The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE Davis administration is proposing several key legislative changes, among them how the country deals with gender equality.

Social Services and Urban Development Minister Obie Wilchcombe revealed yesterday that the government is proposing to address gender equality issues as part of its legislative agenda in the House of Assembly as he gave remarks in observance of Tuesday’s International Women’s Day.

However, the minister did not give specifics as to how far the proposed change will go.

Mr Wilchcombe said: “I’d like the House to be told that the Attorney General (Ryan Pinder) of our country is today (Wednesday) engaged in significant legislation that we will soon come to this Parliament with to discuss how we move the whole question of human rights and gender equality will certainly be amongst the legislative changes that we hope to make to this Parliament and to this country.”

His comments came amid continued discussion in the country about marital rape and the urging of some for government to criminalise the act. The Free National Movement on Tuesday called on the Davis administration to amend the Bahamas Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act (1991) to criminalise marital rape.

Further, children born outside of the country to a married Bahamian woman and a foreign man are not automatically granted Bahamian citizenship and thus must apply to receive it.

In 2016, a gender equality referendum asked the electorate whether they would support four constitutional amendments. One of those questions included Bahamian women being afforded this right as their male counterparts, but it was rejected.

When he spoke yesterday, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis also told members of Parliament that there were several laws that were rushed by the former administration and poorly constructed.

He was referring to the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2018; the Public Procurement Act, 2021; the Public Financial Management Act, 2021; the Debt Management Act, 2021 and the Statistics Act, 2021.

Mr Davis said: “While these items of legislation may have been well-intentioned, much of the detail was not properly considered. The Bills were rushed, poorly-constructed and did not reflect the views and realities of the people who must operate under the auspices of the legislation.

“We did raise objections at the time, but it is regrettable that the government at the time used its super-majority to shout down sensible debate, and allow for full and proper consideration. “We intend that revised legislation allows for increased transparency, while accommodating the need for operational efficiency.”

Mr Davis said it was his administration’s intention for revisions that would allow for increased transparency, while accommodating the need for operational efficiency.

“All the items of legislation I am about to highlight are flawed.

“In the Fiscal Responsibility Act, we have created a Fiscal Council which is not functioning in the way which was intended. The Public Procurement Act creates a Public Procurement Department, but no steps have been taken to create that department.

“In particular, the ‘Methods of Procurement Section’ of the Act needs to be re-drafted. The Public Finance Management Act, created another department, the ‘Accountant General’s Department’ but again, the previous administration which introduced it, took no action to create the entity in the public service.

“You can well imagine our shock when we were told that that is why we have to retroactively approve transactions made since July 1, 2021. The PFM Act also has reporting clauses which no one seems to understand how to implement. Matters were made worse by the fact that the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the Public Procurement Act and the Public Finance Act were all introduced without regulations.”

Mr Davis said these were serious impediments when implementing complex legislation, and raised further serious questions of competence regarding the previous administration.

Continuing in this vein, the Debt Management Act also creates a Debt Office, but as with the previous Acts mentioned, no work was done in implementing the legislation. So, no, there is no organisation chart for the Debt Management Office, no true separation of roles between the back, middle and front offices as required by legislation, and no procedural manual.

“For the Statistics Act, the major concern we have is that it deprives the members of staff of the former Department of Statistics of their pension rights. The Act, which I am advised did not have the support of the senior management of the former department, requires all employees to be forced to resign, and then be rehired.

“This provision would have been chaotic and there is no precedent in the public service for treating the staff in this manner.

“Madam Speaker, to be charitable, one might presume that the previous administration did not understand the legislation they were passing. To think otherwise suggests that they were intent on undermining the very fabric of the public sector. Such an attack on the infrastructure of the state is almost too unconscionable to imagine,” Mr Davis said.