(Statement) The Free National Movement is shocked and disappointed at the response of Minister Jerome Fitzgerald and Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson and the lack of a full and transparent response by the Minister for the Environment Kenred Dorsett to the Rubis Robinson Road Environmental Scandal. The PLP Government just does not seem to get it, and seems to believe that it can continue to operate without regard to accountability and transparency.

The PLP Government must give an account to the people of the Marathon Constituency area and the people of The Bahamas for not implementing the full communication program which included publically warning residents of the damning details of the Rubis Robinson Road Fuel Release Report particularly, that gasoline and other harmful chemicals were found in private well water in residential areas.

It is inexcusable that residents were not properly informed of the details of the report until over a year after the government received the final version even though the report itself recommended a program for communication. What is even more reprehensible is the government’s failure to inform residents and the public on the potential dangers of their water which would have allowed residents to take proper precautions, along with recommendations on clean up or what steps were being taken to remedy the situation, if any. The report itself recommended that residents be fully informed of the dangers and risks.

What makes the government’s response also egregious is the report itself clearly shows frustration of residents in 2013, about the lack of communication and their need for full disclosure of the facts and risks they were facing. The PLP Government should be ashamed that the town meeting which was one of the recommendations, took over a year and only at the insistence of Senator Michael Pintard.

Clearly the safety of residents should have been the government’s first priority as they have a duty above all else to protect the safety of our citizens.

The Minister for the Environment should resign based on his Ministry having failed to proceed with recommendations specifically made in the report to implement a communication program, to keep residents and businesses informed, to hold a public meeting to explain the release, extent of contamination, response action and clean up objectives and allow residents to ask questions. The PLP Government was specifically called upon to ensure these actions were immediately taken to protect the health and safety of residents. What harm could the Government have prevented had they implemented the recommendation one year ago and informed the residents of the details of the report?

We call upon the PLP Government to fully account for not informing residents of potential dangers in February, 2014, when they became aware. We call upon the PLP Government to fully account for whether all recommendations in February, 2014, were fulfilled, which recommendations have not yet been fulfilled and why have they not been fulfilled, and whether the effects of the spill continue to pose a threat for the residents in the area.