The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

All of the Ministers moved in the Prime Minister’s recent so-called and highly unimpressive shuffle have been flat footed, uninspiring runners on a ministerial hamster wheel that has led to nowhere. What’s more, there are more within the Cabinet who remain in positions that they, in my opinion, are unqualified to have.

As an educated Bahamian, one wonders how such an unimpressive Cabinet could’ve been assembled. Even more, there are glaring concerns in the Cabinet, namely the fact that whilst young Bahamians between 18 and 35 make up the majority of our population and our electorate, that age group has no representation in the Cabinet; secondly, the representation of females is reposed in an underwhelming Minister who leaves quite a lot to be desired; thirdly, there is no strong Family Island representation in the Cabinet as it is Nassau-centric and, to a lesser extent, centred on Grand Bahama; and, fourth, the Cabinet seemingly lacks intellectual and overall balance, even in the portfolio assignments which can better be streamlined or broken up. Essentially, the Cabinet is a table around which sits people with an average age over 50 years old; a single female; and Family Islands are mostly absent

This week’s Cabinet re-assignments caused the nation to roll its eyes collectively.

Let’s take a look at each.

Frankie Campbell - the smug, pompous and clueless now-Minister of Social Services - should have been bounced from the Cabinet. It’s my opinion that he has not a clue of government policy; never ran anything in all of his 30 years as a policeman; and has struggled mightily in his former role as Minister of Transport and Local Government.

Mr Campbell cannot point to a simple feat or accomplishment he made in all his time as Minister of Transport and Local Government.

Unified bus system? None. Tightening on cruising and raising fees related thereto? None. Addressing issues such as the break-up of the dock in Bimini and the wrecking and break-up of a barge in Long Island? None. Positive developments in local government on the Family Islands? None. Rolling out local government in Nassau? None. Improvements to the main post office or Family Island post offices? None!

One could go on and on about his failures or lack of success in his former Ministry. And yet, he is rewarded with another!

What’s more, Mr Campbell has demonstrably highlighted that he is a talker whose dismissiveness and/or nonchalant approach leaves much to be desired.

Notably though, anywhere the Prime Minister travels, Frankie Campbell is tailing him, figuratively hanging on to his coat tails and staying in sight. Like Lanisha Rolle, he is in the Cabinet due to this very fact, which has clearly endeared him to the PM - whom we believe he had no strong personal connection with before four years ago - and caused him to be rewarded when it was perhaps better to allow him to learn management skills from the backbench.

It‘s my opinion that Michael Pintard has proven to be a ministerial dud. He is a big talker and, if one closes their eyes and listens to him, it is as if he is always on a stage, performing. Obie Wilchcombe, the PLP’s former Minister of Tourism, gave off that same aura. One always gets the impression that much stock is put into words and pumping up a crowd, but actions are slow to follow.

Mr Pintard did little at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture. I cannot recall any notable accomplishment in any of the prongs of his Ministry.

What major youth initiatives were undertaken that impacted the country-at-large in a meaningful way? None. What major sporting events did we cultivate locally? None. What major cultural initiative was undertaken - and I’m not just talking about Junkanoo? None. Shouldn’t a younger person head a Ministry of Youth and Sports, as most participants involved in either are young people? Why are 40 and 50-something year olds given this job? That, in and of itself, is visionless. The people were promised a separate Ministry of Culture. Where is it? Or was that also walked back on?

Pintard - who we understand is not among the Cabinet favourites - nonetheless sits there and, quite frankly, has rendered a performance that, in theatrical fashion, could best be described as “woeful”. Oh woe is me! We hope that his move to the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources yields a far better outcome than his stint at his former post. Mr Pintard is better suited in a more theatrical role..say, press secretary.

Renward Wells, the former Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, was another talker who deserved to be moved.

Frankly, the questions surrounding Mr Wells go all the way back to the letter of intent debacle. He has still not answered the questions that led to him being fired by former Prime Minister Perry Christie; yet, today, he is a big honcho in the FNM government, leading all affairs in the House and ranking high as a Cabinet Minister. These are interesting times and politics does, indeed, make strange bedfellows. Mr Wells has hardly touched a single Family Island, outside of his native Andros and its BAMSI, during his time as Agriculture Minister. And no, we are not saying he didn’t visit them for regattas; we are saying there is little to no evidence of his impact otherwise. As it relates to fisheries, poachers continue to run wild and do as they see fit.

We wish him well at the Ministry of Transport where we, at the very least, know that he will do better than the former minister. His utterances in the business section of The Tribune yesterday were welcomed.

We intentionally waited to address the Lanisha Rolle move. Firstly, Mrs Rolle ought not to have been made a minister to begin with. Of all the women in the FNM – inside and outside of Parliament – why was she the chosen one?

Mrs Rolle has colossally failed in her role as Minister of Social Services. Even more, prior to the firing of former Parliamentary Secretary Vaughn Miller, it was widely rumoured that they simply could not get along.

By all accounts, all was not well at the Ministry of Social Services as staff expressed disdain, unions were rumoured to be ready to march and, even Mrs Rolle’s parliamentary colleagues, express a deep annoyance for her.

Sadly though, Mrs Rolle has been thrust on the Bahamian people yet again at another ministry. The public at large seems to resent her and that resentment was on full display immediately after the announcement of the so-called shuffle.

Boy oh boy, Lanisha Rolle sure has favour! A bit too much.

Rolle should have been sent packing to the backbench. Why she wasn’t bundled up and sent there leaves much to be desired.

What’s worse, Mrs Rolle is placed at the helm of a Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture that struggled mightily under her. Mightily. What will these mean for that ministry?

Sadly, there are many no-name ministers in the Minnis Cabinet for whom the appointment as a minister has gone to their head; and their caustic, diabolical and pompous behaviour is irritable and puts off the public-at-large and FNM supporters. We are told of occasions, even among MPs, where certain ministers demand that Senators, MPs and former Parliamentarians call their secretaries as opposed to speaking to them directly or demand to even be addressed as “minister.” How pathetic! Wonder what that fall will look like if and when they are no longer in that seat?

Let‘s be real. The so-called shuffle was yet another distraction for the media and the general public, to take the public’s attention off a 12 percent VAT hike. We call it political sleight of hand.

Given the lethargic performance of a Cabinet with only a handful of workers and one where you can count the real stars on one hand, a real Cabinet shuffle will soon be due. One where the Cabinet deck is not merely shuffled but one where individuals are removed from the deck and placed on the back bench or made ambassadors or any other role. The PM might wish to think twice about going into another election with more than half of the current lot of ministers.

Clearly, the so-called shuffled indicated a lack of confidence. No matter what other disingenuous political claptrap is uttered, that is simply what it is. Clearly, all four of the ministers removed were long panned and dismissed as do-nothing ministers and, in some cases, do-nothing MPs.

It is a deflection. A gimmicky distraction.

And so, the government marches on with four seemingly incompetent Cabinet Ministers... moved into another position for which inefficiency will no doubt, yet again, be a trademark. It will be interesting to see what happens in another year, at the midway mark.

Will the FNM government do like the Christie administration and drag Cabinet dead weight into the next election or will substantial, more futuristic changes be made.

RILEY SANDECUTT

Nassau,

July 4, 2018.