The Tribune

EVERY member of the new Cabinet of The Bahamas from the Prime Minister to the most junior Minister of State faces tough times with tight budgets to manage and largely unimaginative cultures to inspire. But for the first time in our nation’s history we have two Cabinet ministers in key posts who are professionally prepared for the roles they occupy, roles their predecessors were not but were assigned in the hopes that they would have the courage or wisdom to lead.

Marvin Dames, a highly intelligent, thoughtful and well-educated former member of the Royal Bahamas Police Force once considered for the position of Commissioner, is now Minister of National Security. Ellison Greenslade, who was chosen over Mr. Dames to lead the RBPF, now reports to his former colleague. While that will be an interesting dynamic to follow, it is of far less importance than what Mr. Dames brings to his gargantuan task. On the force, Dames earned the respect of fellow officers and was known for being no-nonsense, particularly when it came to corruption. Now we will watch Mr. Dames as he attempts to get a skyrocketing crime problem under control. He is wise enough to know that only part of it can be handled by police. Much of what breeds crime is economically, socially, family- and community-based. We like what we see so far. Dames has spoken little, does not seem to desire the spotlight, but has teams of officers in a show of force at checkpoints throughout the island day and night. Their presence makes a statement that failure to obey the law whether by lack of current vehicle registration or an unlicensed firearm will no longer be tolerated and every violation carries a price. Prime Minister Hubert Minnis could not have selected a better prepared person for this all-important mission, to make Bahamian citizens and residents understand that regardless of what happened before or what they thought they could get away with on school grounds, in gang-related activities, or at Customs or Immigration, a new day has dawned and the rule of law will be respected and obeyed.

The other Cabinet post that we find especially meaningful and refreshing is that of Minister of Environment and Housing the Hon. Romauld Ferreira. Mr. Ferreira must find the courage and strength to stand up to his peers in Cabinet and demand that matters of the environment be trusted to the Ministry of Environment. This plunges him into uncharted territory. In the past, projects that stood to greatly impact the environment were largely the domain of the Office of the Prime Minister or the Ministry of Public Works with the former heading up discussions and decisions about Crown Land, Heads of Agreement and major developments, and the latter handling details of Physical Planning, Town Planning and building permits. What was left to the Ministry of the Environment under the last two ministers, Earl Deveaux and Kenred Dorsett, was the crumbs. They had to explain to an upset or angry public why a project was allowed to go through when it pushed Bahamians off their land like Guana Cay or did extensive and irreparable marine environmental damage like Bimini. If Ferreira settles for the same role his predecessors endured, we will all be in for another five years of watching the environment that makes The Bahamas what it is be slowly torn apart, another five years of watching coral reefs destroyed and fish, crawfish and conch habitats in wetlands diminish, another five years of more emphasis on concrete buildings than on building communities with parks and green spaces, another five years of antiquated, expensive and unreliable energy sources when better is available.

We don’t believe Romauld Ferreira will let that happen, but he may have to fight hard for the right to take responsibility for environmental matters up front and not settle for explaining what went wrong after the fact.

It is so important that it bears repeating - for the first time in the history of The Bahamas, the country whose most prominent feature is its environment, we have a Cabinet Minister whose training and professional life have prepared him for the task and the responsibility. Mr. Ferreira is not merely an environmental advocate. For three decades he has lived, breathed and worked in the environmental field, first in hands-on jobs, later in environmental law. Ferreira earned a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) in Ecology and Chemistry from the University of the West Indies in 1990, worked for Department of Marine Resources for four years in coral reef, wetlands and aqua animal protection and conservation, then went to BEC as its Environmental Officer for six years. It was there he saw such troubling practices, that his fear for the waters of The Bahamas drove him to study law. He earned an LL.B with Honours from the University of London, was called to the UK Bar from Lincoln’s Inn, and was admitted to the Bahamas Bar in 2001.

Just as Marvin Dames is so aptly suited to be Minister of National Security, Romauld Ferreira is ideal for the post to which he was appointed and for that, we congratulate the Prime Minister on his selection. We do not believe there is another person in this country better suited to be Minister of Environment, nor would it be easy to find anyone in the region with the qualifications that Mr. Ferreira has. We expect from him the same passion in government he displayed as a private citizen at town hall meetings with residents of Marathon who were kept in the dark about the Rubis oil leak poisoning their water supply. We hope that environmental advocacy organisations like the Bahamas National Trust and Save The Bays will stand with Mr. Ferreira and lend him the support he will need to move his agenda, including signing off on the long-awaited North Bimini Marine Reserve.

It will not be easy, but Mr. Ferreira has the capability to do what has to be done if he does not fall into that slippery place where things continue to get done as they always were. Decisions about the dispensation and use of Crown Land can no longer be in the sole hands of a single person, the Prime Minister. There must be expanded public consultation on any proposed project, not lip service with the government arriving laden with documents and maps and informing people about what is going to happen, but actually engaging the public that will be affected to participate in the discussion at the start.

The Bahamian public will be watching Mr. Dames and Mr. Ferreira closely. From them much is expected and much can be delivered to reshape this nation in the most positive way. One is responsible for the respect we show one another; the other is responsible for the respect we show the physical world around us, the air we breathe, the water we treasure, the land we love. We wish them both great success. Ultimately, they hold our future in their hands and we will hold their feet to the fire.