A common thread is running through various policy pronouncements of Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis that reflects a disturbing lack of quality of thought in the process of decision making.
We saw this play out repeatedly over the course of the pandemic, where ill thought out decisions were made – an alphabet system for grocery shopping and a no-notice lockdown that had to be immediately reversed are just two examples.
We continue to see declarations made that appear bereft of good advice and thoughtful consideration.
The most recent examples are the prime minister’s pronouncement last Friday that there will be a vaccination day when those of us who are fully vaccinated will have our civil liberties temporarily restored.
Minnis’ recently touted upscale housing initiative for young professionals, which he also highlighted on Friday when he spoke with reporters, is another example.
In Parliament last week, Minnis faced stinging criticisms from his former deputy prime minister, Peter Turnquest, over that housing initiative. It was the latest round of criticisms faced by the prime minister from a Free National Movement MP.
Just seven months ago, Turnquest was in Minnis’ Cabinet where policy decisions were being discussed, although it is not known whether the plan to provide government land at cheap rates, accompanied by other concessions, to a certain group of Bahamians was already up for discussion when he sat around the table.
In reflecting on various pronouncements made by Minnis, we are often left to wonder whether he is taking advice from a shallow pool of advisors, or whether he is simply shooting from the hip, as Progressive Liberal Party Leader Philip Brave Davis put it when he spoke with a Nassau Guardian reporter on Sunday.
When he announced plans for vaccination day, Minnis said fully vaccinated individuals will be able to have happy hour events and parties, and will not have to adhere to the 10 p.m. curfew.
This is seemingly an effort to encourage more people to get vaccinated, but it will probably turn more people off than anything else.
In our editorial yesterday, we opined that the notion as announced is as senseless as it is useless.
We also noted that governments throughout the world have been considering the implications of allowing people who have been fully vaccinated to receive privileges denied to the non-vaccinated.
Though being fully vaccinated does not give a 100 percent guarantee against contracting or transmitting COVID-19, there is evidence that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine does hamper the contraction of COVID-19, but we question what the value is in giving certain people one “day” to enjoy their freedoms once again.
The announcement is insulting.
If we are of such low risk to public health that we can be curfew-free and can have parties with other vaccinated individuals, why would that be appropriate for just one day?
We call it a Cinderella gimmick. While we will be allowed one night to let it all hang loose with other people who have gotten the jab, when the sun comes up the next day we will be confined once again to the cellar of withheld civil liberties.
Further, why would Minnis, the all-powerful competent authority, introduce measures that would most likely create havoc in enforcement?
Will police walk around parties asking all attendees to present evidence of vaccination?
Will restaurants hosting happy hour be required to have all of their staff vaccinated?
Will police have to employ resources to ensure that only vaccinated individuals are staying out beyond 10 p.m.?
Is it even fair to people who have gotten their first jab to be told they need to be in by 10 p.m. while those with their second jab already may stay out late? What about those days away from being fully vaccinated?
Is it fair to unvaccinated individuals who can show a negative result of a COVID-19 test to continue to have their civil liberties suppressed indefinitely?
Because vaccinated individuals are still able to spread the virus and are still able to contract it, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not recommended a vaccine passport be introduced. This is why individuals are still required to have a negative COVID test to fly into the United States.
But we are allowed to travel to the United States, enjoy our freedoms there, mingle with anyone we want and return to The Bahamas without testing so long as we are vaccinated.
While observing yesterday that our prime minister is seeking to incentivize more people to take the vaccine, we noted, too, that what he may ultimately create is a culture of privilege for vaccinated people that will foment envy in those who are hesitant to take the vaccine, leading to further discord.
We say it again – The restricting of the civil liberties of people in this country is being treated far too cavalierly.
Minnis has advised that he will outline details for vaccination day when he speaks in the House of Assembly tomorrow.
It would come as many people are increasingly anxious for another day – Election Day.
Discriminatory and clumsy initiatives
It does not appear that Minnis has invested considerable time into thinking this one through.
We made a similar observation in March when we wrote about the prime minister’s plan for the development of a residential community in western New Providence for young professionals.
The initiative as presented by the prime minister in the House of Assembly will involve the sale of 83 acres of public land, located north of John F. Kennedy Drive, between Prospect Ridge and the Ministry of Public Works, to young Bahamian professionals (individuals 18 to 45).
In the House of Assembly last week, Turnquest, the former deputy prime minister, called the Access to Affordable Homes (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which carves out tax benefits for the select group of homeowners, “discriminatory” and said it “goes against the principle of fairness and equal treatment under the law,”.
“This bill is extremely worrisome to me as it is inherently discriminatory on many fronts, though well-intentioned,” Turnquest said.
“Every citizen of The Bahamas is an equal taxpayer and has an inalienable right to enjoy equal benefits provided by the state.”
Minnis, meanwhile, has a warped sense of government’s role in facilitating affordable housing.
On Friday, the prime minister dismissed criticisms made during the budget debate in the House of Assembly by Turnquest and other FNM MPs, saying that he is focused on ensuring that young people have “all the advantages possible in advancing”.
“And there are too many people who want to move into upscale homes in the western area and eastern area and they can’t afford it. It is cost-prohibitive. So, it is the government’s responsibility to assist wherever possible,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government has barely recorded any success in addressing homelessness as a result of Hurricane Dorian, which impacted Abaco and Grand Bahama.
Minnis’ Over-the-Hill initiative, intended to rejuvenate those Nassau communities Over-the-Hill, has also had limited success with no obvious signs of any rejuvenation.
His idea of using taxpayer dollars to facilitate “upscale” housing for a small number of “young professionals” is ill-advised policy.
We are often baffled that the Office of the Prime Minister fails in some important instances to produce the quality of thinking that one would expect from an Office of Prime Minister, unless Minnis is refusing to take advice.
We often wonder whether there is really a set of sound technical considerations that goes into the thought process. Sometimes, this just does not appear to be the case.
Interestingly in Parliament on Monday, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Michael Pintard described the government’s execution of a signing with Oban Energies for a $5.5 billion oil refinery and storage facility in 2018, as “clumsy” and a “rookie mistake”.
The Oban signing – in which the company official signing the agreement with the government was caught on a Guardian camera signing someone else’s name – was an example of an early bungling of a major initiative by the Minnis administration. Minnis later told Parliament that “missteps” had been made.
We assume the deal is dead as no government official has provided any update on so-called negotiations with company officials for a new agreement.
The Oban deal was more than clumsy. It reflected the government’s failure to take a thorough approach to such an important arrangement and its neglect of the Bahamian people’s best interest.
Had it not been for a vigilant media and the scrutiny of a sensible citizenry paying attention, the Minnis administration’s bad decision making might have resulted in the project progressing.
That deal was superintended by the prime minister, so if it was indeed a rookie mistake, as his minister put it, Minnis was the rookie, though the Cabinet is collectively responsible for that bad deal.
Oban, it seems, was an omen for this administration.
But it was only the start of a tendency to roll out bad policy and make pronouncements, which appear devoid of adequate consideration and thorough review of likely outcomes.
When any government undertakes crafting public policy, it must be approached in a manner that produces the broadest net good effect for the Bahamian people.
But what the prime minister has trended toward doing with his public policy approaches of late is creating public policy envy – where certain groups in society feel marginalized by a benefit provided to another group.
There are also public policy initiatives recently announced by the prime minister that carry the taint of cynicism and further feed into the belief that he is just making it up as he goes along.
The announcement of a VAT holiday on hurricane supplies in his remarks during the budget debate comes to mind.
Firstly, most people who are serious about being ready for a potential hurricane purchase the majority of their hurricane supplies before the start of hurricane season to avoid crowds and limited supply should a hurricane come.
Secondly, there was no mention of a VAT holiday on hurricane supplies in the budget communication the previous week, and no accounting for the effect it would have on robust revenue projections that many, including Turnquest, have characterized as aggressive.
We want to have confidence that the prime minister of our country is taking a considered approach to policymaking that will result in better lives for all Bahamians; whether that prime minister is Dr. Hubert Minnis or not.
Confidence in the prime minister and those around him is eroded to our national detriment when he appears to be winging it as he has clearly been doing for quite some time.
The post From the hip appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/from-the-hip/
No comments:
Post a Comment