Mr. Speaker when this House last met, the Member for Marco City in a most non-progressive approach while he should have been providing hope and help to the Bahamian people, made several inaccurate statements that I now wish to correct. Mr. Speaker it is important to do so to ensure that the truth prevails and that our democracy is not compromised by those who in my view mislead.

Mr. Speaker the Member for Marco City told this House, and I wish to quote him, “I remember the experience of Grand Bahama in the wake of Royal Oasis. If you take fifteen hundred people out of the labour pool of Grand Bahama the impact on that island’s economy is devastating and we have seen it. There was not a response that said you know what, in the wake of this and what it means for Grand Bahama, let’s put them to work for two months, three months, no such intervention.”

Mr. Speaker the member for Marco City did not speak facts, in fact sir his comments could be considered in my opinion nothing short of misleading.

The facts are Mr. Speaker that in the aftermath of Hurricane Frances, Jeanne and Wilma the PLP Administration immediately responded by assisting the residents of Grand Bahama, including the former employees of Royal Oasis with home repairs and in some cases the rebuilding of homes. Additionally, the Christie Administration provided temporary accommodations for hundreds, throughout the Island including hotels, apartments and private housing.

The Christie Administration sought and received assistance from the financial institutions to apply restraint in pressuring home and business mortgagees. The financial institutions responded positively.

The Christie Administration increased assistance to private educational institutions to help families who had lost everything including their jobs.

The Christie Administration through the Department of Social Services increased its level of assistance to all and paid particular attention to the former employees of Royal Oasis. We came to Parliament and got approval to advance 5 million dollars to the former staff of Royal Oasis to cover salaries owed and severance pay. In fact against criticism the decision was made to bring immediate help to the former employees of the Royal Oasis. Mr. Speaker, Marco City knows that, it was the FNM Administration which completed the arrangement for the former staff of the Royal Oasis when it came to office in May 2007.

Mr. Speaker the Christie Administration further provided temporary employment for many of the former staff of Royal Oasis through a temporary homes program on the premises of the hotel itself. The program provided shelter for families who were left homeless after the devastating hurricanes. Additionally, Mr. Speaker, the Christie Administration also provided employment for former Royal Oasis staff at Emerald Bay, Bimini Bay and The Isle of Capri.

And, Mr. Speaker the Christie Administration employed many of the former staff of the Royal Oasis not on temporary jobs but with the Urban Renewal Program. It was the FNM who came to office in 2007 and unceremoniously dismantled the URP in Grand Bahama, and would have fired those who were given help through employment with the Urban Renewal program, if there was not an outcry from this Opposition. They still fired some, but others were redeployed to the Department of Social Services and other Government agencies. In fact, Mr. Speaker, the trained Social Worker who was the coordinator for the Social Services Arm of UR and who trained the case aides who manned the UR centers and joined the social workers from the Dept. of SS in making thousands of assessments and bringing relief to thousands of Grand Bahamians in the aftermath of the hurricanes, a woman who was qualified and committed to the Program, last time I checked is still unemployed. Mr. Speaker, for too many of our people this FNM Government has become “A Weapon of Mass Destruction”.

Mr. Speaker, I have heard it said that Bahamians have short memories for true, but I believe the Bahamian people, including the former employees of the Royal Oasis, will remember, not only the devastation of Hurricane Frances (noted as the only hurricane to cover the entire Bahamas since the Hurricane of 1886) and Hurricane Jeanne which came a mere three weeks later and unleashed her forces on much of the same severely damaged areas, but they will recall the great efforts of the then Government which provided the much needed relief.

Marco City, Mr. Speaker, who always seems to be so deeply enamored and carried away with the cheers of his colleagues as they goad him on during his presentations, and that is fine, whatever tickles his fancy, but he must not attempt to rewrite history and to mislead this honourable place and the Bahamian people in his feeble attempts to score cheap political brownie points.