Remarks by Minister of Social Services, Sen. the Hon. Barbara Cartwright At a Town Hall Meeting of the Disabled Community – ‘Let’s Talk Disabilities Affairs’ – at D.W. Davis High School

September 30, 2026

“Tonight, it is truly an honor to stand before you, at this Town Hall Meeting of the Secretariat of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities.

I want to applaud the National Commission for their work in safeguarding and promoting the rights of persons with disabilities in our country.  

I also want to express my gratitude to the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas for entrusting me with such a serious mandate. It has been a mere five months since my appointment but I want to assure the Bahamian people that I am working and committed to making a difference.

As Minister of Social Services, I pledge that I will continue to be a Minister for all Bahamians. I will continue to listen and more importantly, I will continue to act.

The work that we are doing and will do at Social Services is important. We must be voice and conscience. We must be compassionate. And we must be uplifting.

The Ministry of Social Services is the safety net of The Bahamas. It is a place where you access help in the time of your most urgent need.  It is the conscience of our nation.

It stabilizes families in crisis and often helps keep people from falling through the cracks.

Our customers are families in crisis, the elderly, disabled, unemployed, single parents, persons with immediate health needs without insurance, and our children.

We protect minor children from abuse and neglect and will remove children from homes if we deem their homes are unsafe.

We encourage mothers who cannot care for their babies to let us share their load until they can stabilize their own lives.

We also help children to find foster parents with a hope that they will be adopted into a home where they can be loved and nurtured.

We protect our elderly ensuring that they have a place to stay when they cannot be cared for by family members, or when they are abandoned by family members who consider them a burden.  

For the elderly at home, we provide home visits, care, and support, and we ensure that our senior citizens are given referrals to the National Prescription Drug Plan to ensure they receive the medications they need in a timely manner; and in a few short weeks we will be debating the Older Persons Bill.

But tonight, it is about protecting disability rights, ensuring access, promoting disability inclusion and advancing equal opportunities.

The Government believes in equal opportunities in the workplace, schools, transportation and housing, ensuring respect and community inclusion.

We ensure that the disabled obtain disability benefits, duty-free concessions on assistive devices, like wheelchairs, walking canes and hearing aids.

However, disabled individuals in The Bahamas face a high risk of poverty and economic exclusion compounded by limited job opportunities and high costs of living.

We must place serious attention on the recent census data that shows 38,551 people or 10.3% of the population aged five and over live with a disability.

People with disabilities experience a high rate of job discrimination and limited employment options.  International and regional studies show that disability and poverty feed into each other, resulting in financial hardship during crisis.

Many individuals face physical challenges leaving their homes and entering public spaces due to lack of proper infrastructure, such as ramps and functional public transport.

Finally, there are insufficient advocacy groups that are not dependent on the government as governments cannot do it all.

We believe that no one should be left behind because of a disability, hence we are now reviewing the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities) Amendment Bill, 2026.

There are some key proposed changes that will strengthen the bill, such as:

Stricter Employer Rules – This expands employment requirements to companies with 50 or more workers, moving toward a 2% staff quota for persons with disabilities (up from 1% for larger firms).

Job Accommodations – This requires employers to reassign workers who develop a disability on the job if their original duties are no longer possible.

Criminalizing Abuse – This introduces severe penalties and criminalizes physical, sexual, psychological, and financial abuse against individuals with disabilities.

Accessibility Standards – This mandates stricter accessibility compliance for new public buildings.

Enforcement – Partners the Department of Labor with a dedicated commission to improve job tracking and placement.

Social Services is here to support you; but you must apply, we want to know who you are, what are your disabilities, so that we can serve you better and make laws to positively impact your well-being.

I also want persons who are able-bodied to know that disability can come to us at any time in our lives; you could walk out of this hall and end up disabled. Advocating for accessibility and inclusion is a win-win situation for all.

Let’s treat each other with love, respect and do what we can to assist our brothers and sisters who sometimes simply need a helping hand or just consideration.

At this time, I want to thank the staff of the Ministry of Social Services and the Department of Social Services for the work they do.  As Minister of Social Services, I want you to know that I appreciate your valuable contributions.

To all persons here with disabilities, I want to assure you that I see you. I will continue to work for you and ensure that your rights are protected and that there are opportunities for you.

I thank you all for attending this Town Hall.

As I depart, I wish to encourage us all to stand up for persons with disabilities and to show them love and support.

Thank you.”

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