The Tribune

THE diplomatic sparring between the US and China has continued over the signing of a deal to provide a loan towards a new hospital for New Providence.

An interesting wrinkle has emerged however with the revelation that the Chinese deal was not the only one available to the Bahamas government, with an offer having been made by the UK government on terms said to be competitive with the Chinese offer.

That offer was made in writing to both the Ministry of Health and to the government in writing – but never received a response.

It is intriguing to know that another offer was available, especially considering the bombastic nature of the US response to the deal.

A note from the US chargé d’affaires, Kimberly Furnish, said: “Chinese investments in the Caribbean typically benefit elites, not the people, leaving countries with shoddy or incomplete projects and unsustainable debt to China, jeopardising their development and sovereignty.”

The note went on to say the US would continue to work with The Bahamas government “so they can make informed decisions about interactions with China”.

Some parts of the deal are still being resolved – such as the ratio of the workforce between Bahamian and Chinese workers.

As for the British element, the UK High Commission reported that its offer was intended to match or beat the Chinese terms on project cost, construction timeline and repayment conditions.

As far as we know, there was no offer on the table from the US to provide funding, let alone on comparable terms.

What matters of course for Bahamians is the best deal to provide the best outcome.

If that is the China deal, so be it, but we hope that full attention was given to other options to make sure that was the case.

Perhaps the China deal was too far advanced for the government to consider other options. But then again perhaps the seemingly long process there has been over this hospital might have opened the door to other avenues.

There of course remain other open questions about the new hospital – not least of all outstanding concerns over how it will be staffed when we already have a shortage of medical staff for the facilities we have now.

Improving our healthcare is an admirable goal – doing so for the best value even more so. No stone should be left unturned in seeking that outcome.

What are you going to do about it?

Sometimes, when politicians raise a topic, we should all ask a simple question: “What are you going to do about it?”

Prime Minister Philip Davis suggested that it is up to the Bahamian people to decide whether the country should adopt the Caribbean Court of Justice as its final court of appeal instead of the UK Privy Council.

Excellent. What are you going to do about it?

Nothing, it would seem. It is up to the Bahamian people, he says. Pointedly, he makes no mention of whether he is going to ask the people, with a referendum, or put it in his next election manifesto.

Then Mr Davis called the findings of a report on children’s health “staggering” and heartbreaking, saying the high rate of suicide attempts represents a moral and national crisis demanding urgent action.

He did not however outline the action his government would take. Correctly identifying a problem exists does not in any way solve it on its own.

Then there is the FNM leader, Michael Pintard, who railed against another national crisis, of security this time, while pointing the finger at immigration, calling for stronger border patrols and harsher penalties even as the Detention Centre has a historic low of just 50 occupants, apparently.

In fairness, Mr Pintard has provided a list of things he is going to do about the issue, although has not presented evidence of the crisis itself. It is fair to ask how is it worse now than when the last administration he served in was in office. Evidence, please.