By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

TOURISM Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar predicts that 2019 will feature a record-breaking seven million visitors coming to The Bahamas.

His statement came during the opening night of the Free National Movement’s youth convention at the Melia resort yesterday.

“If you pass me in the hallways of this convention or conversely out on the streets of Freetown and you want to give me a new nickname, may I suggest you say, ‘Hey one million more man!’,” he said.

A record 6.6 million foreign visitors came to The Bahamas last year.

“Stopover visitor arrivals will achieve a new record in 2019,” Mr D’Aguilar said. “Cruise passenger arrivals will achieve a new record in 2019. Arrivals in New Providence will achieve a new record in 2019. Arrivals into the Family Islands will achieve a new record in 2019.”

Mr D’Aguilar also revealed that his ministry hired 25 “young people” this month after he grew concerned about the lack of youth at the institution.

He did not say what void the new workers were hired to fill. He said not only do young people comprise a small part of the ministry’s workforce, but they are also the most likely to resign.

He said: “Do you know when I took over the Ministry of Tourism, a manpower audit revealed that just five percent of the staff, five percent of the Ministry of Tourism staff were under the age of 30? No lie! That’s what the PLP left in place. Five percent of the staff were young like you all. And get this: 95 percent of the resignations were also under the age of 30. So what that tell young people? First, we ain’t into you and if you should manage to get in, we ga do our best to run you.

“As such, when I saw that only five percent of the Ministry of Tourism staff were under the age of 30, I said no, no, no t’ings gotta change! So we went on a recruitment drive and just this month we hired 25 young people into the Ministry of Tourism. We were blown away by their exceptional talent, ingenuity, creativity, enthusiasm and qualifications. Let me tell you that the future success of the Ministry of Tourism is secured by these new young Bahamians coming on board.”

In 2017 Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced a freeze on hiring in the public service. Department heads were subsequently told there would be no new hires in the service unless there is a critical need, and even then applications would have to be approved by Cabinet. It is unclear when the hiring freeze was lifted.

Education Minister Jeff Lloyd also spoke during last night’s convention. He praised the Minnis administration’s investments in education, including the expanded access to free tuition for University of the Bahamas students.

For their part, youth speakers praised the administration’s efforts to strengthen the economy, noting GDP increases, a recent decline in the unemployment rate and efforts to impose greater prudence on government spending.

When he spoke last night, Carlyle Bethel, head of the FNM’s Torchbearers Association, sought to differentiate the FNM from the PLP and highlighted the role the youth organisation has had in producing government officials over the years, citing past and current officials like Tommy Turnquest, Kwasi Thompson, Don Saunders, Rickey Mackey and Jamal Moss.

“FNM elected young Bahamians to Parliament such as Travis Robinson and James Albury,” he said. “PLP does not get its MPs from the (Progressive) Young Liberals. They use young Bahamians at election time and if they win, the old guard swoops in to get all the appointments and all the contracts. That is the PLP mindset!”