The Nassau Guardian
FNM and DNA challenge DPM on 10,000 jobs claim
Free National Movement (FNM) Chairman Darron Cash said yesterday that Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis appears to be delusional in his assertion that his ministry has already created over 10,000 jobs.
“That is the only kind of word to describe the deputy prime minister’s ridiculous assertion that the PLP government has created more than 10,000 jobs since coming to office in May 2012,” said Cash in a statement.
“In fact, the delusional deputy has asserted that he alone has created more than 10,000 jobs in his ministry.
“It is worth noting that if indeed Mr. Davis created over 10,000 jobs in his ministry alone, they must not have been jobs filled by Bahamians.
“They must have been filled by his government’s foreign consultants and illegal aliens.”
Cash said Davis’ statistic is clearly different from the numbers published by the Department of Statistics and that he is sending the wrong message to investors.
Davis recently told The Guardian that his ministry alone has created more than 10,000 jobs.
According to data from the Department of Statistics, 3,265 net jobs were added to the economy between May 2012 and November 2013.
FNM Deputy Chairman Dr. Duane Sands said yesterday that he finds it hard to believe that Davis created over 7,000 new jobs since last November.
“I remind the deputy prime minister that he is a servant of the people and what he speaks is official, and if these data cannot be rigorously defended on the basis of the evidence then they ought not be released from his mouth,” Sands said.
Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Deputy Leader Chris Mortimer yesterday challenged Davis to specifically show what kind of jobs he created in his ministry.
“The environment doesn’t lend itself to the creation of jobs in this country,” he said.
Davis was responding to the U.S. State Department’s investment climate statement, which pointed out that the Christie administration has failed to fulfill many of its ambitious campaign promises, including creating 10,000 jobs.
Davis said it was “inappropriate” for the Americans to comment on the internal political dealings of The Bahamas.
Cash said it is not a good idea for Davis to undermine confidence in his government by forcing the business community and general public to feel “that they should have little confidence in the statistics released by the Department of Statistics”.
“The deputy clearly needs a lesson in leadership,” Cash said.
“We know that Mr. Davis is working aggressively behind the scenes to force his boss, Prime Minister Perry Christie, into early retirement.
“We have no interest in helping him do this, but for the good of the country we feel obliged to advise him that a future prime minister must inspire confidence when he speaks.”
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