Madam Speaker,
It is always a joy to rise in this Honourable House on behalf of the people of Cat Island, Rum Cay, and San Salvador: the constituents I am privileged to serve and whose voices I carry into this Chamber.
Before I get into my substantive contribution today, permit me to share with this House and with the Bahamian people some encouraging news regarding the government’s fiscal performance.
Madam Speaker,
I am pleased to report to this honourable house that the Ministry of Finance has confirmed we have achieved a 0.5% deficit for the budget period ending June 30, 2025. This is in the mid-range of our original target of 0.3%-0.7%.
This is a remarkable achievement when compared to a budget deficit of 13.7% of GDP as of June 30, 2021.
Last year, the IMF reported that our budget deficit of 1.3% was remarkable, and no doubt that 0.5% is even “more remarkable”.
The reduction in the deficit is in keeping with our overall fiscal plan to reduce new borrowing and thus decrease the amount of national resources paying interest on debt.
Our debt management strategy going forward includes identifying opportunities to decrease our debt-servicing obligations by prudent fiscal management and using creative instruments to pay off high-cost debt and manage the maturity profile of our outstanding debt.
Madam Speaker,
In short, the more we can reduce on debt servicing, the more we can utilize those savings to improve the lives of the Bahamian people.
This is what drives me. This is what drives this government.
Madam Speaker,
I share this news on the government’s fiscal situation because it demonstrates a fundamental truth: responsible governance means managing our resources wisely across every domain, whether balancing budgets or protecting ecosystems.
The same discipline, the same vision, and the same commitment to our children’s future that drives our fiscal policy also drives our environmental stewardship.
And it is to that environmental stewardship that I now turn.
Madam Speaker,
As a people fortunate enough to live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, it can be easy to take our blessings for granted.
Just taking a drive along West Bay St. during the sunset can be breathtaking as you look out into the expanse of beautiful waters surrounding us.
And for those who are lucky enough to see some of our untouched beaches back home in Cat Island, or some of our other Family Islands, they will tell you that it’s the closest thing to heaven on earth.
The landscapes surrounding us can easily be scenes you see in a postcard.
I’m sure we all agree that any resource as beautiful and bountiful as our natural environment should be protected at all costs.
And that is why we are here today in this honourable House: to ensure that we put the resources in place to take care of our environment so it can take care of us.
The Bahamas Protected Areas Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2025, ensures that the necessary financial and manpower resources are committed to preserving our natural inheritance.
Madam Speaker,
This Administration has redoubled the government’s environmental protection efforts.
As climate change warms our waters, brings more storms to our shores, and threatens our well-being, the stakes have never been higher.
Conservation is no longer just a nice idea or a niche interest relegated to the domain of animal lovers. It isn’t just about saving a particular species of plant or marine life.
It is about survival. Our economy and way of life are deeply intertwined with the protection of our environment.
When visitors journey from across the world to our shores, they come to see clear waters. They come for white sandy beaches. They come for the bonefishing flats in Andros, which are among the best in the world. They come to swim with sharks and dolphins off the coast of Bimini, to dive in Dean’s Blue Hole in Long Island, and to snorkel and explore our coral reefs.
This is the foundation tens of thousands of Bahamian families depend on for their daily bread.
So, to not do all we can to protect our environment is basically the same thing as not doing all we can to protect ourselves.
Our conch, grouper, and crawfish, though they may be abundant, are not infinite resources.
They depend on healthy seagrass beds, on thriving mangrove nurseries, and on coral reefs that protect our coastlines and provide habitat for juvenile fish.
Our farmers depend on healthy soil and on ecosystems in balance.
Climate change threatens all of this.
Madam Speaker,
From day one, I have maintained that, though we may be what they call a “Small Island State,” our impact is large. We are not helpless: not on the global stage and certainly not within our borders.
That is why we have exhausted all avenues to protect our environment and attract resources to conservation efforts.
We have established 6.8 million hectares of Marine Protected Areas, representing 17% of our national waters.
But we did not stop there.
We have committed to protecting 30% of our nearshore waters: a conservation target that places The Bahamas among the global leaders in marine protection.
This is a commitment to our future made real through policy and backed by resources.
We have launched coral reef restoration projects in partnership with stakeholders such as Atlantis and MSC Cruises, bringing together government, the private sector, and civil society.
Our reefs, which protect our shores and sustain our fisheries, are being actively restored, polyp by polyp, by dedicated Bahamians and concerned partners.
On the international stage, The Bahamas has assumed a position of leadership. We are among the small island states advocating for greater action on climate change and expanded climate finance.
At the same time, we are conducting pioneering research that will lead the way toward blue carbon innovation.
Our vast seagrass beds and mangrove forests sequester carbon on a scale that the world is only beginning to understand. We are at the avant-garde of research informing the world’s understanding.
The government’s focus is on leveraging our natural resources to create innovative financial instruments that generate sustainable funding for their protection.
In essence, we are working to monetize our marine and land ecosystems in a way that directly supports our national adaptation and mitigation efforts.
Conservative estimates suggest our marine ecosystems hold potential value in the billions. These are vital resources that will be needed as we transition to a sustainable, eco-friendly, and climate-resilient developmental model.
Madam Speaker,
In November of last year, we entered into a historic agreement that has garnered international recognition as a model for fiscal responsibility and environmental stewardship. The Bahamas Debt Conversion for Marine Conservation Project represents a major step forward.
Essentially, we refinanced $300 million of our external commercial debt, using proceeds from a new, competitively priced loan. This strategic financial move achieved multiple objectives.
First of all, we reduced our debt servicing costs, easing fiscal pressures.
And, most importantly, we unlocked $124 million in new funding for marine conservation over the next 15 years, plus an additional estimated $8 million from endowment investment returns, without adding a single dollar to our national debt.
Let me allow that to register for a moment. We secured $132 million in new conservation funding while reducing our debt burden.
This move demonstrated that small island nations, equipped with the right vision and priorities, can compete and innovate on the global stage.
Our debt conversation project was awarded ‘ESG Deal of the Year’ by Global Capital at the Latin America Bond Awards 2025.
And this was not a participation trophy. It was recognition that The Bahamas has pioneered a model that other nations will now study and seek to emulate.
This brings us, Madam Speaker, to the Bill before us today.
The Bahamas Protected Areas Fund was established to serve as the financial mechanism through which we implement our conservation commitments. It is the vehicle through which international funding flows to on-the-ground conservation work. It disburses resources to the Bahamas National Trust, research institutions, and community-based conservation initiatives across our archipelago.
Under the Conservation Agreement signed in November 2024 as part of our debt conversion project, we committed to establishing a Marine Conservation Programme.
This programme will span 15 years and will undertake conservation work throughout our archipelago.
But here is the challenge that necessitates the amendment before us today: the original legislation establishing the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund did not explicitly authorise the Fund to employ staff directly or use funds for operational and administrative costs.
The Fund could disburse grants. It could finance projects. But it could not hire the marine biologists, the park rangers, the conservation officers, the project managers, the data analysts, and the community liaisons needed to actually implement the ambitious conservation agenda we have set.
This created an unacceptable situation. Here we are securing millions in funding and committing to an ambitious programme to protect and restore our ecosystem. But we lacked the ability to build the teams of qualified Bahamians needed to execute this vision.
The amendment before us today corrects this problem.
The Bahamas Protected Areas Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2025 amends the principal Act to explicitly authorise the Fund to employ the staff necessary to implement its mandate and to fulfill our obligations under the Conservation Agreement.
It allows for conditional donations to be made from, for example, major donor organisation that can be used for explicit agreed upon purposes, ensuring that targeted funding agreements can be done. This targeted funding will now include the salaries and expenses of staff.
This means the Fund will now have clear legal authority to recruit qualified Bahamians across our archipelago to serve as marine conservation professionals.
We are building local professional capacity, rather than solely depending on foreign experts and organisations.
Madam Speaker,
Bahamian employment in these positions matters profoundly. You cannot protect 6.8 million hectares of marine protected areas with volunteers and good intentions alone.
Effective conservation requires dedicated professionals. And I can guarantee you that no one will be more dedicated to protecting our environment than the citizens whose lives and the lives of their loved ones are inextricably linked to our nation.
We did not negotiate a historic debt conversion so that foreign consultants could collect salaries while Bahamian graduates search for opportunities abroad.
That cannot and will not happen on our watch.
Although I note, that in many instances, things have worked that way for a long time.
Our predecessors may have been willing to accept that state of affairs, but that is not a future we can accept.
I could speak at length about opportunities squandered, international partnerships neglected, and chances to take action that slipped by in years past.
But I prefer to look ahead to the future.
There are some who now talk a good talk, but their track record leaves a lot to be desired.
The real difference between us and them lies not in the promises made, but in the promises kept.
We have shown that small island states like The Bahamas can lead the way with visionary environmental policy, and we are now paving the way for qualified and concerned Bahamian professionals to continue to lead the way.
The Bahamas Protected Areas Fund (Amendment) Bill represents a small legislative change. But it is part of a larger story: a story of a Bahamas that is taking control of its destiny, investing in its people, and protecting its natural resources through meaningful and innovative action.
My gratitude goes out to all the professionals and stakeholders who contributed to the creation of this Bill, and all the environmentalists and concerned citizens whose advocacy and work on the ground have helped us to arrive at this point.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. May God bless and preserve The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, its people, and its environment, for years to come.