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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:
“Ten days have passed since the embattled Prime Minister told Bahamians he would ‘soon’ divulge more information on the secret Baha Mar deals, yet the people are still left waiting for these details. But the drip… drip… drip… of details continues and now we learn this PLP Government is giving away 10,000 acres of Crown land and fishing rights in our waters to their Chinese allies as they desperately try to keep their Baha Mar deal shrouded in secrecy. We have been asking for months if the Prime Minister is giving away land and fishing rights as part of the secret Baha Mar deal and sadly the truth is coming out after the fact. It is time for the embattled Prime Minister to finally be honest with the Bahamian people, come clean, and unseal all the documents related to his secret deals with his Chinese allies.”
“The people have been asking for months what the embattled Prime Minister is going to give away as part of his secret Baha Mar deal and more and more, as we learn the truth, the harder it is to fathom that the PLP Government had the Bahamian people’s best interest at heart as they negotiated this scheme. From fishing rights, and thousands of acres of lands being given away to finding out the buyer is a Chinese company only because they stepped forward revealing that they are in negotiations to buy the resort. However, our embattled Prime Minister remains defiantly silent on the matter and his silence is deafening to the Bahamian people that simply want to know the truth. The Prime Minister can end all this secrecy by allowing the courts to unseal the documents of the deals and he can address the Bahamian people in Parliament on Wednesday regarding the details of his secret deals that he negotiated with his Chinese allies.”
“It was the Prime Minister who admitted he has yet to inform his own Cabinet about the secret sale of Baha Mar to Perfect Luck Holdings Ltd., so such an address before Parliament would be enlightening for them as well. It is his own party members who are joining with us and the Bahamian people, and calling on him to bring forth more details of his activities regarding the resort. Only he stands alone against the growing chorus calling for openness and transparency. I hope that Prime Minister Christie hears these calls – for once – from the Bahamian people, whom he is representing in these deals, and finally answers their questions.”
“Now that we have discovered parts of what this Government gave away to the Chinese in these deals that are shrouded in so much secrecy, everyone wants to know if there is anything else they gave away. Was there VAT or stamp tax collected on the sale to Perfect Luck Holdings Ltd.? Will VAT and stamp tax be collected on the ultimate sale of Baha Mar? Will the Government finally start to give Crown land to Bahamians to farm? Will the fish and agriculture to be produced by the Chinese mean that the Pointe and Baha Mar will be self-sufficient and not rely on Bahamian goods?”
“This secret deal that the embattled Prime Minister has made with his Chinese allies will destroy our agriculture and fishing industries. The Chinese will be able to use the fish and agriculture produced on Crown land to make the Pointe and Baha Mar self sufficient and not reliant on other Bahamian goods. This will not help our suffering economy but rather hurt it even more. The people deserve a transparent and responsive government, not the current secretive one that has been hiding their secret deals with their Chinese allies from the Bahamian people. On Wednesday, the embattled Prime Minister can take steps in that direction if he only starts to hear the call of the people instead of continuing to turn a deaf ear to them.”
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