The Tribune

FREE National Movement leader Michael Pintard criticized Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis’ response to implementing the Freedom of Information Act, noting the administration’s team is large enough to get it done.

Mr Davis told reporters on Tuesday that implementing the FOIA is not one of his top priorities, pointing to the need to address the cost of living, among other matters.

“According to the PM,” Mr Pintard said in a statement yesterday, “even though he has more than two dozen ministers and parliamentary secretaries, and even though the FOIA has its own budget allocation, a full-time FOIA commissioner, and staff already in place, the prime minister still apparently cannot figure out how to get FOIA fully implemented while also getting other things done.

“This rationale is, of course, just abject foolishness. The truth is much more sinister. This is not a matter of competing priorities. This prime minister is deliberately and cynically stalling the implementation of FOIA because he clearly has plenty to hide from the Bahamian people he is supposed to be working for. Imagine that he wants to hide things from the very people he works for.

 Mr Pintard said the FNM has been raising concerns about the consequences of inflation and recommended eliminating value-added tax on essential items and capping a gasoline tax.

  “But true to form, this Davis administration has been too busy throwing parties and cocktail receptions (while doling out tens of millions of dollars in illegally procured contracts to supporters) to notice the plight of Bahamians,” Mr Pintard claimed. “Many now have to choose between buying groceries or paying a BPL bill that has doubled and tripled due to PLP bungling of the fuel hedge arrangements. While other governments worldwide took action to help their people, the Davis administration was making things worse,” he claimed.

 “Prime Minister Davis only brought up the inflation crisis to find an excuse for their epic failure to honour their election pledge to fully implement the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

 “The PM knows that under FOIA, we will get all the paperwork regarding the tens of millions of dollars in no-bid contracts given to political supporters that were illegally procured given the provisions of the Public Procurement Act.

 “We remind the prime minister that his government announced the ten pilot agencies for FOIA back in November 2021, more than two years ago. The FOIA officers in those agencies received training in May of 2023. The FOIA commissioner himself has said he is only waiting for the AG’s office to complete the draft regulations and for the OPM to facilitate the electronic platform. What is stopping the Davis administration from full implementation?”

 Mr Pintard said to fulfil his election transparency and accountability promises, the prime minister could instruct now-trained FOIA officers in the pilot agencies to respond to all reasonable requests for information from the members of the formal press.