By JADE RUSSELL

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement chairman Dr Duane Sands said yesterday that it is difficult to take the prime minister seriously on inflation warnings when his administration is spending so much money.

Dr Sands’ comments came after Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis recently urged Bahamians to be frugal with their spending habits due to the rising inflation and cost of living in the country.

Earlier this month, John Rolle, the Central Bank’s governor, warned locals to brace for higher inflation rates, saying the cost of living crisis facing many Bahamian families has yet “to peak.”

In an interview with The Tribune, Dr Sands said the Davis administration has not been “frugal” in its spending and has abused the tax dollars of Bahamians.

“The government of The Bahamas has been extracting tax dollars, every dollar they could get out of the pockets of struggling Bahamians. Because they have an insatiable appetite to travel, to live high on the hog, to give consultancies up to $60 million, and to hire in every single government agency and ministry. To give jobs to all of the connected at the same time, they have made a decision that they don’t have the ability to reduce VAT on bread basket items, on medication, on insurance, or on the cost of fuel. Why? because they need that money and they need it bad,” Dr Sands said.

 He continued: “So when you now have the prime minister saying, you know, ‘be frugal,’ be frugal with what, you want me to not pay my rent and pay my light bill? You want me to buy gas, but don’t buy food, what you want me to be frugal on? Because you didn’t leave me with nothing.”

 The chairman noted that the government has the choice to reprioritise its spending habits to aid in the financial struggles of Bahamians, however, they chose not to.

 Dr Sands explained that the Davis administration is setting a different standard when it comes to frugality because the administration is not showing the same discipline in its leadership.

 “If the government has no discipline with spending, the government is giving out $2 million dollars and $3 million to their favourite individuals, right? They got to get it from somewhere so they’re going into your pocket to take it. They are hiring who they want to hire, not because of need, but because of patronage. They’ve brought back, I believe, 14 retired senior civil servants or permanent secretaries, retired. And now you can say, you should be frugal. Well, show me the frugality of the government.”

 Dr Sands questioned when the government would make the necessary changes to cut down on its own spending.

 He said: “When are you going to say that there is a government policy that says for cabinet ministers or senior executives, everybody will travel economy? When are you going to insist that we are going to limit the size of delegations that are travelling? When are you going to say that we are not going to spend all of this money on consultancies? If you looked at the statement by the minister of education, she said on her feet in the House of Assembly, that school repairs would (cost) $15 million. Now the minister of works comes back and said it was $30 million, but it’s not just repairs as capital works. But when you go into the budget, you don’t see it ain’t there.”

 Dr Sands also questioned whether Mr Davis was clear on the Central Bank’s comments on inflation.

 “I’m not sure the prime minister knows what the central banks of the world are saying because are they thinking that they’re going to increase interest rates or decrease interest rates, because in that statement, he said they were going to do both. So, let’s, let’s make a determination of what exactly Bahamians are being asked to do,” he said.

 Dr Sands said if the government wants Bahamians to be frugal, then the administration’s actions should match their words.

 He stressed: “It’s very difficult to take the prime minister seriously when his government is spending more money than any other government in the history of The Bahamas.”