The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis is still apparently peeved over the United States Department of State’s report which said that most of the ambitious campaign promises of the current Progressive Liberal Party government have been unfulfilled.

Davis in a recent interview specifically spoke about one of those campaign promises and he maintained that he has already created the 10,000 jobs that his party promised prior to the 2012 general elections.

This seems to be in stark contradiction to the Department of Statistics records, which state that only 3,265 net jobs were added to the economy up to 2013.

So why is Davis telling the Bahamian people something, which according to the statistics, appears not to be true?

There comes a time when truth must be spoken to the country and political expediency is put on the back burner.

Just a few weeks ago, the Department Statistics said that 43,000 Bahamians are now living on less than $4,250 annually. The report also said that since 2001, poverty in the country has risen by 3.5 per cent.

If Davis has created 10,000 jobs, then why is it that more Bahamians are looking to Social Services for financial help? Why is it that more Bahamians cannot pay their electricity bills?

Why is it that more and more students are leaving private schools for already overly packed government schools? Why is it that many young and qualified Bahamian professionals are at home frustrated about the lack of opportunities in their country?

Mr Davis, the economic realities in this country are grim for more Bahamians than you probably would care to admit. Many of us know of people who literally can’t find a dollar to buy a can of tuna.

Many of us know of people who are tradesmen, who can’t get a job to save their lives.

Publicly claiming the creation of 10,000 jobs when there is no basis for your claim, does not help the growing number of disfranchised Bahamians who are suffering economic hardship because they are unemployed.

Davis has really hit an all-time low and his claim should bring into question his ability to be a competent cabinet minister, unless he can show us proof of the 10,000 jobs.

I am told that Davis is bombarded daily from party supporters looking for jobs so he must know how dire the unemployment situation is.

A popular line from a Bahamian song created decades ago said “Talking fool is a very serious thing”. This puts Davis’ statement into proper context.

We really need to be focusing on creating more opportunities for Bahamians and not on declarations that are meant only to deceive.

DEHAVILLAND MOSS

Nassau,

July 10, 2014.