The Bahamas is not ready for Ebola, says Free National Movement (FNM) Chairman - Darron Cash

Fnm Chairman Says Response To Ebola Threat Is Too 'Laid Back'

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Chairman Darron Cash yesterday criticised the government’s response to the potential threat of an Ebola case as “laid back” given the enormous risk the disease poses for the country’s tourism-driven economy.

He added that he does not think the country is ready for an Ebola case, despite assurances from officials that the country is on high alert for the possibility.

Mr Cash called for a full briefing on the government’s national plan, particularly equipment readiness, decontamination and waste control protocols, and co-ordination with the United States’ Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In a press statement yesterday, he pointed to reports that a health care worker who might have had contact with the disease in Texas had been quarantined on a cruise ship in the Caribbean.

According to reports yesterday, the woman has tested negative for the disease.

However, Mr Cash said the scare “has enormous implications for the Bahamas”.

“The Bahamas receives an estimated 4.2 million tourists annually, and a significant percentage of them come ashore and interact with Immigration, Customs and police officers, taxi drivers, hair braiders, store clerks, surrey drivers and others. The potential reach of a single individual can be broad.”

Mr Cash continued: “The experience of the cruise passenger reflects the reality of just how quickly America’s phenomenally small experience of less than 150 ‘Ebola-related risks/contacts’ can reach the islands of the Caribbean. The lesson for the Bahamas should be crystal clear: we should have been ready.

“We are not ready. We now need to get ready, remain ready and well-drilled and take nothing for granted.”

There have been three confirmed cases of Ebola in America, which is the closest country to the Bahamas with confirmed cases, according to the CDC. Two nurses in Texas who cared for Ebola patient Thomas Duncan, who died at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital earlier this month, have tested positive for the virus. Duncan entered the US from Liberia.

On Friday, Obama administration officials confirmed that a Carnival Magic passenger, who had handled a lab specimen from the Liberian man, was voluntarily self-quarantined on the cruise ship despite the fact that she had shown no signs of illness.

The Associated Press reported yesterday that the Dallas health care worker had tested negative for the disease, and the cruise ship was back in port in Texas.

This follows reports that Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and St Lucia last week announced immediate travel bans on anyone who would have come from or through Ebola-affected countries of West Africa, namely Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

In response to whether the country was also considering a ban, Dr Glen Beneby, chief medical officer (CMO) in the Ministry of Health, said workers at the ports were being educated and their awareness of Ebola increased. He said the country was prepared to close its ports to those travelling from Ebola-affected regions if it became necessary.

While he acknowledged that there were different levels of readiness among islands, Dr Beneby said that every island is ready to deal with the disease.

Officials also said that by Wednesday, every major Family Island or clinic will have the necessary equipment to deal with a possible Ebola case.

Earlier this month the Ministry of Health released a 51-page Ebola Preparedness and Response Plan, which was heavily scrutinised by some government and healthcare personnel for its lack of public education and medical training.

There is a brief section in the report addressing port surveillance, which requires medical officers to be on call and to be accessible 24 hours a day. It does not call for screenings of travellers at ports of entry.

The Ebola virus is a severe disease characterised by a sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat.

These symptoms may be followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some in cases both internal and external bleeding.

Symptoms may appear anywhere from two to 21 days after exposure to Ebola virus, although eight to ten days is most common, according to the CDC.

In an updated statement sent out on Friday, the Ministry of Health advised travellers with Ebola-like symptoms to consult a health care provider or contact the ministry’s surveillance unit within 21 days of entering the country.

Contact numbers for the Surveillance Unit are: 502-4776, 502-4790, 397-1021, or 376-3533.

October 20, 2014

Tribune 242

FNMs against the Free National Movement (FNM) Government's Policy on the Proposed Sale of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC)

FNMs speaking out against party policy
thenassauguardian editorial


It was surprising to read published comments by two Free National Movement (FNM) members this week on the sale of the majority stake in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC).

Bamboo Town MP Branville McCartney said he would wait to see the memorandum of understanding the government signed with CWC, as well as the details of the proposed sale, before he gives his support in Parliament.

“I cannot make a decision without having the facts,” McCartney said to The Nassau Guardian on Tuesday. “I don’t have all of the facts.”

The government has promised to make all the details of the proposed deal public before it comes up for debate in the House of Assembly.

“Once all the facts are in hand, I’ll be able to make a decision as to whether or not it’s the right thing to do or otherwise,” McCartney added.

FNM Vice-chairman Darron Cash, who is a former party senator, wrote a long opinion piece that was published in The Guardian on Monday. In it, Cash set out why he strongly opposes the BTC sale to CWC.

“I disagree with the government’s proposed action. I believe it is wrong for the country,” said Cash.

“This decision sells the country short. It is a betrayal of future generations, and like a bad stock on BISX—in which you have little confidence—the government is selling the next generation (my generation) short.”

Cash then used more than 5,000 words to explain why he disagrees with the deal.

Hubert Ingraham has run his FNM in a different manner than Perry Christie has run the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP). PLPs have regularly criticized Christie and the party publicly.

Ingraham’s troops are not known for this behavior. From all accounts, Ingraham, like the late Sir Lynden Pindling, ensures order is maintained by inflicting painful political consequences for dissent. Christie’s followers seem to have little fear of him.

The FNM has had a tough time in the public relations war over the sale of BTC. The union movement, the opposition and some prominent church leaders have opposed the move.

That public relations fight becomes more difficult when FNMs join the public fight against the sale. When young party members question the party’s actions, or disagree with it, the party is weakened during a war.

The danger for the FNM is that these young members of the party can do more damage to it than the PLP.

The PLP has no credibility when it comes to the BTC debate. It too wanted to sell a major chunk of BTC to foreigners.

The PLP is only protesting the CWC sale in an attempt to cause trouble for the government in the run up to the next general election. The opposition is not concerned about the real debate that has emerged surrounding privatization policy and Bahamianization.

But when FNMs speak out publicly on the issue at the risk of being savaged by the party’s leadership, it appears as if the messenger attempting to convince the country of the wisdom of the CWC sale has turned on itself.

The FNM would be wise, for its sake, to conclude the BTC deal as soon as possible. More public dissent from within the governing party will not stop the deal, but it would weaken the FNM at a time when it is attempting to convince Bahamians it should serve another term in office.

1/13/2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Bahamas Blog International

Former Free National Movement (FNM) Senator Darron Cash Blasts Government Over Its Over-dependence on Foreign Expertise

Former FNM Senator Blasts Gov’t
By Kendea Jones:


A former Free National Movement (FNM) senator is blasting the government over what he feels is its over-dependence on foreign expertise.

Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Darron Cash said the government is publicly setting up a “trial balloon” by hiring Canadian Company Emera to analyse the Bahamas Electricity Corporation’s (BEC) financial position.

“As a former senator, I am greatly concerned about successive governments’ apparent default position of looking to and relying upon perceived foreign expertise at the expense of Bahamian talent,” he said.

“To put it another way, I am concerned, and to a degree troubled, by the extent to which successive governments appear to look to foreign nationals to solve every major national problem we have.”

According to Mr. Cash the government has brought in foreign reserves for the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA), the city dump, BEC, Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), the College of The Bahamas (COB) and the New Providence Road Improvement Project (NPRIP).

“With respect to BEC, I strongly urge the government to reconsider this idea. It is a bad idea,” he said.

“This country must get to the point where Bahamians recognise that they must be the ones to take ownership of and solve the country’s problems.”

The former senator added that he believes that the government is in too much of a hurry to solve the country’s problems.

The government has made no secret of the fact that BEC is in troubled waters.

Minister of State for the Environment Phenton Neymour, who has responsibility for public utilities, has said that the government projects that the state-owned corporation will lose $28 million in profits this year.

While speaking with the Bahama Journal yesterday, Minister Neymour said he disagrees that the government did not use Bahamian expertise.

“We used firms like Ernst & Young, which produced audit reports for us and analysed the processes being analysed in BEC. We also used the services of Deloitte & Touche, who did a forensics analysis over a number of months. They both produced reports for the government and the government took their recommendations, which included restructuring its BEC’s executive team,” he said.

Minister Neymour said the government also made the decision to hire Michael Moss as BEC chairman because he was locally and internationally known.

He also defended the government’s decision to appoint Emera.

“We have to now address BEC from an operational standpoint and so we had to find those firms who have experience not only in The Bahamas but in the Caribbean. Emera is part owner of the Grand Bahama Power Company (GBPC) and so it has experience not only in The Bahamas, but in Barbados and elsewhere in the Caribbean.

“We are using firms like that to provide BEC with stronger management because one of the things pointed out by the Bahamian firms is that we need to strengthen our executive team at BEC,” Minister Neymour said.

The minister also pointed out that the government is looking to bring renewable energy to BEC.

Minister Neymour said Emera is just the company to help the corporation get it.

“They are running experiments in regards to wind energy, tidal energy etc. We want to bring in these kinds of companies with this type of experience. So what Mr. Cash is saying is not correct. What we are doing is taking a multipronged approach to restoring BEC to the position where it used to be,” he said.

June 3rd, 2010

jonesbahamas

Bahamas Blog International