EDITORIAL: Does the Prime Minister have a plan?

Thursday, August 20, 2020

IN just four words, former Health Minister Dr Duane Sands shows the problem with our current approach to tackling COVID-19: “What is the plan?”

The saddest thing is that it’s not easy to give an answer. First of all, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis continues to resist direct questioning from the press – something he’s not done often since the resignation of Dr Sands.

After all, had Dr Minnis taken questions at the end of his national address, the first question would likely have been how are people supposed to get food, water and medicine if they don’t have any.

The second reason it is hard to identify a plan is that as soon as new measures were put in place, the government did a U-turn.

In fact, the new regulations give more freedom than those in place before the national address – with the curfew extended and more days for shopping. How have we gone from total lockdown to less restrictive than the day before the lockdown? It’s hard to see a pattern to the government’s actions.

Dr Sands is candid in his assessment of the attempted total lockdown – saying it will be “infinitely more difficult for the government now to win the public confidence again”. After all, some senior figures spoke out with assurance that there would be no such lockdown – showing themselves to be, at best, out of the loop.

“People were pd off,” said Dr Sands. “People were angry that they were forced into a position where they didn’t have the opportunity to do what responsible people do.”

That’s the heart of it. Had the people been given the chance to prepare, there would have been discontent, but not the feeling of betrayal that came with an immediate shutdown.

The question has to be what is the purpose of the lockdown – what is it being used to accomplish? And the next question has to be what are the consequences of that decision in how it affects the people?

The revised rules announced that NIB would start issuing cheques again, for example, but it took a follow-up statement to announce that the banks would be open so people could pay them into their accounts.

It does make you wonder who Dr Minnis is listening to. Indeed, we hear a number of his Cabinet colleagues were uneasy about the amount of consultation ahead of his national address.

Dr Sands says that one thing that needs to be done is to apologise. He’s right, but that’s not enough on its own. Whoever Dr Minnis listened to ahead of his national address, he needs to add some wiser heads to that group too, who would have warned him of the problems he ran headlong into.

It also wouldn’t hurt to start pulling some economic rabbits out of the hat – to give people a glimpse of hope for what comes after the pandemic. Because there needs to be a plan for that – and people need to be able to plan for their own part in that future.

It’s often said that we are in this together – so treat us like adults so we can truly be together in dealing with this.

So many U-turns we’re going in circles

Had enough of U-turns? Well, here’s another.

A few weeks ago, Labour Director John Pinder said that unemployment “will not necessarily increase” due to the recent lockdown. Now? He’s predicting more job layoffs in the coming weeks.

Everyone could – and indeed many did – have told him that more job losses would be coming. We’re not sure what dreamland he was operating in.

Now, he’s saying “a silver lining is behind these dark clouds”. Yes, Mr Pinder, that’s nice, but if you could tell us what to do about the clouds, that would be helpful.

Comments

tell_it_like_it_is says...

Quick answer - no, there isn't a plan. 🤦‍♂️
 
Minnis' answer is lockdown, curfew, lockdow, curfew, lockdown... with **no end** in site. 
What a lockdown is supposed to do... is buy time for you to work out the kinks in your health care system, contract tracing, testing, etc, etc... or other essential services. 
Lockdowns are not meant to be the answer, just a time to regroup within your **already established plan**.
But because there is no plan, they have made lockdowns the solution... and it isn't a solution at all!!! It will only lead to lockdown, relaxed curfew, lockdown, relaxed curfew... to infinity and beyond and that's just nonsensical. SMH

Posted 20 August 2020, 7:11 p.m. Suggest removal

ISpeakFacts says...

**HELL NO!!!**

We've been having lockdowns since **MARCH** and nothing has changed! Minnis needs to **RESIGN!**

Posted 20 August 2020, 7:23 p.m. Suggest removal

ThisIsOurs says...

Something had changed. Since the border was opened deaths have gone up 100%

Posted 20 August 2020, 9:46 p.m. Suggest removal

Porcupine says...

Much more than 100% mathematically.

Posted 21 August 2020, 6:39 a.m. Suggest removal

DDK says...

Of course the PM has no plan, he is clueless. Step down Mr. PM, step down!

Posted 20 August 2020, 9:08 p.m. Suggest removal

Don't think another doctor is the answer. The Country desperately needs someone not out for himself or herself, not another someone on a money/power trip.

Posted 20 August 2020, 9:14 p.m. Suggest removal

I never supported Sands because he was "a doctor". Its silly to support someone because they have a title, they could have bought it.

You support them because of what you see them do. I support Sands because I saw a thinking man. Ive never seen him rush an answer, and he "usually" produces sensible forward thinking responses. Thats why I support him. After 10 years of head scratching moves, I wanted a progressive thinking man in the position. I dont know anything about his character if there's anything about him that would disqualify him as a leader, I would hope an investigative journalism piece would reveal it. And I don't want to hear "he's arrogant". If such has truth, show me how alleged arrogance has lead to disastrous results in his career. We need to know these things before they get in front of the GG. We've see that once these people get in there's not much you can do for the next 5 years

I would love to see a qualified party leader confident enough to add someone like Komalafe or Chester Cooper to their cabinet. The goal is a better country. The paybacks need to stop

Posted 21 August 2020, 7:42 a.m. Suggest removal

tetelestai says...

You do realize that Komolafe was with the PLP, right? Then, like a spoiled brat - as are most politicians - packed her ball and pouted to the DNA when she did not receive a PLP nomination. You didnt realize? OK then.

Posted 21 August 2020, 10:47 a.m. Suggest removal

trueBahamian says...

He's an intelligent guy. We can all agree. Is he ready to lead? I would prefer to see him in a deputy role just to see how he plans out before giving him a PM post. I would like to see what vision he has for this country. Thinking through things is good. But building a nation is a major step.

Posted 21 August 2020, 10:50 a.m. Suggest removal

sheeprunner12 says...

The Komolafe you are referring to is a WOMAN ................ SMH

Posted 21 August 2020, 12:43 p.m. Suggest removal

ColumbusPillow says...

Sweden appears to have a plan that works....and no lockdowns!

Posted 21 August 2020, 8:18 a.m. Suggest removal

Yes, but Sweden also has a better healthcare system. Also, they actually provide a good education for their citizens. So, if PMH doesn't equal what they have, we have an issue. If you're dealing with people who.don't understand how to act during this pandemic, you have a problem.

When taking risks based on the actions of another country we have to ensure we are similar in our makeup.

Posted 21 August 2020, 10:54 a.m. Suggest removal

joeblow says...

... Sweden also had more deaths compared to other Nordic countries some of whom had sensible lockdowns. Finland had less contraction of their economy than Sweden with far fewer deaths.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/…

Posted 21 August 2020, 11:14 a.m. Suggest removal

happyfly says...

so tired of people downplaying the success of Sweden. They had no lockdowns !! Think about that. Their death rates and their economy is similar to everywhere else. Yes you can argue that this one was less or this one was higher but they never had any lockdowns and they never had any stress on their so-called better healthcare systems and they have now reached herd immunity so they do not need to put up with any lockdowns ever again. How on earth could you argue against this ???

Posted 21 August 2020, 2:17 p.m. Suggest removal

ColumbusSleepy,
You have had no plan since you started commenting here, as the other posters have pointed out. Your reactionnary comments do little to add to an educated dialog. Do you actually read? Just asking..

Posted 23 August 2020, 7:20 a.m. Suggest removal

As for the Bahamas. The only plan here is to lock down and borrow more money and hope that some external factor changes that will magically make everything normal again. Good luck everyone. We have Uncle Sam to the West and China to the East and we are going to be one or the other of them's beach by the time this is all over .....

Posted 21 August 2020, 2:21 p.m. Suggest removal