Minister Sweeting: Reimagining Local Government with a Development Plan for each of 33 districts

We cannot continue as it is,” said Minister of Works and Family Island Affairs the Hon. Clay Sweeting Monday, November 2, 2026 during the opening ceremony of a week-long conclave at the Warwick Hotel.

Held under the theme ‘Stronger Together: One Team, One Goal,’ the conclave is hosted by the Department of Local Government.

“For too long we have tried to govern 33 districts with one chart drawn in Nassau. The same forms. The same formulas. The same approvals. The same waiting. Whether you are in Grand Bahama with a city’s worth of residents or on an island where every family knows every other family by name,” said Minister Sweeting.

“Too often our Councils have been reduced to administering rather than leading. Too often our administrators have been treated as messengers between the people and Nassau rather than leaders of change in their districts,” Minister Sweeting said.

“Too often a resident must get on a plane or a mailboat for a service that should be available at home. And too often reports are late, funds sit unspent and plans exist only on paper.”

The Local Government Act 2024 gave us “a modern framework with stronger provisions for accountability, public participation and financial management.” “That was an important step,” he said. “But a law on paper does not fix a dock. It does not shorten a line. It does not keep a young person on the island.”

“People do that. You do that. And that is why tonight is not about tweaking the old system. It is about reimagining it.”

Minister Sweeting said, “A true transformation starts with a simple principle: every district is different and our system must reflect that. I want every one of our (33) thirty-three districts to have its own District Development Plan.”