The Tribune

YOUR SAY

By DR HUBERT MINNIS

LAST Monday evening, when we heard that the Prime Minister was holding a press conference to announce that the government had struck a deal to restart construction of the Baha Mar resort, I like many of you became hopeful that we would finally hear the details of a deal that would see Bahamians get back to work immediately.

However, we were sorely disappointed.

The Prime Minister went to great lengths to tell us what the Chinese were giving up but failed to tell us what he was committing the Bahamian people to give up in return.

To our dismay and our condemnation we learned that the Prime Minister has taken the unprecedented and undemocratic step to keep the details shrouded in secrecy from the people by asking the courts to seal all of the documents involved in this agreement.

The Prime Minister is acting like a dictator who seems to have forgotten that his authority comes from the Bahamian people and that any agreement he signs he does so for and on behalf of the Bahamian people. Apparently, the Prime Minister feels otherwise, for he acts as if he alone can, and will decide for the people, and dictate what we are allowed to know about his secret deals.

What is he hiding from us? The Bahamian people have a right to know the details of the agreement and we in the Opposition will fight to protect the rights of Bahamians to know.

The Prime Minister wants us to trust him but, by this act and over his many failures and failed promises throughout his long tenure in Parliament, he has lost all credibility with the Bahamian people.

The Bahamian people saw through his smoke and mirrors this past week, and they see his empty rhetoric and broken promises from the previous four and a half years.

He has deceived Bahamians regarding the gaming referendum. He has deceived Bahamians by continuing to operate the illegal National Intelligence Agency in spite of promising legislation. He has failed to control the national debt after promising to reduce it. He has failed to provide meaningful jobs. He has failed to provide Bahamians with mortgage relief, and he has failed to provide the residents of Marathon with timely information and relief about and from the Rubis oil spill.

It is becoming more and more obvious that the hastily held press conference was called that night to distract us from Moody’s announcement downgrading the Bahamas’ credit rating.

The Prime Minister knew that if he did not change the subject quickly he would be drowning in bad news stories about his poor handling of our economy, as happened when Moody’s announced they were considering downgrading it two months ago.

We wish to remind the Prime Minister that the people will reward him for his stewardship of the nation and will vote him and the Progressive Liberal Party out of office at the next general elections.

Dr Hubert Minnis is Leader of the Free National Movement