PLP Leader Philip "Brave" Davis.
By EARYEL BOWLEG
ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
PLP leader Philip Davis has criticised Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ recent national address for not responding to the urgent needs of struggling Bahamians with no food and or money.
This week, Dr Minnis announced the suspension of the alphabetical shopping schedule and the appointment of a food security task force to ensure those in need receive adequate food. In a statement sent Monday night, Mr Davis acknowledged these key points of the address but argued that the urgent needs of many Bahamians were not being taken care of.
The opposition leader said that shortly before the prime minister’s address, he received a call from a single mother down on her luck. He said: “She is desperate. She has no food and the landlord is threatening eviction. She is hurting now and the address provided no hope but more agony and despair.”
Mr Davis, pictured, said the announced task force “appeared to be a longer term strategy to deal with the broader issues of food security and increased local food production capacity.” He further questioned the prime minister’s statement that progress was being made in the COVID-19 fight. “(Monday night) we heard the prime minister boast that we are making progress in the fight against COVID-19 but how does he measure that when at the same time he announced that the number of cases is rising?
“Where is the light at the end of the tunnel? The prime minister presumably has in his possession the metrics to give some kind of forecast as to when he sees the picture improving. None of that was evident in his speech (Monday), except the bare assertion that things are getting better. Where is the evidence of that?”
Mr Davis also brought up concerns about the immediate needs of the unemployed, the poor, the elderly and the disabled. The prime minister had “nothing encouraging to say” to newly unemployed persons who have applied to the National Insurance Board (NIB) for employment insurance benefits, said the opposition leader.
He noted the PLP’s representatives in Parliament urged in their contributions that bureaucratic norms be done away with in this crisis. “It is regrettable that the government did not see its way to have employers continue to pay the salaries of the displaced workers and for the government to reimburse employers on receipt of rebillable invoices. This option is quicker, more efficient and would spare NIB the administrative overload that is at the root of the payment delays. The government is advised to reconsider this option,” he said.
Comments
Cobalt 4 years ago
(Suck my teet) Y’all hear somebody talkin? I een hear nobody talkin.
Cobalt 4 years ago
And this little piggy cried wee wee wee all the way home.
Clamshell 4 years ago
Translation: “Da gravy boat be empty! Fill da gravy boat! Hands me my spoon!”
joeblow 4 years ago
The mentality that the government is "supposed" to take care of people is patently wrong! The governments job is to create opportunities that citizens are responsible for taking advantage of for their own betterment. Nothing politicians like more than people having to come to them for scraps so they can maintain power through learned helplessness!
We do need a social welfare net for those who fall through the cracks, but something is wrong is everybody falls through the cracks!
Well_mudda_take_sic 4 years ago
Lord das one ooogly lookin' short stumpy pudgy fella. Y'all sure he one o' us cuss he sure look darker d'an most o' us Bahamians? He' be even darker d'an da blackist nite wit' no moon duran' BPL outich, an' y'all duss know how dark dat duss be! He bessy wear one d'em white China bug doctor mask at nite so he head don't disappear. Udder'wise he gonna scare some ole' lady ta death.
Topdude 4 years ago
Week_mudda_take_sic this is perhaps the most racist comment ever written in these columns. Inasmuch that Mr. Davis is unqualified for the position he holds as the Leader of the Opposition as well as the position he aspires to as the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, he does not deserve this racist characterization.
You are now showing your true colors and the depth of your mental deprivation. Oh how I wish you would take a serious look at your face in the mirror. Whatever you see you must be unhappy. Once again, I can recommend the name of a few psychiatrists who just may be able to put their fingers on the root of your illnesses before recommending a room at Sandilands. Wow , you have really hit the bottom of the barrel. I will pray for you.
Well_mudda_take_sic 4 years ago
There you go again playing that tired 'ole race card. No Bahamian with a good pair of eyes would deny that Davis is short, stumpy, pudgy and much darker than most Bahamians. Those are his physical features plain as day and most Bahamians know that similarly featured persons quite often hail from islands south of the Bahamas. I'm sure Brave is very comfortable in his dark skin. The real question here is: Are you comfortable in your own, possibly, lighter skin? You certainly have a great penchant for calling people racist who you perceive to be overly critical of the supreme leader you worship and idolize so much, i.e. Minnis. Try trolling others for a change because I'm certainly not the least bit flattered by all of your attention to my posts.
Topdude 4 years ago
Mr. Davis is once again shooting himself in the foot. On one hand he is arguing for the Government to do away with conventional bureaucratic procedures and safeguards and permit a non traditional response to alleviating the hardships brought on by this crisis.
On the other hand he is continuing with the criticism and bashing of the Government. Is not in order for the Opposition to close ranks with the Government at this time? Is it not in order at this critical time in our nation’s history for the Opposition to throw support to the Government so we can present a united front to fight this scourge?
Mr. Davis is doing no one a favor by trying to score political points at this time.
Please let us come together to help each other at all levels of society. Blessings.
CatIslandBoy 4 years ago
Each time this fella opens his mouth, I become so embarrassed that he sits as the Representative for Cat Island. We must do better than that! And to think that he aspires to be Prime Minister? Heaven help us!
moncurcool 4 years ago
The mark of a leader is what e is able to do for his constituency he represents. The same thing that Davis has done for the constituency he has represented will be exactly what he will do for the Bahamas if heaven forbid he is ever elected PM. That right there ought to be a wakeup for every Bahamian. I agree with you. Heaven help us on Davis. He can't be serious!
Well_mudda_take_sic 4 years ago
...ditto that....
SP 4 years ago
As a self-employed small business owner and someone that also somehow fell through cracks, this is one instance where I must agree with Brave Davis!
For whatever reason, many people have been left without any resources for survival. Granted, the government has tried to reach out to a lot of people, but I for one have not benefited 0.1c to date and cannot see any hope of help on the horizon.
There must be some very desperately hurting people out there!!
TalRussell 4 years ago
Oh for great moment when Pindling, Milo B, and Clarance Bain, tooks PopoulacesOrdinary's fight to Bay Street! Maybe so comrade SP, but are you of age have remembered the 1967 and 1968 general elections when the PLP leadership weren't afforded the opportunity have either the two mainstream newspapers get to decide which of and when they' publish the party's lazy leadership armchair press releases. In fact neither two dailies would've publish a single word if it may have resulted in the defeat UBP's. But has the Editorial policies...much changed?
stillwaters 4 years ago
Brave, you are not helping.....even though you want to become the next Prime minister, this is just not.....not the way, my boy.......wrong bus, wrong seat......
ThisIsOurs 4 years ago
If nothing else this crisis may give more Bahamians who categorized everyone who was jobless, poor, asking for help as automatically lazy, wasteful and dumb a new outlook on how easy it is for anybody to become a victim of circumstances.
Unfortunately I'm not sure Mr Davis offers anything other than a shoulder to cry on.
There are no easy answers here. The one thing I do know with surety is the solution can't be to let people starve or become vagrants.
There are people with viable ideas to assist, the govt doesn't appear to be listening. They are doing quite a bit of we're for the people PR but imposing too many rules on who doesn't qualify for help. The banks have done it as well. It's somewhat baffling when everybody except maybe the 1% needs help.
What do I expect the govt to do? Help everybody? Normally I'd say no. In this circumstance, Yes. Help everybody.
SP 4 years ago
Funny you should mention the banks. Just a few short weeks ago RBC was adamantly encouraging me with phone calls and emails to come in and borrow $80,000.00+ for a new luxury car. Now the same bank wouldn't loan me $10,000.00 when I need it most for survival!
ThisIsOurs 4 years ago
the banks have literally done nothing. Their normal pre-covid process is 90 days grace , which is pretty good. In 3 months we will see who the real "good" corporate citizens are. Because 3 months is just run of the mill grace. Beyond that period is your actual plan to help people in an extraordinary crisis.
proudloudandfnm 3 years, 12 months ago
This is going to be long, no matter what government does we as a country will be isolated probably until a vaccine is available or a cure. We definitely have to look at every extreme possibility....
We will probably see extremely high unemployment numbers for a while. Food may become an issue, our meats come from the US and right now there are infection surges in a number of meat processing plants.
We cannot ignore the severity of what we may face. There is no easy answer.
Wisdom4 3 years, 11 months ago
These are hard times for everyone. It takes nothing to join the crowd. It takes everything to stand alone.
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