By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Phillip Davis returned to his constituency yesterday to open Cat Island’s first passport office in a move that was welcomed with open arms by residents there.

He was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell as well as other government officials.

Mr Davis, who brought keynote remarks at yesterday’s opening ceremony, hailed the event as a fulfilment of his government’s promise in ensuring that all Bahamians have equal access to important governmental services.

“It’s really good to be home and today, let me just say that we are opening a satellite office for the passport office, but this is more than just that,” Mr Davis said.

“It’s about a vision. It’s about fulfilling promises and it’s about ensuring that we move what I call the inequities of services that plague our archipelago.

“It’s not because of (a lack) of will to get it done, but it’s quite frankly because of geographical makeup.”

Mr Davis added that The Bahamas was not Nassau-centric and noted that every Bahamian deserved to have access to the same services, while committing his administration to doing just that.

“We’re an archipelago having to duplicate services all around our country, particularly 29 population centres and all of them deserve the same access to the services that they get in the capital,” he added.

“That’s my commitment and that’s what we intend to do. It’s becoming more achievable because of technology. Technology is allowing us to do more for the delivery of services in our Family Islands as we would’ve done in the past.

“And so, we who are now here in this technological age have a duty to ensure that we do what is necessary to remove all of the inequities that we who are on the family islands suffer.”

Mr Davis said he knew firsthand what it’s like to be disadvantaged and not have access to essential services like electricity.

He also admitted that while the office opening was “five years late, it’s better late than never.”

“In 2016, we implanted a system where residents on Cat Island could get their birth certificates and so the next step was getting the passport office open. It’s about five years late, but better late than never,” the prime minister later told reporters.

Mr Mitchell also delivered similar remarks at Monday’s event and told Cat Islanders he was happy for them.

In his speech, the minister remembered the Progressive Liberal party’s mandate to ensure that all islands have equal economic development and said the Davis administration was devoted to fulfilling those promises.

“When (Sir) Lynden Pindling and his colleagues became the government of The Bahamas in 1967, they made a pledge to the country that the country would be served by a government that provided services across the country for all of the population centres equal to another,” he said.

“So, the job was whatever happened in New Providence should be replicated in all of the population centres in the country equally. There are 28 or so population centres across the Bahamas from north to south and we have had the job of trying to fulfil that promise.

“So that’s our job. We are in the second generation now and our job is to make sure that that promise is carried out.”

The island’s new passport office is located in Arthur’s Town.