The Tribune

SURELY at some time in his youth Archbishop Drexel Gomez must have read and explained St Matthew’s gospel to his son Damian, who now as Minister of State for Legal Affairs has publicly condemned corruption in politics. Mr Gomez, Jr, was particularly upset with his own government for not taking corruption seriously.

“There has never been a real attempt to (prosecute) persons who are viewed as having abused public office and made a profit,” said Mr Gomez. Nothing happens about dishonest dealings in the Bahamas, it’s just “business as usual,” he complained.

In this column on Monday we praised Mr Gomez for at last having the courage to give voice to a major problem in this country. It was former PLP health minister Loftus Roker, who stood in the House of Assembly many years ago and told the Pindling government that corruption was rocking the PLP “to its very foundations.” Unfortunately, it is still rocking it — only this time it threatens to bring it down.

We agree with former deputy prime minister Brent Symonette, who questioned the cabinet minister’s motives, as to why, if he felt so strongly about his own government’s inaction against corruption, he did not do the right thing and resign from Cabinet.

But while we were praising the State Minister for Legal Affairs in this column on Monday for taking a courageous stand against corruption, he was busy announcing that his anti-corruption campaign had already started — not within his own government where it is urgently overdue, but in the backyard of the Opposition.

We immediately thought of St Matthew and will now let the Evangelist ask the pertinent question:

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” - St Matthew 7:3-5.

Maybe, Mr Gomez would like to give this matter some thought — preferably in the morning hours when his mind is the clearest.

On Monday morning Mr Gomez announced that he intended to go before a judge this week to file election court petitions against Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner (FNM), and Killarney MP Dr Hubert Minnis, Opposition leader. Of all things, he is accusing them of conflict of interest. Of course, he claims, he has found no conflict within his own party.

If in fact he has found no conflict in his own party, then the interpretation of “conflict of interest” must have been redefined since we went through the halls of London’s Lincoln’s Inn. But so says the State Minister for Legal Affairs — don’t look our way — ain’t no conflict here — we have clean hands – but just look at the soiled hands of the Opposition. One-sided corruption they call it.

Mr Gomez has now joined the lonely voice of PLP chairman Bradley Roberts who has been braying in the background for several weeks now about conflict of interest. We are told it is a desperate effort to deflect the conversation from the Baha Mar debacle, which is destroying this country’s economy and leaving many jobless. They would rather turn the conversation to ministerial misdeeds — of course, as long as those misdeeds are kept in the ranks of the Opposition.

Mrs Butler Turner has denied Mr Gomez’s accusations, and has declared that she plans to sue him for defaming her character. Newspaper columns have been filled for several days with Dr Minnis’ denial of what he has been accused — the lease of a building to the government when he was in private practice. He says on being elected to parliament he declared the circumstances of the lease, and so nothing was hidden. Mr Carl Bethel, former FNM Holy Cross MP, and later a senator, even recalls Dr Minnis declaring his interest in the House of Assembly when he became a member. The government maintains that he did not declare. Dr Minnis is also seeking legal advice.

As long as they can distract the electorate from the tragedy of Bah Mar, the closure of which has destroyed the future of many Bahamians, and denied jobs to many others, these politicians obviously think they can take the heat off themselves. One investor in the film industry, who says he has “investors putting up millions of dollars for this series (planned at Baha Mar), are now concerned about this situation with Baha Mar. It doesn’t create a healthy business environment. It only adds to conflict.”

He is not the only one who is worried. We know of several other investors who are having second thoughts and others who have decided to cancel their plans and move elsewhere. In the meantime, Bahamians are clamouring for jobs — jobs that the PLP government promised them on coming to power. And jobs that they will not get unless Baha Mar is in operation before the end of the year.

China Construction Company (CCA), the Baha Mar contractor that downed its tools and refused to complete the resort, now has the gall to claim that it is their company that has the interest of the Bahamian people at heart — not the developer, Sarkis Izmirlian, a young man who has worked hard against all odds for the past 13 years to bring his dream to fruition. He has trained too many Bahamians for the various positions on the opening of the hotel for them to believe that the Chinese are their saviours.

If the CCA had a gripe, it should have completed its contract, then argued later — even in the courts if necessary. But, no, it decided on the bully tactics against a young developer.

As for the government, it has misread its cards. Government was probably counting on the developer capitulating at the sight of the heavy hand of the Christie government and Beijing ready to remove him.

Unfortunately for government, but fortunately for the Bahamian people, Sarkis Izmirlian will not roll over and play dead – he has too much steel in his backbone. He intends to fight to the bitter end.

For the sake of Bahamians we hope he wins this unconscionable contest. The Bahamas government should be ashamed.