By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Leader Michael Pintard has urged the Davis administration to act swiftly to resolve the status of dozens of Bahamian nurses still awaiting regularisation, warning that continued delays could worsen the country’s healthcare crisis.

His comments came after a group of nurses protested outside an orientation session for newly hired healthcare workers from Ghana. The demonstrators criticised the Ministry of Health and Wellness for prioritising foreign recruits while many local nurses — some reportedly working without pay or on stipends since 2023 — remain in limbo.

Mr Pintard said the issue must be treated as a top priority, especially as qualified Bahamian nurses are increasingly being recruited by other countries.

“We have nurses who are presently in the system who no doubt have options overseas. We ought to go out of our way to make sure that they are happy that we have paid them any funds that are outstanding. We give them the required letters so that they are duly mobilised to do the work that our citizens need and so the government must move with a sense of urgency to deal with that.”

While acknowledging the need for foreign healthcare support, he stressed that local professionals must not be neglected.

Mr Pintard also criticised Central and South Andros MP Leon Lundy for what he described as “reactionary” remarks about reduced banking hours on Andros. He said Mr Lundy was now facing the same frustrations many Bahamians have endured for years under successive governments.

In response, Mr Lundy said his advocacy was not politically motivated but driven by the needs of his constituents.

“Consistency matters,” Mr Lundy said, noting that banking services were also scaled back under Mr Pintard’s administration in Grand Bahama without similar protest. “Constituents are not political pawns, but citizens who deserve real solutions.”

Mr Pintard said the FNM had put forward a slate of banking reform proposals, including establishing a permanent banking facility on Andros, reviewing service fees, and tax concessions to encourage commercial banks to expand services.

Mr Lundy pushed back against calls for government interference in banking operations, warning that such actions could set a dangerous precedent and veer into illegality.