Ingraham, a veteran heavyweight in Bahamian politics, having served as a member of parliament for 30 years, congratulated Christie on his triumph before announcing that he would retire from political life. Christie’s PLP won by promising to strengthen the economy and reduce unemployment; these are easy promises to make but much more difficult to keep. There is little question, however, that voters were prepared to give his party a chance less because of these promises than because under Ingraham’s FNM unemployment rose to nearly 15% as the lucrative tourism industry struggled to weather the global economic downturn. Unemployment is more than 20% on Grand Bahama, the main island in the 700-strong archipelago. Christie promised to create a ministry for Grand Bahama to ensure it gets the attention it deserves.
End of preview - This article contains approximately 384 words.
Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article
Not a Subscriber?
Choose from one of the following options
