DUANE SANDS CANNOT BE TRUSTED. REMEMBER THE $1.8M. HE WAS FORCED TO RESIGN. WHY?

Wonders never cease to amaze me. In the Bahamas, we all know what is going on. We have seen many in public life display their true colours; some may disguise it for a season, but eventually, the mask slips. Those who choose the political stage are watched and measured more closely than others because they have invited public scrutiny. Yet, the case of Dr Duane Sands remains one of the most baffling mysteries in our modern landscape.

A man once widely respected as a “reputable heart surgeon,” Sands was seen by many as someone “called by God” to be a healer. It is a profession defined by compassion and “good bedside manners.” Why such a man would choose to leave the sterile, life-saving environment of the operating theatre for the “mysterious” and often toxic world of politics is a question that lingers. But what is truly disturbing is how far he seems to have strayed from the very mission of healing he once championed.

Dr Sands knows better than most that the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) has served its usefulness for decades. He frequents those halls daily. He sees the leaking ceilings, the cramped wards, and the systemic shortcomings that put Bahamian lives at risk. He knows the hospital is in desperate need of an upgrade. Yet, as the FNM Chairman, he has become the leading voice against a new, state-of-the-art hospital for New Providence.

Calling a $268 million speciality facility a “white elephant” or a “dumb idea” is not just political rhetoric; it feels like a betrayal of the patients he still treats. If his own loved one were in a health crisis in the West, would he prefer they wait for an air ambulance because he can afford it, or would he want them to have immediate access to a modern emergency room nearby? For the average Bahamian who cannot afford private jets or foreign care, the PLP’s plan to build a new hospital is not a luxury—it is a necessity.

We must ask: Should we trust the opinion of a man whose integrity has been repeatedly “shot” by his own actions?

The record is documented and concerning. Sands has a “dark side” that emerged during his time in the previous administration. He was embroiled in a highly controversial case where he approved a $1.8 million contract—a suspicious move made without Cabinet approval. This breach of standard procedure suggested a man who felt he was above the rules of governance.

Even more telling was his forced resignation as Minister of Health. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the government had protocols in place to protect us all, Sands breached those very rules to allow permanent residents into the country while ordinary Bahamians were stranded abroad. His reputation for being “irresponsible” is not a political smear; it is a matter of public record. When the nation needed a leader to enforce the law, he chose to operate beyond his authority.

It is baffling that the FNM seems opposed to everything that moves this country forward. By publicly stating that an FNM government would not build the hospital the nation needs, Sands is signalling that his political agenda sits firmly above the nation’s health needs.

Is he a puppet for a bigger reason? Or has the surgeon’s ego simply transitioned into a politician’s hubris? To argue that we should simply “patch up” the existing PMH is like telling a heart patient to put a bandage on a failing valve. You cannot fix a foundation that has already crumbled.

The PLP is wise to plan for the future, and the Bahamian people will be the ultimate beneficiaries of a modern health campus. Dr Sands will soon see if the public still believes his diagnoses. When a doctor stops looking at the chart and starts looking at the polls, the patient is the one who suffers.

We must demand better. We must ask if Dr Duane Sands still cares for the people like we all once thought he did, or if he has finally traded his white coat for a political shroud, leaving his “good bedside manner” and his integrity behind in the scrub room.

The burning question: can the people of Bamboo Town trust a man who would do anything and say anything with no regard for who he will be hurting, how insensitive, how cruel?  His temperament is not conducive to someone who is supposed to care, but no, he only cares for himself.