The Nassau Guardian
Roberts tells Abaco residents govt’s cleaning up FNM mess
Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Bradley Roberts told North Abaco residents that a protracted recession and slow recovery have hindered an economic turnaround.
Roberts said the Christie administration is working to clean up the “mess” made by the Free National Movement (FNM) administration.
“The government’s mandate to turn things around is a five-year mandate, not three months, not six months and not a year,” said Roberts at a public meeting of the North Abaco PLP Branch in Marsh Harbour.
October 15 marked the one-year anniversary of the North Abaco by-election, which saw PLP candidate Renardo Curry beat out FNM hopeful Greg Gomez.
The area’s previous MP, former Prime Minister and former FNM Leader Hubert Ingraham, won his seat eight consecutive times before retiring last year.
Roberts blamed the Ingraham administration’s fiscal policies for the country’s current financial situation.
“We are working from a severe deficit position that was not of our doing,” Roberts said.
“You hired us to clean up the mess left behind by the FNM and for all the gloom and doom preached by the critics of the PLP government, not one critic can say with the support of empirical evidence that the policies of the PLP government have made conditions in the country worse.
“We all agree that the economic recovery is slower than we would like and that serious crimes are not declining as rapidly as we would like, but all objectively minded people can see that the government is making the right decisions for the long term growth and stability of The Bahamas.”
Roberts said the government has committed to several initiatives meant to help North Abaco.
He said the government has approved several projects, including the Blackfly Bonefish Lodge at Schooner Bay; the Sand Bar Beach Club and Resort at Treasure Cay Beach and Caribe Farms Ltd., a 2,000-acre commercial farming project.
Roberts said the government is evaluating several large projects in Sandy Point and the Abaco cays.
He referenced an ongoing program for road repair and potable water distribution in Abaco and other Family Islands and a $10 million allocation in this year’s budget for sports infrastructure on the Family Islands.
Roberts added that work on the new Marsh Harbour International Airport will be done soon and said the government will contract a third party to operate the new facility.
He said the government has also committed to constructing the North Abaco seaport and expediting repairs at the Treasure Cay Airport in this budget cycle.
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