Minnis faces unions as doctors fight on
THE Public Hospitals Authority is maintaining its emergency operations protocol today as senior doctors press on with their industrial action before a key meeting with Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis this morning. Dr Minnis is said to be concerned that tensions surrounding the dispute have been ramped up too high and has asked the CPSA to stop talking about the matter in the press.
Rolle defends ‘easy target’ of civil servants after criticism
PUBLIC Service Minister Brensil Rolle defended civil servants against critiques while also underscoring the Minnis administration’s commitment to improving the public service sector after Cabinet Secretary Camille Johnson was quoted in a recent Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report calling some key workers “weak”.
Senate backs bid to use dormant bank funds
THE government’s bid to utilise $41.3m from dormant bank accounts to set up a disaster relief fund is one step closer to law, after the Senate yesterday voted in favour of both the Bank and Trust Companies Amendment Bill and the Central Bank of the Bahamas Amendment Bill.
Minnis to face union presidents
PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis will conduct “head to head” talks with union leaders next week in the face of escalating labour issues, according to Labour Minister Dion Foulkes.
‘Acting Surveyor General doesn’t turn up for work’
A TOP consultant in the Office of the Prime Minister has said delays at the Office of the Surveyor General have been “unconscionable,” telling The Tribune the acting Surveyor General Thomas Ferguson “doesn’t show up to work”.
Henfield ‘must do more’ after anti-gay slur
ACTIVIST Erin Greene yesterday suggested parliamentarians adopt an anti-hate speech campaign after a senator used a homophobic slur on social media.
40 to be hired as part of plan to clean up Over-the-Hill
FORTY people in Centreville and Bain and Grants Town will be hired as environmental monitors for a 52-week programme to identify and help get rid of bulk waste, derelict vehicles and other environmental hazards, according to Rocky Nesbitt, the project manager of the Over-the-Hill rejuvenation initiative.
PM: Patients safe in doctors’ revolt
PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis is convinced doctors will not jeopardise the healthcare of patients as members of the Consultant Physicians Staff Association head into their third day of industrial action.
Lights out for 5,400 ‘can’t pay’ families
WORKS Minister Desmond Bannister revealed yesterday that 5,412 households across the country are “off the grid,” as a result of not paying energy bills for 60 days or more and collectively owe Bahamas Power and Light more than $5m.
Mitchell: Cut the attacks - and not the economy
PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party Chairman Fred Mitchell criticised Finance Minister Peter Turnquest yesterday for what he called “ad hominem attacks” against PLP Deputy Leader Chester Cooper.
Minnis: We’ll put money into disaster fund once the country has a surplus
THE government plans to set aside a small percentage of future fiscal surpluses to help fund disaster recovery efforts, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said yesterday.
‘McAlpine quarrel damaging party’
THE public war of words between Free National Movement Chairman Carl Culmer and Pineridge MP Frederick McAlpine has portrayed the party as one shrouded by “division,” making it easier for the public to withdraw its support for the government, former FNM Cabinet minister Frank Watson told The Tribune yesterday.
775 hotel rooms on GB is not enough, says D'Aguilar
TOURISM and Aviation Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar has said the “most critical thing” his ministry has been given to do is increase the “staggeringly low” number of hotel rooms on Grand Bahama.
McAlpine: I put country first – always
AS he slammed Free National Movement Chairman Carl Culmer for calling him a hypocrite, Pineridge MP Frederick McAlpine yesterday suggested the FNM chair was not a real leader.
Possibility of industrial action by doctors ‘looking less likely’
HEALTH Minister Dr Duane Sands yesterday said the possibility of doctors withdrawing services is “looking less and less likely” as there continues to be “tremendous progress” in negotiations between the Consultant Physicians Staff Association (CPSA) and the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA).
