The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

This week in the House of Assembly charges were made that the former Chairman of the Beaches & Parks Commission and his team may have spread around assorted contracts in the months and weeks leading up to the general elections.

If this were in fact the case it would have been simply Bahamian politics as usual across the board.

Mind you, I am not suggesting that the Hon Shannedon Cartwright (FNM St Barnabas) would have done anything criminal or remiss at any given time on a personal level.

I have known this fine young man and patriot for decades when he was a law clerk within one of the largest law firms in the nation.

He went on to university in the USA where he excelled on a basketball scholarship. Later when he returned home he became a valued executive at the local McDonald franchise until his election to the House of Assembly. There has never been any public scandal attached to his name.

The Hon Prime Minister, of course, is a very truthful and responsible individual.

He is also my political leader and I am his greatest supporter next to his immediate family, bar none. He would have access to documents and files to which the average Bahamian would not have access.

I would counsel all sides that unless and until the now beloved Prime Minister releases any suspicious documents or dubious contracts that we all simply sit back and wait for the chocolate chips to fall where they may.

There is no need to rush to judgement and make any insidious allegations.

If at the end of the day Cartwright is found based on credible evidence to have done something amiss in his role as Chairman of the Beaches & Parks Commission, no doubt the fat lady will sing.

Until then I will give him the benefit of the doubt.

I suspect that if anything was done incorrectly that the then Minister of Finance may have some explaining to do in the House.

Cartwright on his own could never have authorised the inordinate increase in the then budget for that commission.

ORTLAND H BODIE, Jr

Nassau,

December 1, 2021.