Prime Minister Philip Davis’s Remarks at the Fox Hill Land Title Presentation Ceremony

Friends, good evening.

Standing here in Fox Hill tonight, I am reminded of why I chose public life and why I continue to serve.

It is for nights like this, when government meets people where they are, when promises turn into deeds, and when justice - delayed for too long - finally arrives.

Tonight, twenty-four families are being handed a clear title to the land on which they live.

For the first time in their lives, they can hold a document that says with certainty: this land is yours. No one can take it away.

You can build on it, you can pass it down, you can borrow against it, and you can sleep easier knowing that the foundation of your home is secured.

I cannot tell you how deeply this touches me, because I know what it means to live without certainty.

I know what it means to be told that you are not enough, that you cannot achieve, that where you are born or what you look like will hold you back.

I know that struggle personally, but I will return to that later in my remarks.

It was only last month that I was here with you

in Fox Hill to celebrate the emancipation of enslaved people.

On that day, we honoured our ancestors who broke free from bondage and laid the foundation of freedom in this land.

And here we are, just weeks later, celebrating another kind of emancipation: the emancipation from uncertainty, from insecurity, from the invisible chains that come when you live on land you cannot prove is your own.

Fox Hill is a special place. It is a community that has carried forward the spirit of freedom and resistance for generations.

It has stood as a reminder to the entire Bahamas that we are stronger when we honour our past and ensure that freedom is real, not just in words, but in daily life.

That is why tonight matters so much. Because freedom without security is incomplete. Freedom without dignity is unfinished.

Tonight, we take another step to complete that work.

Owning land in The Bahamas has never just been about property.

It has always been about identity and dignity.

Land is where we plant our roots.

It is what we pass down to our children.

It is what we call our own, in a world that so often tells us what we cannot have.

And tonight, twenty-four families that foundation.

This moment is also part of something bigger.

For the first time in our country's history, your government has introduced serious, meaningful land reform.

We are saying to Bahamians everywhere: your struggle with unclear title, with missing records, with endless disputes - this struggle must end.

We are creating a fair system where land rights disputes are resolved clearly, where records are properly kept, where families are not left in limbo.

This administration is the first government to take this on.

Others spoke of it, others promised it, but we are doing it.

Friends,

I cannot help but think about the journey we have taken together these last four years.

The night before I was elected Prime Minister, the world looked at The Bahamas and said they had no confidence in our economy.

International credit agencies declared our economy weak and unstable.

But I remember in that moment leaning on my faith and on a simple phrase I hold close: "But for the grace of God."

And look at us now.

By the grace of God, we have turned despair into hope.

By the grace of God, we are stabilizing our economy, creating jobs, building homes, and tonight, securing land titles for families who have waited a lifetime.

I say this not to boast, but to remind us all that no matter what others say about us, no matter what the reports may predict, no matter the storms we face, with faith, with hard work, and with unity, we can overcome.

I often think back to my own journey. Growing up in Old Bight, Cat Island, people tried to tell me who I could and could not be.

Some said I was too short.

Some said I was too dark.

Some said I did not have the right education.

Some said I was not the right kind of Lawyer.

But my father looked at me and said, "Philip, you are Brave."

And from that day, I carried that name with me.

Not because I thought I was fearless, but because I knew I had to be courageous in the face of doubt.

And here I am today, standing before you as your Prime Minister, because I refused to let others define my limits.

I chose to believe that with the grace of God, all things are possible.

That is why this moment in Fox Hill moves me so deeply.

Because I see in the faces of these families what I once felt myself: the desire to prove wrong those who say you cannot.

The determination to secure a future for your children.

The belief that dignity belongs to everyone, no matter their story.

My friends, we are in this together.

We face external challenges we cannot control: global inflation, climate change, shifting markets.

But what we can control is how we treat each other, how we govern ourselves, how we build our country from within.

It is my singular mission to create a Bahamas where every man, woman, and child has a fair chance to succeed.

Not just the wealthy, not just the connected, but every single Bahamian.

That means removing the barriers that hold people back, whether those barriers are financial, legal, or social.

Tonight is one example of what that looks like in practice.

By giving clear title to families who once had none, we knock down one more barrier.

We bring one more group of Bahamians into the circle of security.

We say to them: you belong.

But this is only the beginning. We still have much work to do.

Too many Bahamians are still locked out of opportunity.

Too many still feel that the system is stacked against them. Too many still live with insecurity.

We cannot rest until the dignity we celebrate tonight in Fox Hill is the dignity enjoyed in every settlement, on every island, by every family.

This is not easy work.

It requires tough choices. It requires determination. And it requires us to meet each other in the middle.

But I believe with all my heart that together we can do it.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Thank you for allowing me to serve.

Thank you for trusting me to carry the responsibilities of this office.

Thank you for giving me the chance to make a difference in the lives of so many Bahamians.

When I look back on my journey from Cat Island to here, I know I could not have done it without the grace of God, without the strength of my family, and without the faith of the Bahamian people.

But beyond the grace of God, there is that scripture which says, "There, but for the grace of God, go I."

I hold on to those words because I know they are true for me.

I could have been the boy who never left Cat Island. I could have been the young man who gave in when people said he was too short, too dark, or not educated enough.

But by the grace of God, I was lifted.

And that is what I want for every Bahamian, to understand that each of us is where we are not because we are better than the next, but because of grace.

If we learn to see each other that way, then we will treat each other with more kindness, more understanding, and more love.

Because when I look at you, I want you to know I see myself, and I want you to see yourself in me too.

My friends, let us continue walking together.

Let us continue breaking down barriers.

Let us continue building a country where every child has reason to hope, every parent has reason to dream, and every grandparent has reason to believe that the sacrifices they made were worth it.

As I look out tonight at the families who will hold their title deeds. I see the Bahamas we are building together.

And so I say: may God bless you, may God bless Fox Hill, and may God bless the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.