The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

HURRICANE Matthew, fortunately, is now a part of the Bahamian folk lore and history.

While other island nations in the Caribbean, like Jamaica, Cuba and to a greater and more tragic degree, Haiti, were devastated by this category 4 storm, we here in our wonderful - and, obviously, divinely ‘protected’ country - emerged almost unscathed. Truly, The Lord is on the throne and His mercies and blessings are ever extended to us as a nation and a people.

Natural disasters all over the world tend to bring out the ‘best’ and the ‘worst’ in all of us, regardless of which country or nation we are from. Hurricane Matthew was no different. In fact, Matthew, despite the damage to property and other material items, will be long remembered for three things.

Our beloved Prime Minister, Perry Gladstone Christie, rose to the challenge of the approaching storm as the ‘true’ trouper that he is capable of being when confronted by events of monumental proportions. It is something of a national joke that many Bahamians have categorise the PM as lazy, non-focused and ‘hands-off’ as it relates to his benign leadership. These adjectives are no longer, if ever they were, applicable to the leader. They are no longer relevant.

Mr Christie surprisingly, demonstrated, on the ground, on the sea and in the air that he was well informed, kept abreast of the passage of Matthew and co-ordinated safety and evacuations issues with the appropriate governmental disaster stakeholders. He was to be seen and heard all over the Bahamas, like never before! We Bahamians who are yet alive and cognisant of what is going on, were witnesses to the ‘great transformation’ of Mr Christie.

It is a pity, however, that it took Matthew to bring this about or to peel off the veneer of grey that has long, apparently, covered his ‘leadership’ abilities. Yes, there are some who pontificate that he has ‘failed’ to deliver on any of the core promises made to the voters in 2012. Such a stance, of course, is wrong and bogus in the extreme. It is fast approaching general election time again and there is yet much more work to be done by this administration.

Matthew also generated an atmosphere wherein ordinary Bahamians came together as a united and determined people. We refused to allow Matthew to brow beat or demoralise us. It is remarkable that we came through in one piece. We now ‘know’ how to band and bind together in the face of calamity and disaster. Indeed, we Bahamians who are yet alive have been baptised by water in the form of Matthew. It is to be hoped and prayed that ‘Mark’, ‘Luke’ and ‘John’, if they are out there too, do not form the consecration of our nation.

It is a given that most of us had advanced warnings of the slow approach of Matthew, even from the time it was crossing Jamaica. Most of us, as usual, played its approach down and were lackadaisical with our preparations and alternatives. This passage, unlike Joaquin, was truly a ‘teachable’ experience, to quote the Prime Minister. We have learnt our collective lesson and are now at the head of the class.

I submit that never again in the history of this wonderful nation that we will witness the woeful lack of preparations and alternatives alluded to above. We have been baptised by water. Will there be ‘fire’ next time?

We have seen and witnessed the ‘great transformation’ of the PM. We have also seen the clear and pressing need for the construction of a gigantic warehouse and command centre at Gladstone Road. Attached to such a complex should also be a huge garage to house fire trucks, evacuation vehicles (US Army style high suspension all terrain utility trucks and smaller vehicles), the year round trimming of overhanging trees in the areas of poles and wires, biannual interaction amongst all of the service and utility entities as well as with NEMA, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

The Progressive Liberal Party administration, by all accounts, led by the PM and his erstwhile Deputy, Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, et al, acquitted itself well. Kudos is due, while keeping in mind, however, that this is precisely what they were elected to do. It is to be clearly understood and appreciated that no ‘favours’ were done by them on our collective behalf. We are paying them well and keeping all of them in a lifestyle to which they have become accustomed.

And so, the great transformation of Mr Christie has begun and the opposition forces, such as they are, now or in the future, must prepare for the waging of phsycological and pure political combat come next year. Christie and our team (we who are PLPs) are on a roll and our momentum will continue, God willing, straight into next year’s general elections.

National Health Insurance, as flawed as it may be, will be successfully implemented (in stages) come January. An embryonic form of mandatory National Youth Service, headed by Algernon S P B Allen, currently co-chair of Urban Renewal Commission along with Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt, will be brought on stream in the first quarter of 2017.

Imagine if such a NYS was in place since 2012. We would have had a corps of disciplined and trained young Bahamian males and females to assist with all sorts of communal and societal programmes, including working with NEMA et al, during the passage of Matthew and beyond. On another note, BPL was a bit ‘too slow’ in getting its act together. Cable Bahamas did a very poor job at restoration and communicating the schedule for the same to its ‘captive’ Bahamian clients.

There are thousands of CBL clients who, a whole week after Matthew’s trek throughout our nation, are still without the services which most of us pay for - and not a single word from Messrs Dave Burrows or CEO Damian Blackburn. It does not, however, really matter as we are now witnessing the ‘great transformation’ of the PM, finally.

ORTLAND H BODIE JR

Nassau

October 13, 2016