“Rubbish” is  Progressive Liberal Party Chairman Fred Mitchell thinks about the Government’s Fiscal Responsibility Bill  Appearing as a  guest yesterday on Love 97’s Radio programme  Jones and Company, Mr. Mitchell said the legislation is not worth the paper that it is written on.

Finance Minister Peter Turnquest has gone on record on numerous occasions stating his intention to balance the country’s budget, which involved raising taxes and implementing quite a number of cutbacks this fiscal year.

When asked how he felt about this move, Mr. Mitchell said one must have a “feel for people” in order to be Minister of Finance. 

He said, “when Perry Christie was Prime Minister, the  International Monetary Fund ( IMF)  came sand said that we had to raise taxes. He said that he wasn’t going to do it because he didn’t want to inflict any more taxes on the Bahamian people.”

He added, “he said that he is going to deal with deficit and he’s going to deal with expansion by simply growing this economy. Now, unfortunately, others are reaping from ‘the big project’ which they described as a mirage and a bad deal.

“Now, they’re crowing to the rafters, talking about how great it is and so on and so forth.”, he said.  

Senator Mitchell also said that there is a list of things the country ought to be doing in terms of its investment in infrastructure and investment in small businesses. 

He said, “my view is that $250 million should be set aside for venture capital from the government. My view is that the Lynden Pindling International Airport needs to be expanded again because it is too small for what it does. My view is that the airports in the Family Islands must be completed because it’s ridiculous what you see happening in North Eleuthera when New Year’s comes.”

“My view is the digital platform of which we are operating is falling apart. Telephone calls are dropping. No one is looking into telecommunications and data in this country. Its time now to move to 5G, and there’s no talk of investment in that.”, he added. 

“All of these things will make this country competitive and grow in the future.”, he said.