FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hon. Michael Pintard, M.P. : When Will We Build a Resilient Bahamas?
The Bahamas ground to a halt this week as Tropical Storm Imelda turned homes into pools and roads into rivers. Families threw out ruined furniture, fought rising water with buckets and pumps, and tried to salvage what they had worked so hard to build.
Schools and banks closed. Vehicles stalled, and neighborhoods became impassable. It was a painful reminder of just how vulnerable we remain, and how fragile our economic engine in Nassau can be. When the capital floods, cruise ports close, businesses close, and tourism freezes.
We have been here before after Matthew, after Dorian, and after countless heavy rains. Each storm leaves behind the same cycle of damage and disruption, exposing how little has changed.
For decades, communities like Pinewood Gardens have endured chronic flooding, despite repeated promises of relief.
Prime Minister Davis acknowledged this reality after Imelda, noting that our country’s low-lying terrain and high-water table make drainage a persistent challenge. But geology is not an excuse for inaction.
The Free National Movement believes we should be more proactive. International commentary is one thing; smart governance is another.
It means tweaking laws like the Town Planning and Subdivision Act, or putting in place new rules, so that where and how we build makes sense in a flood-prone nation.
It means finding the money, whether through public–private partnerships or low-interest loans from international agencies, to finally build modern 21st-century drainage systems across our islands.
It means injecting resources into the Family Island Development Fund, with a portion set aside for climate-smart projects and flood protection.
And it means unchaining local government so that communities themselves can collect funds and set them aside for climate-related emergencies.
We are behind time in summoning the urgency, innovation, and resources to make resilience a national priority. That priority cannot be political.
There is no PLP or FNM way to combat our climate reality. People do not care who clears the drain that keeps their home dry; They care that the water goes away.
The storms will keep coming, and the seas will keep rising. If we want a future where Bahamians can live and work without fear that the next heavy rain will upend their lives, then resilience must move from talking point to action.