From:TheBahamasWeekly.com

Bahamian Politics
The Leader Of The PLP on PM's Oban Energy Statement in The House
Mar 21, 2018 - 12:19:24 PM


I am appealing to all PLP supporters and right thinking men and women of goodwill not to be misled or confused by the mishmash of words and the juxtaposition of rewriting history that was the tale told by the Prime Minister in the House of Assembly on Oban Energy and his decision to conclude an agreement with them. What a web weaved in the House by the Prime Minister on 20 March.
 
Firstly, this is not about the Progressive Liberal Party.  The PLP did not sign an agreement with Oban. The record is clear.  It is the FNM who signed a Heads of Agreement with Oban. This is particularly important since the FNM has now circulated a video showing former Minister Michael Darville in Grand Bahama touring the proposed project site. The PLP never signed an agreement because the stringent conditions which we applied were not met.

For the edification of the FNM on governance, the audio clearly confirms the requisite due diligence of the PLP government. Further, it shows that the agreement was subject to and contingent on the outcome of not a partial, but an entire and comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as stated by Dr. Darville. This never happened. The PLP government was doing what any responsible government should do in the circumstance and in the public interest. Alas, the FNM government failed in the important area of due diligence and the Prime Minister now shamelessly seeks to distract, divert and obfuscate to cover up his government's failures. Shame on Dr. Minnis

Secondly, it was the Prime Minister who sat in a room in his Office and watched one man sign another man’s signature on an agreement which he presented to the country as the totality of the agreement between Oban and the Government of The Bahamas.

Thirdly, the Prime Minister laid on the table of the House of Assembly what he said was the agreement and led the nation and the House to believe that what he laid on the table was the agreement signed in front of the TV cameras and therefore was the totality of the agreement between the parties.

Fourthly, it turned out that the assertions by the Prime Minister were demonstrably false.  The agreement laid on the table was not the totality of the agreement between the parties. The Prime Minister has sought to explain that by saying that the TV camera signing was a ceremonial signing. However, he provides no explanation as to what is the real agreement and where it can be found.

Fifthly, the Prime Minister tells the House that Dhunna was in the country and on arrival the agreement was not ready to be signed.  That Dhunna waited around and eventually signed an Agreement on the 10th February.  If this is so, then where is this agreement?

Sixthly, the Prime Minister now tells the House that he will review the agreement. We are not sure which agreement he will review. He is reviewing it to ensure that the environmental aspects of the agreement are better policed.  The problem is the “agreement” which he tabled in the House says that the environmental impact study cannot be a reason for the cancellation of the agreement by the Government.  Is the Prime Minster now saying that he is not bound by that agreement that he tabled in the House?

Wonders never cease.

Please PLPs and people of goodwill in The Bahamas, keep your eyes on the facts.  This is an FNM deal. It was signed with a known fraudster at the table. The Prime Minster misrepresented what occurred at that signing to the nation and then again misrepresented what was done by his words in the House of Assembly. That is called deception. The PLP asks you to think on these things and what they say about the character of the one who now governs us; who seeks to dismiss this deception by saying they were merely missteps.



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