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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
Nassau, Bahamas - Dr. Minnis, Leader of the Free National Movement (FNM), issued the following statement on the Prime Minister and his PLP Government hiding the Baha Mar deals from the Bahamian people:
“The Free National Movement is shocked and dismayed that the Christie led government has requested that the under the table secret deal that the Government made with the Chinese be sealed by the courts of The Bahamas. The Government must be aware that the agreement that they signed was signed by them on behalf of The Bahamian people and so the Government has a duty to make the agreement public. Only dictatorial and corrupt Governments do the peoples' business in the dark of night and hope that they never see the light of day but we wish to put both the Government and the Chinese on notice that we will put the sunlight on the agreement and cancel any part that is not in the interest of The Bahamian people.”
“Sadly, Bahamians have seen secret deals such as this done before by this Government so it should come as no surprise to the Bahamian people that less than 24 hours after the Prime Minister struck his secret deal with the Chinese on Baha Mar they have now been forced to admit to sealing the documents relating to their secret deal. At every turn this Christie led PLP Government has proven itself to be one of the most corrupt governments in our history and they are at it again –shielding the details of the deals they struck with the Chinese from the Bahamian people. The Prime Minister calls on Bahamians to ‘trust him’ on securing the best deal yet what has he done to earn that trust? Hiding the details of his secret deal, by sealing it through the courts does not earn trust. Time after time they have failed us. So Bahamians demand to know what did these secret meetings cost the Bahamian people?”
“As is typical from the PLP playbook, the Prime Minister said that the Government would make details of the deal available soon. How will he do this if the documents are sealed by the courts? We’ve been down this road over and over throughout the entire Baha Mar debacle. It was the FNM that stood up for the Bahamian contractors, demanding they get paid over $100 million they are owed. It was the FNM that brought attention to the workers that were promised good jobs only to be laid off. It was the FNM that called on the PLP to account for the Government supplying Baha Mar with power despite they were not paying their bills and owing over $26 million while many families and seniors struggled in the sweltering heat with power outages. The Bahamian people know that the FNM will stand vigilant to make sure this Government is held accountable and follows through on helping Bahamians.”
“Like all Bahamians we would be happy to see Baha Mar open and finally start to provide jobs. But we also can’t forget that the PLP has handed out a lot of broken promises and empty rhetoric on Baha Mar in the past. And with this being election season, the people deserve to know what was part of this secret deal and what will it cost us. The PLP has shown time and time again that they are willing to say and do anything to save themselves. Bahamians call on the PLP to end their smoke and mirrors and let the Bahamian people know what they gave away to the Chinese. The way the PLP has handled all their secretive meetings and this deal is a perfect example of why we must implement a Freedom of Information Act. The Bahamian people deserve to know any deals that the Government makes to give away their future like the PLP is doing now. The people know that unlike the PLP, the FNM will fight to save and create jobs for them, and not put themselves before the people.”
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