ON CORRUPTION: 30,000 CATS AMONG THE PIGEONS
This week at a town meeting a fellow from Abaco, an Abaco conchy joe, got up in a meeting in Nassau to say that things were not going well for recovery in Abaco. He told the story about how a foreign charity had asked for a meeting with the government and the charity was told if you bring a sack with 30,000 dollars in it, you can have the meeting. That was a bare bones allegation of corruption. Remember now the Prime Minister and his government claimed that they are a lily white as the snow. This comment was made in the face of the government minister responsible for hurricane disaster relief Iram Lewis. The Minister asked for those who have information on corruption to get him the information and he will deal with it. This could not have happened to a finer bunch. The Progressive Liberal Party issued the following statement:
Statement by the Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party
Charges of corruption levelled at the Minnis administration
For Immediate Release
18 December 2019
Now that the charges of corruption have been publicly levelled at the Minnis administration, the government has a responsibility to the public to investigate these serious charges and report the findings to the public.
The charge of a suitcase containing $30,000 in bribe money is a serious charge that the government cannot and must not just sweep under the proverbial carpet because it is politically inconvenient for the government to address it head on.
The PLP is particularly concerned about the hypocritical comments made by the Minister with responsibility for disaster relief. He chastised the residents of Abaco for publicly raising the issue of corruption when his boss, the Prime Minister, travelled to international fora and called Bahamians corrupt on multiple occasions without one shred of evidence.
This pattern of behaviour by this government to coverup and dismiss serious charges of misconduct is insufferable. We ask Bahamians to take note and hold this government accountable.