NASSAU, Bahamas -- Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Gladstone Christie told Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Department that they must express their views on how the Ministries and Departments must be directed.He was speaking at the Ministry of Finance Budget 2012/13 Budget Symposium at the Sheraton Cable Beach, Wednesday, June 27, 2012.

The Prime Minister said, “If when we make the final judgment, it flies in the face of your opinion, you would have done your job, because you have too much invested in you, to conform to what you think is politically right. “You are no good to me, none, if you just listen to what I say.” He said when a new Government administration comes into power, offices are fixed up for Ministers and they also receive new vehicles, while in sharp contrast the Simpson Penn Centre For Boys and the Willie Mae Pratt Centre For Girls are in desperate need of repairs.

“These contradictions must be challenged by you,” the Prime Minister said. “You have an obligation to recognise what is happening in our country, and when the systems that we have, do not allow that to happen, we know they are deficient. Therefore, make recommendations for them to change.” He told the senior government officials that they represent an “incredible assembly of brainpower” that must be used for the maximum benefit of the country.

Prime Minister Christie said for the last 20 years at least, there have been discussions on alternative forms of taxation. He said the Government has always been cautious because it has not done the best job of educating the Bahamian people of the inequities that exist in the present forms of taxation where it impacts the poor greatly.

“The Ministry of Finance, now has me in a position where I will go forward with recommendations that will ultimately crystallise into ‘White Paper’ on taxation and added value tax. “The paradigm shift that brings about is so fundamental that we are going to need everyone of you to understand it, contribute to it and if we move forward with it, to make it happen.”

Prime Minister Christie said at the end of this term in office, he wants to measure his performance by the extent to which he has been able to address the issues that affect Bahamians, where they themselves do not have the means to improve their own lives.