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Madam Speaker,
For five years, this administration has had to make hard choices. We chose to take responsibility. We chose to govern.
And every hard choice we made over these past five years has brought us to this moment.
This moment did not arrive by chance.
We worked to get here.
We stabilized the country to get here.
We rebuilt confidence to get here.
We advanced energy reform to get here.
We prepared the ground to get here.
We proved that Bahamians can finance and support major reform to get here.
So when this House debates this resolution today, it’s important to understand the context. This step forward is part of a bigger set of reforms and plans underway, to change the economy, to change the country, and to change what is possible for Bahamians. We are expanding opportunities, across the archipelago. Energy reform, in Grand Bahama, and nationwide, is part of the larger plan that is in motion.
We have chosen, again and again, to reject the status quo, and to choose progress instead.
Today, this House faces a choice.
We must choose whether Grand Bahama remains trapped in a costly arrangement that leaves Bahamian families and businesses paying more than their fellow citizens, or whether Grand Bahama moves into a fairer national energy future.
The members of this House must choose whether they are going to put money where their mouth is – and show us they mean it when they say every island matters.
We must choose whether public policy will finally address the burden that Grand Bahamians carry every month.
Madam Speaker, our administration chooses progress for Grand Bahama.
Look at the facts.
Every month, Grand Bahama residents and businesses open their power bills and feel the weight of a system that has left them paying more than people in the rest of the country.
The figures are plain.
For a residential customer using between 351 and 800 kilowatt hours, Bahamas Power and Light charges a base rate of 11.95 cents per kilowatt hour.
In Grand Bahama, the comparable base rate is 22.87 cents per kilowatt hour.
Almost double.
For usage above 800 kilowatt hours, BPL charges 14.95 cents.
Grand Bahama Power charges 27.31 cents.
Again, almost double.
A family in Grand Bahama can end up paying fifty to sixty dollars more per month in additional charges than a similar family in New Providence, before fuel and storm recovery charges are even fully counted.
The gap shows up in fees as well. Reconnection costs more.
Meter testing costs more.
Temporary disconnection costs more.
So I ask the Leader of the Opposition directly: does he believe that is fair?
Does he believe it is right for the people of Grand Bahama to keep paying more for a basic service?
Does he believe businesses in Grand Bahama should continue operating at a disadvantage because their electricity costs begin higher and rise faster?
If he believes that is fair, he should say so.
If he opposes this resolution, then he should look the people of Grand Bahama in the eye and say plainly that he is prepared to leave them in that position.
Because that is what this debate is about.
This debate is about whether Grand Bahama should continue to carry a burden others do not carry.
This administration says no.
That is why we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Grand Bahama Power Company to explore a transaction through which the Government would acquire Emera’s shares in the company.
Why are we doing this?
Because Grand Bahama deserves a path toward fairer electricity rates.
Because one country should have one coherent energy direction.
Because energy policy must serve the people.
Because national development makes no sense while one major island remains boxed into a separate and more expensive structure.
Because energy is the foundation of growth.
Jobs sit on energy.
Housing sits on energy.
Investment sits on energy.
Tourism sits on energy.
Manufacturing sits on energy.
Small business sits on energy.
And when the cost of energy is too high, the cost of growth becomes too high. And growth becomes restricted.
So yes, this is about ownership. But deeper than that, it is about fairness. It is about competitiveness. It is about giving Grand Bahama a real chance.
Now Madam Speaker, every time this Government takes a serious step in Grand Bahama, the Leader of the Opposition appears with the same routine.
He warns. He trembles. He echoes the old fears.
He repeats the talking points of those who are perfectly comfortable with the existing arrangement.
He sounds less like a national leader and more like an advocate for the status quo.
He repeats the GBPA line.
He repeats the anxiety.
He repeats the fear campaign.
He repeats the old script that says leave things as they are.
Well, we reject that script.
We reject the idea that Grand Bahama must forever remain the expensive exception.
We reject the idea that Bahamian leadership must always bow before old structures.
We reject the idea that a government elected by the Bahamian people should stand aside while Grand Bahamians pay more and wait longer.
The choice before us is simple.
Do we side with Grand Bahama, or do we side with the burden Grand Bahama has been carrying?
That is the question.
Now, some ask whether Government should take on this responsibility.
I welcome that question, because the record answers it. The facts on the ground show what is possible:
Across the country, BPL has been modernizing grid infrastructure, integrating solar and storage, improving resilience, reducing outages, and moving toward a more efficient and diversified system. The material before us shows clearly that Grand Bahama can benefit from that experience in resilience, reliability, fuel diversification, efficiency, affordability, and long-term planning.
That matters because Grand Bahama still relies heavily on diesel. That leaves consumers exposed to fuel volatility. Some generators are aging and less efficient.
Integrating renewable energy requires stronger lines, substations, and control systems.
These are real issues. They do not disappear because somebody stands up and gives a political speech against action.
They require planning.
They require competence.
They require financing.
They require leadership.
And over the past five years, this administration has shown that when it comes to energy reform, we are prepared to do that work.
So when the doubters ask whether the country can move in this direction, I say look at the record.
Look at the reforms already underway.
Look at the grid upgrades already underway.
Look at the new energy framework already underway.
Look at the wider national shift already underway.
That is why I say these past five years have been about making the right choices to get to this moment.
If we had spent five years hiding from reform, we would not be here.
If we had spent five years protecting old arrangements, we would not be here.
If we had spent five years ducking hard decisions, we would not be here.
We are here because we chose to prepare.
We are here because we chose to build.
We are here because we chose to govern.
Madam Speaker, I also want to speak plainly about the Leader of the Opposition, because he is a man of many words, and the Bahamian people are trying to make sense of all those words.
He wants the job of Prime Minister.
That is clear.
But wanting the title and carrying the burden are two different things.
Wanting the big job and being serious enough for the big job – these are two different things.
He has been auditioning for the role.
Then he went off script and told the country something revealing.
He said he would abolish the Post Office Savings Bank.
Abolish it.
Just like that.
One loose statement and the mask slipped.
That would mean threatening an institution that serves more than 35,000 clients across the country. That would mean threatening 98 persons employed throughout the Family Islands and putting at risk a wider postal workforce of more than 256 staff across The Bahamas. That would mean tearing away a public savings option that pays 5 percent interest when the January 2026 banking figures cited in the briefing show an average deposit rate of 0.56 percent and a highest rate of 3.75 percent on fixed balances over 12 months.
That is what recklessness sounds like.
He never explained what happens to the staff.
He never explained what happens to the depositors.
He never explained what guarantees would protect client funds.
He never explained which bank would match the 5 percent return.
He never explained how he would force private banks to do what they have already decided they do not want to do.
That is not leadership.
That is not serious policy.
That is loose talk from a man who wants high office but keeps showing the country he does not understand the weight of it.
Then he promises – made plenty, plenty promises.
Bahamians will judge for themselves whether this man has the kind of record that gives them confidence. They will see the divisions and hostilities in the FNM over the last few years and they will decide whether he would lead a united team in governance.
Madam Speaker,
Sometimes when people talk too much – what is it that he said? “Blah blah blah”? – they aren’t too good at listening.
I think some people opposite may not understand the new VAT cut. We didn’t just cut VAT on breadbasket food – we reduced it to zero on ALL unprepared food – effective this April, coming right around the corner.
Madam Speaker,
The global inflation crisis that intensified beginning in 2021 made the already high cost of living here an even bigger burden.
Making life more affordable is a priority for our administration, and it’s a battle we are fighting on multiple fronts.
We raised the minimum wage by 24 percent. We increased the real property tax exemption threshold. We increased the first-time buyer threshold to $600,000. We zero-rated the first 200 kilowatt hours for low-use homes and reconnected 2,811 households.
We launched a $10 million Catastrophic Healthcare Fund. NHI enrollment reached 161,000 Bahamians. The 90-day wait period was eliminated. Forty-four thousand people are receiving free medication, with eligibility expanding to 160,000.
Madam Speaker,
On the subject of health care, we opened Phase B of the PMH Emergency Department. We are advancing the new specialty maternal-child hospital. Rand Memorial has a new fluoroscopy system, a Specialty Pathogens Unit, and the Freeport Health Campus is underway.
Madam Speaker,
We started our country’s first School Breakfast Programme.
The programme means our children start their day ready to focus and to learn, and Bahamian families get a little break on their monthly food costs.
School breakfast has expanded from four schools to 115 schools across 17 islands, serving more than 20,000 students and delivering more than one million meals.
Madam Speaker,
We are expanding opportunities. More than 12,000 Bahamians enrolled in Upskill Bahamas. The National Apprenticeship Programme is paying for training in crucial industries. We launched the National Youth Guard. We opened CAPAS, the country’s first national performing arts school.
Our SBDC has already disbursed $94 million to more than 2,483 clients across 16 islands and 44 industries. We modernized the Business Licence Act. We moved applications online. We established the Bahamas Trade Commission. That’s what progress looks like.
Madam Speaker,
When it comes to immigration enforcement, the facts matter: We have carried out more than 15,000 repatriations since 2021. We hired more than 300 immigration officers. We are demolishing unregulated communities. We commissioned four new Safe Boats. We expanded coastal radar. We passed the Smuggling of Migrants Bill with stronger penalties. That’s real progress.
Madam Speaker,
Our country has stronger borders and safer streets. We recruited 787 new police officers, more than 260 new marines, and 379 new correctional officers. We put in place new bail and anti-gang laws. We deployed more than 1,000 CCTV cameras. We expanded Clear, Hold, Build. We invested in enforcement and prevention and crime is down.
There’s still a lot of work ahead.
But this country is making real progress.
Speaking of opportunities, Bahamians will have an opportunity to choose between the progress that is underway – or the promises of the beleaguered Leader of the Opposition.
Beleaguered and perhaps a little confused.
Because he is campaigning on roads we already started walking.
He is marketing as his vision many things that are already underway under this administration.
He wrote plays, we know that, so he is excellent at theatrics.
He is good at noise and outrage.
Good at Politricks.
Now Madam Speaker, let me come to the passport issue, because on this too, as always, the truth is what matters.
The Member for Marco City wants to wave papers around and shout as if he has made some great discovery. He points to investigations of wrongdoing like he has some smoking gun. The investigations and the prosecutions show something different than he thinks – they show serious enforcement – a serious crackdown on a serious problem.
The FNM’s conduct on this issue has been reckless and misleading.
Madam Speaker, I have the Cabinet paper in my hand.
I have it in my hand.
Cabinet Conclusion C.O. 1121.
Their Cabinet.
Their decision.
Their fingerprints.
In 2019, while they sat around that Cabinet table, they reduced the renewal requirements to a completed application form, the existing passport, a photograph, and an NIB smart card. That decision removed the fuller re-verification discipline the system was designed to carry out. It limited deeper document review. It weakened research into supporting records. It reduced the Passport Office’s ability to verify identity, test citizenship claims, and apply the scrutiny required to protect the integrity of the passport system.
So I say to them directly: you sat there.
You Pintard, Kwasi, and Minnis.
You sat in Cabinet. You heard it. You saw it. You said nothing.
You made the system weaker.
And now you come to this House beating desks and trying to act shocked by the consequences of your own decision.
Spare us.
At a time when document fraud and identity fraud were rising across the world, they weakened the system.
At a time when countries everywhere were moving toward tighter checks, they loosened ours.
At a time when the value of the Bahamian passport had to be protected, they reduced the safeguards.
And now they want to behave as though they are the defenders of the passport.
No.
You do not get to weaken the system in Cabinet, sit silent while the checks are stripped away, and then come to Parliament pretending to be the guardian of the process.
The reason these cases are coming to light is because this Government repaired what they damaged.
We restored full verification procedures.
We restored fuller use of the EPICS passport management system.
We strengthened internal monitoring.
We improved fraud detection.
We tightened cross-agency coordination.
We reopened the files.
We followed the evidence.
And what happened when we did that?
Ninety-eight suspected cases were referred to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
Twenty-seven people were arrested and charged.
Twenty-one cases are before the court.
Two convictions have already been secured.
That is what leadership looks like.
That is what seriousness looks like.
That is what enforcement looks like.
Ask those this administration has already jailed whether we are serious.
Anyone who thinks they can defraud the Bahamian passport, forge official documents, or game this country’s systems should think again.
Bahamian or foreign, there is space in prison, and Fox Hill in the summer is no place anybody should want to be.
You will be arrested, charged, convicted, and sent to prison.
So when the Leader of the Opposition waves papers in this House, let the country understand what he is really waving.
He is waving the results of our clean-up.
He is waving the evidence produced by the tighter system we restored.
The Leader of the Opposition wants theatre.
We want convictions.
He wants noise.
We want enforcement.
He wants headlines.
We want prosecutions.
That is the difference between us.
Madam Speaker, this same pattern runs straight through this energy debate.
On passports, they weakened and we fixed.
On Grand Bahama Power, they defend the burden and we are acting to change it.
On the cost of living, they promise what we are already delivering.
On housing, on health, on youth, on immigration, on small business, on security, they are trying to catch up to work already underway.
So the country should ask itself a basic question.
Who is actually governing here?
Who is doing the work?
Who is making the hard choices?
Who is willing to carry the burden of office?
Leadership is not pretending to discover problems after somebody else has already started fixing them.
.
And for five years this administration has shown that when the hard choices come, we make them.
We chose recovery.
We chose reform.
We chose to stand up for Grand Bahama.
We chose to take on structures others were too timid to touch.
And today we choose again.
We choose Grand Bahama over the status quo.
Well this administration did not come to office to talk and talk and talk about problems.
We came to solve them.
Bahamians are smart. They know who is good at speeches and who is good at action.
They will ask the Member for Marco City why he wants the people of Grand Bahama to keep paying more.
Will he defend his threat to abolish the Post Office Savings Bank?
Will he deny that he and his colleagues sat in Cabinet while the passport system was weakened?
Will he deny that this Government restored the checks and safeguards and sent the matters to the police?
Madam Speaker, today I choose to stand with the people of Grand Bahama and with Bahamians across the country.
Grand Bahama, your Government has moved to acquire Grand Bahama Power Company.
And what that means for you, practically, in your home and your business, is this:
Your electricity will now be part of the same national system as the rest of The Bahamas.
The unfair extra charges that existed nowhere else in our country will be gone.
We are ending Grand Bahama’s over-reliance on expensive diesel.
We are building a future for Grand Bahama that includes renewables, battery storage, a regasification terminal.
So again I say, I stand with Grand Bahama.
I stand for fairness.
I stand for progress.
And I commend these resolutions, which represent progress in energy, housing and health reform, to the House.