While we have always think of Christmas as a time of fun, laughter and making merry, as we come together with family friends and loved ones to enjoy the season, I am also conscious that, for many of you, this year will be a Christmas of unemployment, financial insecurity or the absence of a loved one living abroad. For many others, it will be a sad time due to illness or family bereavement.
These are challenging times for so many but while acknowledging the hurt inflicted, the dismay caused, by the mistakes that were made by others, I also believe that Eleutherans have the resilience, the fortitude and wisdom to move beyond any destructive cynicism and recrimination and have the capacity and determination to move on and craft a new positive form of what it means to be an Eleutheran.
It has been truly inspiring for me to witness the innovation and the resourcefulness that have come to the fore on our time of economic need and to see across the island, communities renewing themselves in social solidarity through co-operation and together showing practical concern for each other and particularly for the less fortunate and the most vunerable among us. I encourage you all to continue in this regard. As a matter of fact I encourage you to see to it that no child is left without the EXPERIENCE of Christmas this year.
While we are challenged economically, we will begin seeing some positive results in our economic affairs as a island by the end of the fist quarter of the new year. We will tackle the great challenge of creating jobs and reducing unemployment through various injections and investments.
Eleutherans remain a people of great innovation and business prowess and achievement, and this continues to enrich our society and enhance our reputation throughout the country. I will seek widespread support for a post-recession future, driven by our people’s creativity and passion for work and grounded in a real economy that harnesses our indigenous strengths and adds lasting value to our society.
I am confident that, drawing on our shared strengths and our ethical values, we will rebuild a sustainable and strong Eleuthera and economy while also at the same time building a just and inclusive society that ensures the participation of all Eleutherans.
Eleuthera is a island and people moving forward with a common purpose and a shared hope and courage; an island that will marry the best of its old wisdom with the new found learning gotten from the unpleasant experience of recent troubled times. We are an island of which there is much to be proud; whose possibilities are still to be fully imagined and realized; and whose people I am honoured to serve.
Merry Christmas and a happy, peaceful and prosperous new year to the people of Central and South Eleuthera and indeed the entire Bahamas.
