“The moral and social fiber of the Bahamian society is coming apart at the seams”.  This is the view of the Reverend Doctor William Thompson, President of the Bahamas National Baptist Missionary and  Educational Convention. He also  said that a “cloud of apathy” engulfs the Bahamian society. 

During his address at the 83rd Annual Session of the Convention, Dr. Thompson called on Bahamians to join together to embody nationhood.  

“Now is the time for every genuine full-blooded, able bodied Bahamian to be called upon in a concerted effort along with the government to rescue our nation from the morass or hopelessness and despair which pervade our land,” Dr. Thompson said. 

The Baptist leader   said that the country has never been faced with so much uncertainty. 

Recently the International Monetary Fund  (IMF) recommended that the government reduce  the civil service wage bill by tens of millions of dollars. To this Dr. Thompson said the Baptist association will keep a very close eye on to see what action the government takes. 

However, he called on Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis to help the Bahamian populace, by saving Bahamian jobs. 

“We have read what the IMF has apparently recommended to the government; we will be looking very closely to what action our government would take. Mr. Prime Minister we appeal to you sir to make an effort to save the Bahamian jobs. 

“If we continue to lose jobs,  please tell us what can our young people look forward to upon graduation from high school and college. 

The church appeals  to the government to take another look at its policy on terminating persons from the different government agencies,” Dr. Thompson said. 

Alluding to recent announcements of firings, particularly from government agencies, Dr. Thompson said that the government’s first priority should be to seek ways to provide employment and not reduce it. 

“The buzz on the street is that almost after every Cabinet meeting more and more persons are let go from their jobs. Many if not all of these persons have gotten mortgages and other loans because they had the ability of paying them back because they were employed by the state. 

“The practice of Ministers of Government making these declarations of termination in the press put the workers in an unenviable position. There must be a more humane way  to deal with how we handle and treat the Bahamian workers,” Dr. Thompson said. 

Dr. Thompson was addressing scores of Baptist followers at the William Thompson Auditorium. The theme of the 83rd session is “Rebuilding, Rebranding, Renewing; Sub-topic: Counting the Cost”.