As Leader of the Opposition, I support the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund (BPAF) Amendment Bill and recognize its importance in strengthening the country’s capacity to manage and protect our natural resources. This amendment will allow the Fund to support critical staffing, training, and operational costs within agencies like the Department of Marine Resources and Forestry, areas that have long lacked the resources to effectively carry out their mandates.
This is not new work. Successive administrations have contributed to the national goal of protecting at least 20 percent of our nearshore marine environment. That progress was built on years of collaboration between government, non-governmental organizations, and partners such as the Bahamas National Trust and The Nature Conservancy. I commend the environmental professionals and former Ministers who have advanced this effort.
However, while I support this Bill, I must draw attention to the glaring hypocrisy of this Davis administration. The Prime Minister speaks eloquently on the global stage about climate justice and environmental stewardship, yet his government’s conduct at home tells a different story.
The Exuma Moorings scandal is a prime example. The Prime Minister himself signed a 21-year seabed lease to a company with direct ties to individuals in his own office. Only after public exposure did the government claim to cancel the deal. Yet, months later, containers filled with moorings remain in Exuma, and new buoys continue to appear. These buoys are crowded together without proper spacing, are not correctly marked on navigation charts, and pose real safety and environmental hazards.
Bahamians deserve transparency. They deserve a government that practices at home what it preaches abroad. When this administration uses its power to quietly sign contracts that fail basic environmental and financial standards, it betrays public trust.
The Free National Movement believes that protecting our environment and strengthening our blue and green economy must go hand in hand with fiscal responsibility and integrity. True leadership means not only talking about climate justice overseas but living it right here in The Bahamas.