Good Morning Church,
I am so grateful to be here with you this morning as we give thanks to the Lord for all his blessings.
We have come such a long way as a nation – not just over the past two years but over the past fifty years.
Take a look around this church, throughout our communities, and around the world; you will find Bahamians who are thriving and staking their claim to greatness. Bahamian excellence is on full display. We are understandably proud of who we are and where we’ve come from.
But there is also a frustration that has set in. While there are many great and beautiful things about The Bahamas, our people know that we can do so much more. Our God-given potential is so vast. There is nothing so big, so grand, that we believe it is out of reach for us. We’ve won gold medals and Grammys. We’ve led businesses and movements. Our population may be small, but our achievements allow us to stand out on the world stage. That is why, when it comes to the development of our nation, we are not interested in excuses.
We want to see more income equality, peaceful communities, food security, improved public healthcare, and more opportunities for Bahamians to own homes and successful businesses.
The desire to see progress on these national challenges is what inspired me to enter politics and continues to motivate me to this day.
Two years ago, when the PLP came into office, we said that we were not here to maintain the status quo. We were here to lay the foundation for big changes as we take steps toward a fairer and more prosperous society for all Bahamians.
Our first priority was to drive the recovery of the economy and job market, strengthen the healthcare system, and reopen schools. So many people were suffering financially, going hungry, and praying for better days. We moved immediately to expand support to those who needed it the most while rolling out a new, data-driven approach to combatting COVID-19.
Within months, the economy roared back to life, and we began seeing major progress as hope returned to our nation. With the recovery well on its way, we began laying the foundation for change in those early days by increasing the national minimum wage, lowering customs duties, investing in food security, and taking care of our public servants by increasing salaries and decreasing backlogs. We invested in clinics, airports, and roads on various Family Islands to pave the way for economic growth. Tourism arrivals are now at record levels, unemployment is at its lowest levels in fifteen years, and Bahamians are getting the opportunity to own their own homes through our housing developments.
We are securing the future by advancing the global conversation on climate change and developing practical solutions to finance our progress toward climate-resilient infrastructure and renewable energy for cleaner, cheaper, more affordable power generation.
This outcome was not inevitable. There were those who gripped by fear, warned that opening the economy would worsen the pandemic. There were those who were afraid that increasing the minimum wage would slow down employment. Even experts were afraid, predicting that the tourism industry would take years to recover; some even predicted that the cruise industry would never recover. But look at God. The economy is booming, we are thriving, and it is now up to us to use this opportunity to build a better tomorrow for all Bahamians.
We are a people of faith; we are not ruled by fear. As Bishop Ellis says, “There is no such thing as a faithless believer.” Where there are challenges, our faith allows us to see opportunities.
We now have the opportunity to build on the progress we’ve made to drive real change throughout our nation. It’s what our nation needs, and it’s what our people deserve. I am a firm believer that through God, there is nothing that we cannot do when we come together as one, united, just as we are in fellowship today.
The way forward is promising. It will also have its share of difficulties. Very few things worth achieving are easy. One thing you can be sure of when it comes to this PLP government is that we will never stop fighting on behalf of the Bahamian people. That is a promise we will always live up to.
As we look forward to year three, let’s remember to give thanks for the many blessings and mercies that have allowed us to come this far.
May God Bless us all, and may he continue to bless the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
