Showing posts with label Bahamian families. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bahamian families. Show all posts

Friday, June 14, 2024

The Bahamas Prime Minister on a New Energy Era for The Bahamas

Transforming our country’s energy sector has been a priority for us from the start, says Bahamian Prime Minister, The Hon. Philip Brave Davis, KC., MP.,


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New Energy Era for The Bahamas
On the one hand, we have been compelled by the urgency of change – the need to relieve Bahamian families and businesses from the burden of high prices and unreliable electricity supply.

Relief is an important-enough goal – especially during a global inflation crisis.

But we are also motivated by our profound conviction that our economy can be more competitive, more prosperous, more dynamic, and more inclusive — with more paths to security and success for more Bahamians.

We have very big ambitions for our country and for the Bahamian people.

However – you can’t build a 21st century economy with 20thcentury infrastructure.

In every conversation I have with entrepreneurs, business owners, and investors – from the very smallest to the very largest – the high cost of electricity, and the costs and uncertainties associated with unreliable supply, inevitably come up.

For most Bahamians, the only bill bigger is their rent or mortgage payment.  Major bills are a major burden – which means less disposable income, which means less spending and investment in our local economy.

And, of course, high bills for businesses means high operating costs, affecting our competitiveness and our ability to diversify, and creating obstacles to growth and development – impacting investments, business expansions, and job creation.

Now – even with all of those problems, we’re a special-enough country that we’ve come roaring back after the dark days of, Hurricane Dorian, pandemic curfews and lockdowns, breaking big records, with substantial new investments and job growth.

Just imagine what we could accomplish if we had affordable, reliable, clean energy!

That’s where we’re finally headed.

But right before we get to the hopeful part of today’s launch – the solutions! – I want to make sure you all have an understanding of the scale of the challenge.

Important parts of our electricity infrastructure, including some transformers and substations, are more than 50 years old – they date back to before independence!

It’s hard to describe the experience of listening to engineers emphasize that critical parts of our grid are on the verge of collapse – with no chance of revival, once they go down.

And then there are the generation engines – 60% of BPL’s plant in New Providence, and 80% in the Family Islands, need replacement within the next five years.

So we have an aging, vulnerable, deteriorating, expensive system, dependent on heavy and diesel fuels, that cannot meet current needs – let alone the growing energy needs of a digital economy, or the increased demand we have to anticipate as temperatures rise in this new climate era.

If you’re wondering how much it costs to rescue and modernize our grid – I have an answer for you: about half a billion dollars.

Of course, BPL is carrying a legacy debt of the same amount —  more than $500 million, not to mention an unfunded pension liability of $100 million.

I could go on – about the grid’s vulnerability to storm damage, the inability of our current system to integrate renewable energy, the tens of millions in rental costs annually which contribute to high prices – but I can see you’re ready to move from problems to solutions.

As were we.  We understood that as urgent as change was, the quick short-term fixes that have been the historical pattern have not served our country well.

We knew we needed comprehensive, innovative reform.

Today, we’re excited to share these policies with you, which include:

- A foundational update to transmission and distribution in New Providence, so we can have a more stronger, more resilient, more modern, more efficient power grid – critical to gaining both lower prices and increased reliability;

- For the first time, utility-scale solar power in New Providence – 70 MW of solar power, and 35 MW of Battery Energy Storage Systems will be integrated into the grid;

- Solar power throughout our Family Islands – where new hybrid microgrids will incorporate solar power and natural gas, allowing us to eliminate expensive BPL rentals, replace aging generation units, and establish battery storage systems;

- Natural gas as a partner fuel to solar, to create important savings that can be passed on to the consumer;

- Energy Efficiency Upgrades, including energy audits and efficiency upgrades for government buildings, educational outreach to consumers, LED street lighting, and rooftop solar at schools; and:

- New electricity legislation (Electricity Act 2024), which allows for stronger consumer protections, and – very importantly, as you’ll hear momentarily – allows adjustment to the tariff rates to support consumers who most urgently need relief from high prices.

I’d like to pause here to say that when I asked Minister Coleby-Davis last September to become the country’s Minister of Energy, we discussed our shared priorities for energy reform, which included:

- Immediate relief for Bahamian families

- Reforms that lead to lower prices, and fair prices, over the medium and long term

- Increased reliability

- Increased grid resilience during storms

- Cleaner energy, with a lower carbon footprint…

- An ironclad commitment to union workers, including job and pension security

- New entrepreneurial, employment, and investment opportunities for Bahamians…and:

- Strengthening the financial position of BPL, to ensure legacy debts are addressed.

To the Minister’s credit, she jumped right in and never looked back.

Which is why this morning, she has the honour of sharing more of the details of these big new policies.

And as I turn things over to her, I will close by reminding everyone – we didn’t come here to defend the status quo, we came here to change it.

We are determined to close the gap between our national potential and our national reality – and with this very big and ambitious agenda of reform and investment, we believe we are well on the way to ensuring that a new energy era will lead also to a new economic era – a new era of opportunity for all.

Source


Energy Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis on a new energy era in The Bahamas>>>

Monday, April 11, 2011

Branville McCartney says: ...move this, our beloved country, forward toward the future of empowerment that has been promised to us for almost 40 years

Branville McCartney
Press Release –
10th April, 2011



I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Right Honorable Prime Minister for his support and assistance over the years, particularly in support of me as the representative for Bamboo Town in 2007, as well as the Junior Minister of Tourism and Aviation and the Minister of State for Immigration. During my term, I represented the government and the Bahamian people to the best of my ability. I did those things that I believed were agreed upon by the present government. I know that I did my best. I have no regrets, and may have further comments in the future.

However, for now, I am humbled and honored by the overwhelming show of love and support that I have received from Bahamians of all walks of life, at home and abroad, particularly those in the great constituency of Bamboo Town, since my resignation from the Free National Movement.

In recent days, I have also been overcome with humility by the growing number of people who have come forward to express their interest in working along with me to move this, our beloved country, forward toward the future of empowerment that has been promised to us for almost 40 years.

I do want the public to know, as I noted in my address to the House of Assembly on the 23rd March 2011, that when I entered public life, I did so because I saw Bahamian families who were beginning to feel trapped and powerless in a society that appeared to be imploding all around them. I did so because I recognized a force of complacency in our youth, brought on by years of neglect and disrespect, which was draining them of all self- respect to the point that they were, and still are, failing out of society in larger numbers than ever before. I said that I was motivated by the idea that I could possibly be one of a new generation of public servants who could offer a clear vision of meaningful change and be that difference when it came to shaping the future direction of what is, potentially, the greatest nation in the world. I want the Bahamian public to know that my intentions remain the same and I remain steadfast and committed to that purpose.

As I also noted in the House of Assembly on that day, I remain steadfast to ensuring that our society, from Grand Bahama to Inagua, Long Island to Rum Cay, from Bain Town to my beloved constituency of Bamboo Town, will continue, on an even greater scale, to be a society free from the forces of complacency, oppression, insensitivity, bitterness, and self-doubt – a society where people will feel safe and secure both in and out of their homes; a place where people will feel like people again. As I continue my work in this vein, I again wish to thank the many people of our great country for their encouragement.

To the people of Bamboo Town and The Bahamas, when you next hear from me publicly, I will not be alone in presenting a real vision and mission plan for our country that will speak to your desires, your dreams, and your possibilities.

Like America, who against all odds elected its first Black President; like Trinidad, with its first female Prime Minister; and like Haiti, electing “underdog” musician Michel Martelly as President, it is my utmost belief that together, as a people united, Bahamians and The Bahamas, will join other countries around the world in redefining what is possible.

I ask all to remain encouraged and know that I am using my time away wisely and creatively to ensure that the next government of The Bahamas will be prepared to represent them well, by putting together a plan that will once again put people first.

I close with a paraphrased version of 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:

Therefore, do not lose heart. Although, as a country, outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day. These momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal greatness that will far out-weigh all the troubles we are experiencing now. So fix your eyes not on what you see, but on what is yet to be seen.

Continue to keep me, my family, and our beloved country in your prayers.

Bahamas Blog International

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

W. A. Branville McCartney - M.P. for Bamboo Town - Contribution on the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) / Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) Debate - 23rd, March 2011

Mr. Speaker, my aim is not to lecture, chastise, or insult the intelligence of any person in this Honourable House, and whereas, I may have only been a sitting member for a short time, I came in to this great place either knowing of and/or admiring many of these Honourable Men.

In fact, on many occasions, I remember silently thinking - in awe - what an honor and privilege it is to be sitting among the Members for North Abaco and Farm Road; indeed men who once spoke out emphatically on issues of truth, justice, and equality. So, in saying all that I have said before this, I would hope, Mr. Speaker, that my words – in any way – will not be an affront to any person and I hope that persons do not take offense to them. I would want you to know, Mr. Speaker, that, it is as a result of the courage and boldness that I have seen in some of these Honourable Men over the years, particularly when confronting issues of national importance, I am now emboldened to speak the following.

When I made the decision to enter into politics, I made that decision based on what I saw taking place in my social environment. Among other things, crime was rampant and people were no longer feeling safe in their own environment; dysfunction was at an all time high among our young people and they were failing out of society in larger numbers than ever before; for various reasons, political leaders were continuing to dishonor their office and bring shame on our sovereign nation; while the average Bahamian worked and struggled, the nation was coming undone at its seams. And it seemed as if no one cared; while the people suffered, it appeared to be all politics as usual.

At the time, I thought about my young daughters and wondered if the Bahamas that I saw unfolding before my eyes was the same Bahamas that I wanted for them. I thought about my wife going about her business, not knowing if, at anytime, she would or could become another robbery or murder statistics. I felt compelled to step forward and offer myself as a change agent, not just for my family but for all Bahamians and Bahamian families who were feeling trapped and powerless in a society that was imploding all around us. I was motivated by the idea that I could possibly be one of a few who could be that difference, indeed the difference maker, when it came to shaping the future direction of what is, potentially, the greatest nation in the world. My intention was and is to “be the change I want to see in the world”.

The question for me was, however, how did we allow this situation to occur? I think many of us can remember the excitement that Bahamians from all walks of life felt on July 10, 1973 when the Black, Gold, and Agua Marine was hoisted for the first time to signifying that the Bahamas was a free and independent nation. With this new flag replacing the old Union Jack, no longer were we going to be considered second class citizens in our own society, in our own country. No longer would we be, as Sir Etienne Dupuch puts it in his Tribune Story, seen so “far behind to be conscious of a destiny.” Independence was the promise of a new destiny. And the courage and boldness of a few exceptional men gave all of us - all Bahamians – the courage to dream again. We all become enchanted by the thought of the economic prosperity and social mobility that independence would bring us. We were all enchanted, as a nation, with the promise of empowerment that was to come with independence – a kind of empowerment that was unconceivable before 1973. What a concept:

· Economic empowerment – the thought that we would each have sufficient wealth to take care of our own personal needs;

· Political empowerment – the right to have a voice and say in the way our society is organized and how decisions are made; and

· Societal empowerment – where we would be treated fairly and equally.

For the average Bahamian this was the vision.

Empowerment! What a vision.

We are here today at each other’s throats, not just because the people are angry and worked up at the impending sale of BTC, but we are here today because, some forty years after independence, after decades of dangling the carrot of empowerment before them - offering a pittance here and a pittance there - Bahamian people are disillusioned, fed up with, and angry at feeling disempowered in their own land. And whereas the proposed sale of BTC is the matter before us today, this same sale of the telecommunications corporation is only a symbol of the disenfranchisement and lack of vision that continues to be a slap in the face to the average Bahamian who bought into the dream of independence – a dream that many have given up on as only an illusion.

I hope that, by making my statements today, my intentions in advocating for Bahamian empowerment will not be misconstrued, as I would be remised and, somewhat disingenuous, in not acknowledging the benefits which foreign investors and foreign investments have brought our people and our nation. However, to spend a great deal of time elaborating on that would serve no real purpose at this time, particularly since it has been “thrown” in the face of Bahamian people from time in memoriam. The point of the matter however, at this stage, is that Bahamian people, after decades and decades of educating themselves in some of the finest colleges and universities that the world has to offer, with the hopes of proving themselves, should now – my God - have an opportunity to prove their worth – to the highest degree – in their own country.

If Cable and Wireless is as great as our leaders are purporting them to be, let the government take it hands out of BTC’s operations, open up the market, let Cable and Wireless, Verizon, Sprint, Digicel, and any other provider who wish to enter the market come in. Let them “duke” it out, and may the best man win. But at the end of the day, Bahamians would have to prove their value and their worth,their intelligence and their ingenuity, and if they fail at it, then so be it. But, again, why does Cable and
Wireless need a three year head start on the competition? Politics, nothing more than pure politics.

I will paraphrase a good friend of mine who said that “some of us in society have allowed, and continue to allow our political leaders to us the time proven strategy of divide and conquer to cast one as
the enemy of the other, pitting us imprudently against each other to achieve their goals, while at the same time preventing us from achieving the simple ones we have set for ourselves and have worked so tirelessly to see actualized as a people – the creation of a nation that is a reflection of our collective and intellectual wills.

“At some point, however,” this friend continues, “we must recognize that we are not the enemy of each other, and no matter what our station or position is within society, we are all categorized and classified as Bahamians, and it is under this umbrella that we must collectively assemble” and challenge the political status quo that, for decades, has denied us as a people the right to have the semblance of power that independence has promised us.

What we have seen outside these walls in the past few weeks and days is a challenge to that very same political status quo; what we have seen is a new awakening in a generation that has been disenfranchised for too long – a new people who are crying out to be rescued from, as Martin Luther King calls it, a false sense of inferiority and a feeling of nobodiness.

On January 30, 1997, in one of his last addresses as leader of the Progressive Liberal Party, Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling said his vision for the Bahamas is that it becomes:

· “a nation built on Christian principles and consisting of a citizenry dedicated to respecting and defending human rights, human dignity, and the equal value of all mankind; a nation committed to the reverence for God, the sanctity of the traditional family, equal opportunity, diligent work for the welfare of all its citizens.

· He says the future Bahamas should be “a nation where the people are the most precious resource over and above all natural and material resources, and the national prosperity is measured by the quality of the health, education, and social environment and self esteem of its people;

· He says it should be “a nation where the individual and corporate productivity are synonymous with self-worth and where the love for work is esteemed as a national obligation;”

· But most importantly, he says that the Bahamas should be “a nation where economic diversity creates a broad spectrum of opportunities to challenge all the rich, creative talents, gifts, abilities, and ingenuity of the people, thus producing an atmosphere of variety, healthy competition, and entrepreneurship.”

Now, I have heard all of the colorful commentary over the past few years and month, as people have sought to offer up their analysis and interpretations of me, my actions and my intentions.

Some have said that I am a show-boater and that I like to showboat or indeed grandstand; some who doubt my ability to lead say that I am unqualified, but as one gospel psalmist says, God may not call the most qualified, but he qualifies those whom he calls; and some add that I am a young upstart, and that I should wait for my time; but King says, time is always ripe to do right, and now is the time to make real the promises of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. And over the next few weeks and months, and even years, as I seek to continue serving the people of Bamboo Town and the Bahamas, I am sure that the colorful commentaries, criticisms, and characterizations will only intensify as the naysayers will naysay in their attempts to discredit me and send me to my political graveyard. But I can assure you here today, as I stand in opposition to the offering up of the majority holdings in the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation, no matter what commentaries are offered up about and against me, I promise the Bahamian people, from Grand Bahama in the north to Inagua in the south, Long Island to Rum Cay, from Baintown to Bamboo Town, from Ft. Charlotte to Ft. Fincastle, that God willing, I will continue to do what I entered politics in 2007 to do, and that is work to ensure that The Bahamas becomes a society free from the force of complacency brought on us by years and years of oppression, insensitivity, bitterness, and self-hate – a place where people can begin to feel a true sense of “somebodiness.”

Because, despite what some may say about us - despite what we have been fooled into believing about ourselves - we are a great people, and we have one of the greatest country in the world. As a matter of fact, Dr Miles Munroe always says and I agree, that ”The Bahamas is the place where God lives”.

That is why almost everyone in the world wants a piece of the Bahamian rock. But the time has come for us to stop giving ourselves away, particularly for cheaper cell phone rates! My Lord, my Lord.

Now, because I am reminded that our own dear Prime Minister is himself a transplant from the Progressive Liberal Party of old - (thank God for
radicalism, freedom of expression, and the freedom not to bandwagon) - and the illustrious leader of the opposition has remained a true stalwart, I say what I am about to say without fear of reprisal; In an attempt to get our country back on track, it is time for a revisiting of Sir Lynden’s vision for The Bahamas.

It is time for us to come up with strategies where, as a nation and people, we can continue to use and sustain a moderate tourism and financial product as revenue generators, while at the same time, find new ways to diversify our economy by creating a broad spectrum of opportunities to challenge all the rich, creative talents, gifts, abilities, and ingenuity of the Bahamian people; our country is brimming with a whole generation of young people out there waiting to take up the call. I know!!!!! I speak with young people everyday!! I am a young person and the young people are listening and they will make the difference!!!!!!

We must begin to lay the framework for an economy that is less based on physical capital in favor of one that is more dependent on human capital, for as Ralph Massey says, “human capital is more important to the public welfare than is physical capital.”

We must move away from an economy that thrives primarily on imported goods and servitude, and create one which is more of a producer model, driven primarily on exported goods and services – in many forms – created by manufacturing innovation and invention.

We must have a plan for the mobilization of our land mass, where each island will be developed and advanced so as to play an integral part in the country’s well being.

We must see to it that education is harnessed and used as the tool by which Bahamians, using the ingenuity derived from a quality education, will be able to meet more of their own consumer needs, and at the same time, meet and fulfill the needs of many of the global neighbors, particularly those in other Caribbean nations.

We must clearly define our national needs and stop allowing others to come in from the outside to define them for us. The future model for The Bahamas must be one in which we have a clear vision of the direction that we want our country to go in, and – God forbid – in the absence of qualified Bahamians, we invite a qualified labor force in to assist us with the building of our national dreams – instead of us using our labor to continually build the dreams of others.

Only when we begin to move in these directions, valuing the people as the most precious resource, will we become “a nation where the individual and corporate productivity are synonymous with selfworth and where the love for work is esteemed as a national obligation”

Again it is unfortunate that we have gotten to this day such a day in our history, and I am being put in a position such as this, but what is becoming evident all around us, once again quoting Martin Luther King, “oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself;” this is what we are now experiencing at this momentous time in our history.

The uprising taking place in our country says that we as a people have come full circle in our quest for true independence. And we have lost faith in our chosen leaders to deliver on the promises made decades ago, even years ago.

Disappointingly, I bring my contribution on this debate to a close by quoting from the Honourable Member from North Abaco who once said, among other things, that his job, as leader, is to “anticipate the future as best as he can and to act in the people’s interest.” At that time in 1997, our Prime Minister said to the people of the nation, “because I believe that Bahamians ought to own the majority in Batelco, I shall never, never, ever sell the majority holding in Batelco to anyone other than Bahamians.”

He also said, “I have stated often that I do not want to be elected to office promising one thing, knowing I am going to do another, but neglecting to say what I am going to do, just to get elected.” What a difference 14 years makes. At the time, it was just a matter of trust.

Now, however, some 14 years later, it is regrettable that the promise of empowerment made to the people of the Bahamas - captured in the phrase “never, never, ever” - a promise that they were told that they could trust, is being flagrantly tossed aside as a miscalculation of the time; Time and time Bahamians have showed that they are a trusting people, willing to take any old thing at face value because they want to believe in truth and honesty.

But how many more broken political promises can an already broken people take before they say enough is enough?

I hope that when we see the marches and the demonstrations, and hear of resignations, and other forms of civil protests, we will not be so quick to deplore these marches and demonstrations, and resignations, and other forms of protest without expressing similar, strong criticism for the
conditions that brought about the marches and the demonstrations, and resignations, and other forms of civil protests.

As I take my seat, I think it is quite obvious that I have no intentions of lending my support to the government’s plan to give over to Cable and Wireless a majority holding in the country’s telecommunications corporation. For the sake of a brighter future for our country, I hope that there will be others of my former colleagues who will be ready to rise above the fray and put aside political allegiances and alliances, to give our people - your people - a vote of confidence in their ability to be innovators, to be owners, and to be operators in a democratic, free market economy; I hope today that we will be affording them some semblance of pride and dignity by voting against this that is before us, and where and when they falter, be a source of encouragement for their betterment; I hope that some of my fellow colleagues will find the courage to show their individual character, and join me in attempting to begin the process of delivering to the Bahamian people the economical, political, and societal empowerment that they have so long been promised but denied.

It is not just me, not just those on the opposite side of the isle, and not just those demonstrating and protesting outside these walls who are making this request; if you have really looked around at our society in the last decade or so, you will have recognized that our entire society is, in some ways, crying out for a vote of confidence. Let us do what is right for a nation. I ask that you and other Bahamians join me and let us turn back the tides of injustice by saying NO to Cable and Wireless as majority owners in BTC.

Bahamas Blog International