counterparts to CARDI professionals will
be able to undertake research on The Bahamas and earn UWI postgraduate qualifications at both the Masters and Doctoral
degree levels.
Mr. Speaker,
The Caribbean Farmers’ Network (CaFAN) is the leading small farmer organization in CARICOM and has invited the
Institute to have its Associated Farmers’
Programme as a member. It is also notable
that BAMSI is the only marine institute in
CARICOM, and possibly the region as a
whole and a number of CARICOM states
have announced their intention to send
their students for training in order to more
efficiently manage their marine resources.
BAMSI is an investment in human capital
development, and in the food and nutrition security infrastructure of our country.
BAMSI will continue to transform the Agricultural Sector and provide a more secure
marine environment for Bahamians.
As for reforms in the education and training
areas, we have introduced new standards
for high school graduation and established
the National Training Agency, as well as the
STAR Academy for the most vulnerable in
our society. In the last Budget, we provided
$20 million for training and apprenticeship
programmes aimed at the at-risk unemployed youth in our country.
The provision of effective social services
is also vital to the well-being of our citizens in need. To that end, we have modernized our programmes in this area with
the introduction of modern debit cards to
improve the delivery of social assistance
and we have implemented the RISE programme to tie assistance to positive behaviour.
In the period ahead, we will undertake a
nationwide survey of vulnerable areas of
the country, to be conducted by Urban
Renewal using, as field workers, employees
of the job and apprenticeship/training programme that I am announcing today. This
survey will, over a three-month period,
perform a detailed examination of households to assess the challenges that they
confront -- be they in respect of health
issues, housing, employment and so forth.
The concrete results of the survey will be
made available to the Bahamian public and
will serve to supplement the other data
that are currently available to policymakers.
That, in turn, will assist in the formulation
of effective socio-economic interventions
by the Government to the major challenges confronting the citizens of ou r nation.
GOVERNANCE
Mr. Speaker,
The Governance pillar is about the institutions that serve the vital needs of citizens
and underpin their rights and freedoms in
a stable and secure environment. We have
thus embarked on a process to transform
the way in which strategic planning is implemented at the centre of Government.
Our view of planning has evolved to more
fully encompass strategic thinking as we
prepare for today and the future.
In a nutshell, we have placed planning and
results-based management at the forefront
of the activities of Government so that we
can achieve the very best opportunities
for the people that we serve. Indeed, strategic planning will allow us to successfully
take ideas from conception to execution,
considering all of the known available options and alternatives and recommending
the best approach.
This represents a sea-change in our public
policy formulation procedures built around
a “Centre of Government” approach to
planning within the Office of the Prime
Minister, including the development and institution of an effective planning and monitoring tool and a governance mechanism
to ensure that planning and execution are
properly implemented.
We have also launched a wide-ranging reform of our Public Financial Management
System that will have a positive impact on
the performance of the public sector, including a more transparent and efficient
public procurement system.
The implementation of the new Chart
of Accounts by the end of the next fiscal year will allow tracking of expenditure
at the level of projects and programs. It
will also allow expenditure to be tracked
by geographic location. This is especially
important given the obligations under the
Hawksbill Creek Agreement.
To facilitate this implementation, the Government will upgrade its IT infrastructure
to will allow for the modernization of the
existing systems. However, I wish to stress
that this investment does not mean that
the Government will not pursue the complete overhaul of its public finance system
that is still slated to commence in the upcoming fiscal period.
In the area of citizen security, we have
sought to modernize our law enforcement
system through the provision of additional
officers and equipment to the Royal Bahamas Police Force; to modernize our prison
system with legislation to address recidivism and improve rehabilitation; to reform
our judicial system with the addition of ten
new courts and additional legal officers to
reduce system backlogs; to modernize our
national defence system with investments
of over $250 million on new fleet and bases for the Royal Bahamas Defence Force;
and to modernize our immigration system
with investments of over $20 million.
[13]
2016/2017
DRAFT
ESTIMATES
OF REVENUE &
EXPENDITURE