By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has expressed optimism that the country’s economy will rebound as the new variant of the coronavirus grips other nations around the world.

Speaking to reporters Friday at Spanish Wells, Eleuthera, Dr Minnis foreshadowed upcoming projects, which he suggested will boost the economy.

“We have a lot of projects that are about to commence” Dr Minnis said. "Projects that are on course.

“We think that would assist us in moving forward, but we also think with the vaccine coming on in the first world countries moving as aggressively as possible to vaccinate their population, I think that that would offer some degree of relief. Individuals I think have been cooped-up in one particular location for a long time and I think once there’s some degree of freedom of movement, I think the Bahamas is gonna see great great (rebound).”

The Killarney MP also commented on the impending 2022 general election and the Free National Movement’s progress on promises made in its manifesto.

“When we came in, we were immediately faced with Hurricane Irma. We did what was never done in the history of the Bahamas in that we air evacuated individuals from the southern Bahamas to the central zone so that no lives were lost. We are still on target with our commitments, our promises and revenue projections then we were hit with Dorian. 

“In spite of that, we were still moving forward and Dorian obviously would have affected our revenue stream dramatically. We had to concentrate on lives. We had to concentrate on rebuilding both Grand Bahama and Abaco. That obviously would’ve thrown us off course in terms of our commitment with the manifesto. Then us and the world were hit with COVID. 

“That affected not only us but the entire world. Our basic economy is tourism - that was affected dramatically but in spite of that we continue to persevere and, yes, we would’ve made a lot of commitments with respect to our manifesto and we will do as much as we can to ensure that those commitments are followed through.”

As for the Progressive Liberal Party’s claims of an early election being called, the prime minister said: “I was given a mandate for five years and we’re trying our best to follow through on that but if the PLP followed my history even as opposition they would note I’ve always commenced preparation at least two years in advance”

He continued: “When we came into government, we made a commitment and a promise that we would move through all the various family islands and constituencies informing them as to what is happening especially if there are new events. We wanted to engage all family islanders because they contribute also to the national revenue and it’s only essential that they know exactly how their monies been spent.

“We made that commitment and we kept that commitment.”

The prime minister is expected to give a national address on Tuesday, which is expected to give an idea on the country’s way forward.