another “election ploy.”

He said “in due course a new primary school would be built in Fresh Creek to replace that community’s poorly constructed and abandoned school buildings” – as would schools in San Andros, Fire Road, Morgan’s Bluff and Pineville.

As for CH Reeves in Nassau, that contract was terminated because of the “unacceptable standard” of workmanship – below the building code.

However, in this case Ministry files indicated that the situation was so bad that the PLP government was also preparing to cancel this particular contract.

And so the tale of woe continued with the cancellation of more than $22 million worth of schools and roads.

Mr Deveaux also talked of the PLP’s negotiated contract in September 2006 for the South Acklins Road Rehabilitation and the Eleuthera Settlement roads –both cancelled.

“There is a curious note in the contract to the effect that due to the remoteness of the project site, the frequency of scheduled flights and the size and scope of the proposed project, a $60,000 provisional sum was included to cover the expenses of a full-time resident inspector to monitor the progress of the project,” said Mr Deveaux.

However, “prior to the contract being cancelled, it had become evident that the contractor was unable to complete the work as idle, abandoned equipment littered the roadside in Acklins. All work had stopped during the months leading up to the general election. Interestingly,” said Mr Deveaux, “the full-time resident inspector, provided for in the contract, was never deployed to Acklins.”

We hope – now that Bahamians have given the PLP a second chance to prove itself – history will not be repeated.