BY GERRINO SAUNDERS
Journal Staff Writer
Former Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis made a clarion call for the construction of a new state-of-the-art parliamentary complex.
In his contribution to the debate in the House of Assembly on Monday on the resolution to join the International Parliamentary Union (IPU), Dr. Minnis painted a grim picture of conditions at the current Parliament building.
“It is necessary now to say again that we must build a new parliament. Two of these buildings date to the beginning of the 19th Century, and the limitations of these old building hamper the functioning of Parliament. There is also inadequate space for members on the staff of Parliament,” said Dr. Minnis.
He further noted that the restroom and lunch room facilities are outdated.
Dr. Minnis claimed there are times Parliamentarians have to leave the building to use the restroom of neighboring businesses which can be embarrassing. Added to that, he said the current Parliament buildings are also infested with termites.
He called for a “bipartisan approach” to building a new parliament complex as soon as possible.
He said, “Regardless of which party is in power, we must build a new parliament; we cannot just keep talking and pledging, this generation of leaders must get it done. There is bipartisan consensus that a new parliament is needed, however for some reason we collectively have not gotten the job done, but now is the time to build a modern parliament fit for the purposes of the 21st Century and beyond.”
Dr. Minnis said he expects the design of a new Parliament building to be “beautiful and awesome” and that he expects the new facility to be “big in its designs and scope,” especially as the government talks about the redevelopment of downtown, with the current historic buildings becoming a part of the tourism product for site seeing.
Minister of Public Works and Utilities Alfred Sears, in response to Dr. Minnis’ call, informed parliamentarians that there are plans in the works for the construction of a new parliament building.
He said, “I simply wanted to announce that an interdisciplinary team has been assembled and is responsible for the design of the new parliament. That team has been working and traveling to different locations looking at various other parliaments, so that they can be informed by some of the best practices in the design of the national parliament of The Bahamas.”
In the past, former Speaker of the House of Assembly Halston Moultrie, during the Minnis administration, constantly complained about the poor conditions at the parliament, especially the Speaker’s office, which he claimed at the time had a leaking roof and no running water.
