The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

A writer recently wondered “what is it about the Rt Honourable Hubert A Ingraham that would make Prime Minister Perry G Christie and PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts postpone exiting the political arena if he decides to return?”

Well, apart from the writer’s wanton disrespect for the current Prime Minister in his refusal to duly acknowledge him as the “Rt Honourable” when offering that courtesy to the former, the writer was fascinated by the cult of personality and relied exclusively on opinion. Unlike him, I could instead list a few pieces of unqualified and compelling empirical data as distinct possibilities:

1. Adding 22,000 jobs to the economy versus losing 15,000 jobs in one term.

2. Attracting $2.541 billion in FDI in just five years versus attracting just $1.4 billion in ten years.

3. Increasing government revenue by 51per cent versus expanding the national debt by 40 per cent in just five years.

4. Expanding the economy by more than $1.0 billion versus presiding over the contraction of the economy.

5. Driving stopover visits and expenditure to the highest levels in the country’s history in 2005 versus the lowest levels in 25 years.

6. Built over 1,300 homes in three and one half years versus building just 700 in 10 years.

7. Constructed 531 classrooms in five years versus just 332 class rooms in 10 years.

Now don’t get me wrong, Prime Minister Prime Minister Perry G Christie has his faults too, but the positive far outweigh the negative.

The writer is both advised and I daresay chastised that countries are not governed on style, but on results as reflected in Key Performance Indicators which are objective, unqualified and unassailable. When a country’s future and way of life are hanging in the balance, style and opinion won’t amount to a hill of beans.

Given this small sample of empirical data presented above, one would be hard pressed to find a leader of a country, not only of The Bahamas, but anywhere in this hemisphere with Key Performance Indicators as impressive as The Bahamas’ under the leadership of Prime Minister the Rt Hon. Perry G Christie, who, pardon the pun, “delivered” under very difficult circumstances.

ELCOTT COLEBY

Nassau,

February 14, 2014