With its tumultuous term in office nearing an end, the Minnis administration is substantially behind in coming anywhere near to fulfilling the “ambitious agenda of reform and modernization” outlined in its Speech from the Throne delivered by then Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling on May 24, 2017, roughly four years ago.
Even before Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic – crises which the prime minister say are responsible for derailing much of his government’s plans to date – there was no evidence that the Minnis administration was on an impressive legislative course.
The focus, according to Attorney General Carl Bethel, who spoke repeatedly to the issue, was on bringing legislation to safeguard our jurisdiction as a sound and reputable financial services center, and keep The Bahamas from being blacklisted by powerful industrialized nations, which have continued to move the goalpost.
Facing grave difficulties in balancing critical national priorities in response to disasters against other obligations of governance, the Minnis administration appears hopeful that the electorate will give it a pass given the “unprecedented” challenges it continues to point to, although we imagine that deep down some ministers understand that it will be incredibility difficult to pull off another election win.
Near the start of the Speech from the Throne, which came on a day of great fanfare and jubilation, the Minnis administration committed to enacting and enforcing anti-corruption legislation for all parliamentarians and public officers. The legislation, according to the speech, would “ensure that ministers are held to the highest standards of constitutional and personal conduct”.
The government introduced the Integrity Commission Bill, 2017. In House of Assembly records, it is still listed as “pending”.
That bill would have repealed the antiquated Public Disclosure Act, passed in 1976.
In the Speech from the Throne, the Minnis administration also stated: “My government will, with the consent of the electorate in a referendum, constitute an Independent Electoral Commission and Boundaries Commission, introduce term limits for prime ministers and introduce a system of recall for non-performing members of Parliament.”
These commitments have not been met.
Minnis claimed recently, he is still committed to these pledges, but that he lost three years due to hurricanes and the pandemic.
The Minnis administration promised an Office of Ombudsman “to provide a direct source of relief, where people have legitimate grievances due to the actions or inactions of government or any agency of the government”.
The Ombudsmen Bill was introduced in 2017 but that too is still pending.
The government pledged to amend the Public Disclosure Act “to broaden the scope of application to include campaign finance reform and to make provision for direct referral to an independent prosecutor”.
The attorney general told us repeatedly that a campaign finance bill was being finalized. Now that we are in an election season, there is no expectation that such a bill will be introduced this term.
The government pledged to improve the efficiency of the judiciary by enacting a Court Services Act to remove the Office of the Judiciary from the Public Service, and it said all new magistrates and judges will be required to attend the newly created Justice Training Institute.
The Court Services Providers Bill, 2020 – which would establish an independent body to manage the administration of the courts, to provide support services to and for judicial officers and to provide for related matters has been introduced.
It is pending.
Early in the term, the Parliament did pass the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2017 to establish the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions.
MORE PLEDGES
Among promises related to tourism, the government pledged to “execute plans for the continued refurbishment of Festival Place” in downtown Nassau.
The $250 million Nassau Cruise Port (NCP) – a key component of the long-promised revitalization of a rundown City of Nassau, made possible through a heads of agreement the Minnis administration signed with Nassau Cruise Port Ltd. in August 2019 – will provide for a new cultural and retail space at the port.
In the speech, the government also promised to repeal and replace the Grand Bahama (Port Area) Investment Incentives Act 2016 to ensure that all licensees receive equal treatment under the law.
The government introduced a Bill for an Act to repeal the Grand Bahama (Port Area) Investment Incentives Act and to provide for exemptions from certain taxes and rates.
The Grand Bahama (Port Area) Investment Incentives Bill, 2017 is still pending.
The government committed to renewing the Family Island Incentives Act to promote growth in agriculture and manufacturing and support diversification in growth of agricultural produce among Family Islands and encourage and enhance inter-island trade.
A Bill for an Act to amend the Family Islands Development Encouragement Act was passed in June 2019.
In the Speech from the Throne, the Minnis administration also stated, “My government will establish a committee to look into the implementation of local government in New Providence.”
Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis did follow through on that pledge to establish a committee.
The committee reported in 2019, months before the Hurricane Dorian crisis, which the prime minister loves to point to for throwing off his administration’s agenda.
The government refused to move on the report. It took a leak for the public to even know what the committee recommended.
The then minister responsible for local government, Renward Wells, went on record to say he was concerned that if implemented as proposed, the plan would give local government officials too much power.
The report has been shelved.
In the area of law enforcement, the government committed to enacting legislation to establish the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
The National Crime Intelligence Agency Bill, 2019 was passed in May 2019.
The government pledged to enact legislation to address the conditional release of offenders into society through a Parole and Probation of Offenders system.
Minister of National Security Marvin Dames said earlier this year officials were reviewing legislation to introduce a parole system.
In the area of education, the government committed to substantially reforming the Education Act, which will allow for the establishment of a National Education Commission.
This, too, has not happened.
In that May 2017 Speech from the Throne, the government also promised to “oversee the incremental implementation of a progressive and functional National Catastrophic Health Insurance Programme”.
This also has not happened, and there is virtually no talk of it these days.
As it regards the environment, the Minnis administration pledged to enact legislation to establish a Ministry of the Environment to coordinate all national and international environmental obligations and activities.
The Ministry of the Environment Bill as well as other bills to strengthen our environmental protection regime were passed in the House on November 20, 2019.
Another key pledge in the Speech from the Throne was the pledge to effect a reduction of value-added tax (VAT) on breadbasket items. But accompanied with its decision to raise VAT by a whopping 60 percent – from 7.5 percent to 12 percent in 2018 – the elimination of VAT on breadbasket items was met with little applause as the regressive tax continues to place a chokehold, particularly on poor families.
The decision to raise VAT, which the Minnis administration said was unavoidable, was widely seen as an early nail in its political coffin.
The government said it will enact legislation to provide for a “rent-to-own” program to facilitate home ownership.
“We will continue the development of new government housing subdivisions to address unmet demands for truly affordable housing,” it pledged.
But while it recently touted a plan to provide affordable land for a housing development for a handful of young professionals, the government has failed to move the needle in the area of home ownership.
The government promised to encourage and empower absentee landlords to redevelop their ancestral lands and abandoned buildings. There is no evidence of any impact of such a plan.
A key promise made by the FNM during its 2017 campaign and in the Speech from the Throne was a commitment to create tax-free economic zones in these areas to encourage business growth and spur job creation in the redevelopment phase and beyond.
“These zones will operate in a safe and clean environment with each zone addressing the socioeconomic situation of the area, through tripartite arrangements with landlords, government and Bahamian investors,” the speech states.
“My government will enact legislation which allows duty-free concessions on all construction materials and building supplies used in the construction of business premises and new or refurbished owner occupied homes in these zones.”
The Economic Empowerment Zones Bill, 2018 was passed.
We expect the prime minister to provide an update during his budget communication today or during the budget debate, which starts in the House next week.
In his contribution to the budget debate last year, Minnis reported that 90 applications had been made under the act. Of that, 50 had been approved. This resulted in approximately $1.246 million in business license, customs duties and real property tax concessions being provided to these businesses, he reported.
There have been a few upgrades here and there, but Over-the-Hill communities in the main remain depressed and far from rejuvenated.
In the Speech from the Throne, the government also committed to strengthen the Department of Statistics, giving that department the autonomy and resources to improve the timeliness and reliability of statistics, which are critical for decision making.
The government recently introduced the Statistics Bill. It is pending.
The Minnis administration in the speech also pledged to “strengthen the accountability and transparency of the fiscal operations of government in the Ministry of Finance”.
The government committed to introduce Public Procurement Regulations under the Financial Administration and Audit Act.
The Public Procurement Bill, 2021, the Public Debt Management Bill, 2021 and the Public Finance Management Bill, 2021 were passed in the House of Assembly on March 15, 2021.
The Fisheries Bill, 2020 also got parliamentary approval this session.
BALANCE
This article does not include the full list of bills passed or the full list of legislative commitments made by the Minnis administration on May 24, 2017, but it does provide an extensive account of the major bills promised, the major bills passed, and it does demonstrate that the government is far from being in a position to claim it has fulfilled an ambitious agenda of reform and modernization as it pledged to do.
If the prime minister decides to complete the full term, he and his government have almost another year left in which to complete other elements of their agenda, but it becomes increasingly difficult to achieve major legislative accomplishments, especially the controversial ones, in an election year.
Today, Minnis for the first time as minister of finance will present the budget communication to Parliament.
In it, the government will need to balance what is expected to be a populist approach to various initiatives, given the election season we are already in, against the more important need to implement sensible and realistic (and perhaps even tough) policy positions to stabilize a dire fiscal situation against the backdrop of an ongoing economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the next few weeks, the Parliament will be consumed by the budget debate and getting the budget passed before the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1.
If it is smart and truly wants to get more done legislatively, the Minnis administration would forgo the traditional summer recess of Parliament, refocus and get some work done.
We asked the attorney general yesterday what the government’s legislative focus will be for the remainder of the term.
Bethel was unable to say, noting only that the government hopes to get passed the Medicinal Marijuana Bill, 2021, which is expected to be introduced in the House today.
Regarding the legislative plan ahead, the AG said, “That is for Cabinet to decide.”
The post Off the mark appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/off-the-mark/
No comments:
Post a Comment