EDITORIAL: Time for big decisions, Dr Minnis

IT’S crunch time for Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis when he gives his national address on Sunday.

This is perhaps the moment of his biggest responsibility since the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are escalating numbers of cases since the border opened back up. He has been without a Minister of Health since May, having to take on the role himself. And now his special advisor, Dr Merceline Dahl-Regis, is stepping back from her day-to-day role as task force co-ordinator, with Chief Medical Officer Dr Pearl McMillan taking the helm.

The word is that Dr Minnis will appoint a new Minister of Health on Sunday. It’s an appointment he has to get right.

For weeks, while medics have done their best in presenting the data of the pandemic, press conferences have lacked a political presence that could speak as to what actions would be taken based on that data. Dr Minnis has avoided taking questions – so it has been hard to have full transparency on the reasons behind our actions in dealing with this crisis.

The choice as Health Minister will be crucial, with the public in need of someone who can speak authoritatively on the subject, and who they can trust to tell them the full story.

Meanwhile, the new COVID-19 cases include three people from Grand Bahama and two from New Providence. The three from Grand Bahama have no history of travel – but the two from New Providence do.

Dr Dahl-Regis, in the previous press conference, suggested that the concern at present is over Bahamians catching the virus in hotspots overseas and bringing it back home.

As we continue to see more cases involving people who have travelled, that issue needs to be addressed.

How it should be addressed is by listening to the experts. Dr Dahl-Regis herself said she wished she could suggest to Bahamians that they shouldn’t travel, but she can’t. The time might have come to put a temporary halt on travel to and from Florida, which has become the new epicentre of the pandemic. The state has now had more than 315,000 cases – by the time the Prime Minister speaks on Sunday the total number of cases there might be close to the size of the entire population of The Bahamas.

So we stand at a crucial moment. A crucial moment for decisions on how to go forward while fighting the virus as best we can. A crucial moment to ensure clear communication to the people of The Bahamas about how and why we are making those decisions.

Prime Minister, we await your address with keen interest.

Oil concerns

For a long time, talk of oil drilling has lurked in the background in Bahamian life, with the Bahamas Petroleum Company slowly making its way through the licence process towards making a test drill.

There has been significant concern over the prospect – after all, it is only ten years ago that the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, pumping oil into the sea for 87 days before it could be capped, and leading to incredible devastation of the environment and wildlife.

A new group of Bahamian citizens has called upon the government to cancel all existing licences for the project before such damage can be done. One thing is for certain, The Bahamas needs to make a firm decision one way or the other whether it is to proceed with oil or not.

One thing should certainly give the government pause – and that thing is the pandemic affecting us right now.

We have seen what effect a loss of tourism has had on our economy. If our clear seas were to be tainted in an environmental disaster, no one would want to swim in oily waters, or lie on blackened beaches.

We must ask ourselves if we are willing to risk what we already have.

Comments

joeblow says...

I nominate Dr. Minnis to be a living recipient of the Darwin award!

Posted 17 July 2020, 7:13 p.m. Suggest removal

ISpeakFacts says...

LMAO I second this!

Posted 17 July 2020, 7:26 p.m. Suggest removal

Economist says...

He deserves the award for "Clown of the Year"

Posted 17 July 2020, 8:11 p.m. Suggest removal

tribanon says...

You're absolutely right but he nevertheless represents a clear and present danger for our country and its people at this most crucial time in our history. Nothing he will say in his public address on Sunday will change anything unless he takes that opportunity to announce his resignation as PM.

Posted 17 July 2020, 9:09 p.m. Suggest removal

Honestman says...

The air corridor between Florida and the Bahamas must be closed immediately. Anything less will constitute gross negligence on the part of the PM. This is hardly a difficult decision. The country is receiving a mere trickle of US dollars from American tourists but the risk of importing COVID-19 is huge not only from tourists but from Bahamians foolish enough to want to travel to Florida for non-essential purposes. Our major hotels have more sense than the "competent" authority at the moment. They understand the risk and are closing the shop until things settle down in the US.

Posted 18 July 2020, 9:39 a.m. Suggest removal

truetruebahamian says...

Bring back Duane Sands.

Posted 18 July 2020, 7:17 p.m. Suggest removal

ColumbusPillow says...

Bahamas needs to have economic recovery. Without it we are in a very bad hole.
Oil or gas production is the simplest way of doing that. Two choices; offshore drilling has risks, but onshore does not.

Posted 19 July 2020, 10:39 a.m. Suggest removal

DDK says...

No oil to destroy what's left of our Bahamas, please!!!

Posted 20 July 2020, noon Suggest removal

alistairmccausland@ymail.com says...

In answer to oil concerns of The Bahamas if you care to research this story you will see on the Bahamas Oil Company online web site that the drill you refer to is nowhere near the Bahamas.
Its taking place off the coast of Cuba where other offshore drills have been working. The Bahamas Petroleum drill site is actually around 100 miles from the Bahamas island 20 miles off the Cuban coastline. Stena Drilling will be employed and using state of the art drillship with the latest eco-friendly equipment onboard has guaranteed will be no problems. Stena the company is one of the world's largest oil drilling companies and all onboard drillships are all highly experienced professionals in their field.

Posted 28 July 2020, 4:39 a.m. Suggest removal

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