13th October 2005
I wish to thank Assistant Commissioner Greenslade for kindly inviting
me to conduct this interface with law enforcement officers of the
northern Bahamas on the question of Foreign Affairs and The Bahamas.
When I took office, it was made clear that building on our party’s
platform we wanted to increase the profile of The Bahamas in foreign
affairs, and as part of that remit, we had to interface more positively
and aggressively with the Bahamian public at large. I told the staff at
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that my view was that the Ministry would
not get the resources that it needs unless the Bahamian public could buy
into what it was the Ministry was doing and believed in what we were
doing.
Our role is to smooth the passage of Bahamians wherever they go in
the world. If we succeed at the most basic level, wherever in the world
a Bahamian goes, he or she should have smooth passage, because other
countries know the country and know the country’s reputation is a good
one. This means everything from promoting trade with the Bahamas, so
that the business opportunities for our people improve, to ensuring that
there is hassle free access to other countries. We have a long way to go
but we have accomplished much in the few short years in office.
This programme this morning then is in pursuance of that part of our
mission, the interface with the Bahamian people so that they can buy
into our message.
The Ministry made a decision, the Government and Prime Minister
supported the decision to have an increasing interface with Grand Bahama
and the other islands of the archipelago. I had a very intense
discussion with a public servant over the last few days about the nature
of our country and why the senior public servants could not be content
to sit in Nassau with the view that all roads lead there. The country is
a nation of islands, and the centre must come out to the parts and speak
with and interact with those who live outside the capital. It helps to
build us as a country.
Law enforcement officers, the public service generally are key to
that mission. You help bind the country together. You need only recall
that the country has only been a nation, with its present identity since
1973. We are still forging and building our sense of ourselves. We are
held together not by military force, or by financial inducements, we are
held together by the consent of the governed. In other words, wherever
you go in the archipelago, the people of The Bahamas voluntarily see
Nassau as their capital, and each of our islands as part of the greater
whole. These are the cultural ties that bind us, and the cultural ties
must be constantly reinforced by the interactions with each other. The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a part of that philosophy.
In pursuance of that, we have held two major international meetings
here, the Foreign Minister's Conference of Caricom which took place in
the middle of a fierce debate over the country’s relationship with the
Caribbean. The second was the meeting held last month with the South
African Foreign Minister and her team which we think will lead to
increased trade opportunities for Freeport.
In that connection, I would like to announce that the Minister for
National Insurance has advanced plans for the construction of a major
new building here in Freeport. Within that building we have requested
space for an expanded passport office and for an office of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs.
I believe that this city has grown to the point, and its future
growth clearly points toward, a Deputy Chief of Protocol for Freeport
with an officer to assist. There is a need for a protocol lounge in
Freeport airport. There is the need for a secure facility so that if our
friends the American want to conduct interviews for the granting visas
they can have such a facility. There is also a need for expanded
facilities for passports, particularly given the fact that machine
readable passports will be issued out of Freeport when the passports
begin to be issued sometime next \year.
It would seem to me that there is a need to be safe cars parked here
for the exclusive use of foreign visitors and for public officials
including the Prime Minister, the Governor General and the Deputy Prime
Minister. There ought to be the founding of an honorary consular corp to
deal with the needs of foreign visitors including those from the United
States of America.
Traveling with me this morning is Rhoda Jackson, the First Assistant
Secretary of the Ministry in the International Relations Division. She
has within the past year returned from a long service in the United
Nations, where she served the country well. I have asked her to deal
with some of the subsets within the Ministry for your further
edification.
I hope that we can have a lively and interesting dialogue this
morning, as we together plan the future of The Bahamas and more
particularly this island. I invite you to read about the Ministry and
its work on mfabahamas.org.
Thank you very much indeed.
