The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

THE Progressive Liberal Party defended surging spending at the Bahamas Public Parks and Beaches Authority yesterday, blaming inherited overruns and pointing to support for small businesses amid scrutiny over missing audit reports and an executive chairman who has repeatedly avoided questions.

Director of Communications Latrae Rahming, at a PLP press conference, claimed higher spending reflected “investments in small and medium-sized businesses” and long-running overruns that predate the current administration. He called criticism from the opposition “disingenuous”.

He cited past budget gaps under the Minnis administration, including a year when about $7m was budgeted and $15.6m spent, and another period when $19.1m was budgeted and $25.9m spent.

The defence comes after budget figures showed the authority has spent more than $141m up to December 2025 and repeatedly exceeded its allocations in recent years.

Despite repeated promises of transparency, no audit reports have been made public. Executive chairman McKell Bonaby previously said audits were underway, but none had been tabled.

Fresh figures showed the authority had already spent $25,178,694 in the first half of the 2025/2026 fiscal year against a full-year budget of $29m, leaving less than $4m for the remainder of the year.

There is also still no public accounting for fourth-quarter spending in 2024/2025.

Questions about oversight have been compounded by Mr Bonaby’s refusal to engage with the press. In an encounter last week after filing nomination papers, he declined to answer questions about the authority, told a reporter “no further questions”, and walked away.

That silence follows earlier assurances of transparency, including a pledge of “a full account of everything which would have happened at parks and beaches”, which has not materialised.

Mr Rahming also defended government travel spending, saying figures cited by critics cover all officials and include domestic travel. Last week, the Nassau Guardian reported that the government spent $74m on travel in four years. Mr Rahming, without supporting evidence, linked the spending to “record investments and record tourism numbers”.

Mid-year figures for 2024/2025 showed travel spending rising to $16.065m from an initial projection of $12.458m.