By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

ACTING Prime Minister Peter Turnquest admitted yesterday the government’s communications with the public have sometimes missed the mark and said it plans to ramp up its public relations efforts soon.

His statement came after poll results by marketing and research firm Public Domain showed fewer than 50 per cent of Bahamians say they are generally satisfied with the performance of the government.

Mr Turnquest said the results did not make him “feel badly,” nor would they disrupt the government’s agenda or prompt it to change course.

In a few years, he said, hopefully Bahamians will look back at this period and characterise it as a rebuilding phase.

“There are a number of things that go into these poll ratings, the emotions, the rhetoric that’s out there but we continue to be focused on  improving the lives of Bahamians,” he said following a press conference at the Ministry of Finance.

 “A lot of (what is in the polls) is driven by what is happening at a point of time, meaning if you ask me today and I’m annoyed because the traffic was bad, I’ll give you a negative rating. I don’t know what the scientific control is behind these particular polls because I don’t know enough about them and how they control the data, but I take it as it is and I assume the (pollsters) to be professional about it.

“At the end of the day it isn’t going to affect what we are focused on doing. We recognise that Bahamians have suffered, continue to suffer a slow turnaround and we understand we have a job to do. We’re focused on that job and we will make improvements that are necessary and hopefully at the end of the day in four years from now they will see, touch and feel the result of the work we do and it will be demonstrably clear that this period is just a rebuilding, a planning period for what is to come.”

When contacted for his reaction, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said the poll results do not surprise him. 

“There’s nothing in the poll certainly about the Free National Movement’s administration that those of us who spend time on the ground wouldn’t have known,” he said.

“People are talking, people are vocalising their concerns. People say, ‘I like what you’re doing, but . . .’ or ‘I understand what you are doing but...’ There have been some things that have rubbed the public the wrong way, Oban is an example of that. The prime minister has admitted we have made some mistakes with Oban that we intend to correct. There are some things that we have promised that we have not been able to deliver and hopefully we will be able to deliver some of those promises in the start of the next fiscal year.” 

Some within the Minnis administration and the Free National Movement (FNM) are frustrated with the government’s communication habits and are eager for a more robust and responsive approach. The upcoming budget is viewed by many as pivotal, a sentiment Dr Sands echoed yesterday. 

“It will be the first budget that we can claim as our own and to that end yes, it’s a very important exercise,” Dr Sands said.

“Budgets are about choices; the public will get to see the real priorities of the Minnis administration and the strategic direction we wish to carry the country. The public will get to see whether we are just talking about fiscal responsibility and whether we are or not concerned about their needs. This budget exercise, unlike last year’s budget exercise, will be more reflective of what we have learned over the last year and will give some insight into the creativity and the ideals, you could even say the character of the administration.”

For his part, Mr Turnquest said work is underway to ramp up the administration’s communications apparatus.

“One of the things we have been reluctant to do as government is invest in BIS (Bahamas Information Services) or the public relations arm of the government because you don’t want to be seen as being political with the Bahamian people’s money,” he said.

“So it’s a matter of that fine line between seeming to promote yourself and as I say self-praise is no praise at all versus making sure the public is aware of strategically where you’re going and the steps you’re taking to get there. It’s a bit of a delicate balancing act and we’re trying to improve. We’re trying to ramp up our PR or information campaign so people will understand what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Mr Turnquest stressed progress will not be immediate, noting the administration has been constrained by what it inherited. 

“Obviously we have to do a better job communicating to the public with respect to what we’re doing, the actions we’re taking even as we do the hard work, the underground work that’s necessary to be able to roll out a cohesive, strategic programme,” he said. “There are no instant fixes for any of this. We inherited a situation that is difficult, that comes with certain constraints as a result of where we find ourselves and so we don’t have the flexibility to do a lot of things that we would want to do.

“You’d know that we promised to take the VAT off of breadbasket items for instance, that’s something we would have loved to have done from May of last year but finding ourselves in a situation where we have to be careful and strategic and work from empirical data as to what that means and how that’s going to impact other things and so it takes a bit of time to do those kinds of analysis. I don’t feel badly about where we are in terms of what they claim is the rate because the fact of the matter is we understand that Bahamians have been suffering and that is why they elected us, to fix this situation.

“It’s going to take a bit of time, I understand the impatience and everyone wants a quick solution but there is no quick solution and anyone that tells you that there is they’re lying to you and so we continue to work hard on our plan, working towards our budget which we will deliver in May, June and which will address some of our priorities for which we felt the Bahamian people elected us to do, the things they have been saying to us that they want to see happen.

“As you would have heard from objective analysis, the IMF is saying they see signs of us turning the corner, we believe that is so. We believe that we are moving in the right direction and as we continue to make improvements, you will see the evidence of that, which would mean improvements in the economy, improvements in the rate of job creation and improving social situations as those things start to pick up.”

According to Public Domain’s scientific poll involving 1,000 Bahamians, the number of people generally dissatisfied with the administration has increased by 28 per cent since last May even as the number of people who say they are generally satisfied with the administration has declined by 18 per cent.

Pollsters said the numbers are concerning because they come amid a steady decline in popularity for the administration.