By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS
lmunnings@tribunemedia.net
SOCIAL Services and Urban Development Minister Obie Wilchcombe says the government will study the data from a recent United Nations Food Survey to craft its response to people’s needs.
The survey found that some Bahamians were eating less or skipping meals because of soaring prices brought on by inflation.
Mr Wilchcombe was contacted after Free National Movement Deputy Leader Shanendon Cartwright accused the Davis administration of not prioritising relief for vulnerable Bahamians in view of the report.
Yesterday, Mr Wilchcombe said the data from the survey will be used to assist the government in determining a strategic approach in moving forward.
“Valued data that we will study,” he told this newspaper yesterday when asked to respond to the study’s findings. “The data will be utilised to assist us in determining our strategic approach in moving forward.”
Mr Wilchcombe said the Davis administration is committed to fulfilling the pledge of the social revolution, which is to “feed the poor, heal the sick, guide the youth and bring peace to every heart.”
In response to Mr Cartwright, he encouraged the opposition to not use the poor as a “political football”.
“The poor must not be used as a political football,“ Mr Wilchcombe said yesterday.
“To boast of our work is equally as bad as using the most vulnerable as a subject while obviously scraping to make headlines.”
In a press release yesterday, the MP for St Barnabas said the government has failed to fulfil its promise to structure more programming and assistance to the poor.
“An even greater injustice has added insult to injury. The government’s long awaited promise to structure more programming and more assistance to the poor and most vulnerable in our society is nowhere to be found,” Mr Cartwright said.
However, Mr Wilchcome said the government is aware of the needs of Bahamians and is “weighing the options.”
“We have already determined the need for a comprehensive school breakfast programme, so we will team with the Ministry of Education,” Mr Wilchcombe said. “We have discovered that there are many who need a place at night to secure a meal. We are weighing the options.”
Meanwhile in a statement posted to his Facebook page yesterday, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis acknowledged that the cost of living has been “too high” for a long time, exacerbated by global inflation which has made it “harder than ever” for Bahamians to pay their bills.
He said his administration is helping Bahamians in several ways.
“We are helping Bahamians cope with the crisis in a number of ways: We have lowered the customs duty on many food items – eggs, chicken, flour, cheese, and a range of healthy vegetables have now had their customs duties decreased significantly or are completely duty-free. We’re hiring new price control enforcers. We’re supporting church feeding programmes that reach so many. We’re spending a lot more on social assistance than the country did in 2019, before Dorian and COVID.
“We don’t just want to help Bahamians through today’s crisis, we want to reduce our dependence on food imports dramatically – so we never find ourselves in this position again. That’s why we’re making an historic investment in agriculture and food security. We need to grow more of what we eat here at home. If we do that, we’re going to pay less for our food, we’re going to eat healthier, and we’re going to create a lot of new opportunities. We have some really innovative programmes that can help Bahamian entrepreneurs understand the enormous potential in agriculture and fishing, provide concessions and tax breaks, and offer technical support, too.
“These are difficult times, but we’ve built a strong foundation in our first year and will continue to provide crucial relief for Bahamians as we recover and make progress together.”
