Progressive Liberal Party News Statement & Introduction of
A Comprehensive Review into the matter of Minister of State Zhivargo Laing and the customs duty on the drink 'Mona Vie'
 
Presented by
Dr. B.J. Nottage MP
Leader of Opposition Business in the House of Assembly
 
As we promised the Bahamian people, the Progressive Liberal Party has now completed a Comprehensive Review of the gravely improper conduct of Minister of State Zhivargo Laing in the scandal over special customs duty treatment for his relatives.
 
This abuse of the people’s business was first brought to light by the PLP Member of Parliament for St. Thomas More, Mr. Frank Smith.
 
The PLP’s Review of this serious matter compares and contrasts all the public statements made by Mr. Laing in this matter and exposes fatal inconsistencies.
 
Our review reveals the contradictions and the evasion that are evident when you closely examine the three occasions on which Mr. Laing has spoken in the House of Assembly on this matter.
 
The Review shows that the Minister is in a clear position of conflict of interest.
 
The Review shows where, he admits, through his own mouth, that he intervened to make sure that a lower rate of duty was applied to a product before it was imported by his brother and his sister-in-law.

The Comptroller of Customs has said that this was illegal.
 
We call upon the Prime Minister to explain as why he has been silent in the face of this clear conflict by his junior Minister, especially in the Ministry of Finance for which the Prime Minister himself is responsible.

In fact we took note of the fact that during the two statements that Mr. Laing made in the House of Assembly on this matter, Mr. Ingraham absented himself from the chamber.  His was the only seat empty on the government side.

In the case of a conflict of interest, the Prime Minister must say whether he has formally excused or waived the conflict.   The Bahamian people deserve and demand to know.

If Mr. Ingraham has excused the conflict, he shows a double standard since, in similar circumstances, during his first term in office, he forced his now Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette to resign as Chairman of the Airport Authority.

This is a prime minister, remember, who during the last General Election campaign, and since, has spoken at great length and on many other occasions about what would happen to anyone found with his hand in the cookie jar. Yet he has remained silent in the case of his Minister of State.
 
The conclusion of the Progressive Liberal Party’s detailed and painstaking review of the ‘Mona Vie’ scandal is that there is no choice, no decent and honourable course of action other than for the Minister of State Zhivargo Laing to resign immediately or - in the alternative - for the Prime Minister himself to find his much advertised commitment to accountability, transparency and responsibility in governance and to demand the resignation of his Minister.

On behalf of the Progressive Liberal Party, I wish to congratulate Mr. Smith for his fine work in the interest of the Bahamian democracy.
Mr. Smith is a member of that young generation of PLPs continuing in the great tradition of selfless service to this country.

Let me also announce that the Progressive Liberal Party will hold a public meeting this coming Tuesday at the Sir Lynden Pindling Centre at Gambier House hosted by our Chairman Glenys Hanna Martin.  The keynote speaker for this event will be Party Leader, the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie, who will address this issue and other issues of national interest, including the current state of the economy.

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