The Tribune

FEW would have mistaken Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and House Speaker Halson Moultrie as bosom buddies, but the frosty nature of their relationship has come to light in recent days.

Even before the abrupt shutdown of Parliament last Wednesday, there had clearly been friction between the two – and in today’s Tribune, Mr Moultrie spells out the extent of the relationship’s breakdown.

According to Mr Moultrie, the last time Dr Minnis spoke to him was weeks ago when he sought leave to present his housing plans. Before that? Months of silence.

It’s a change from the way things used to be – with the pair having held regular Thursday morning meetings after the FNM took office in 2017. That stopped around nine months or so ago, according to Mr Moultrie.

Such was the breakdown in communication that when Mr Moultrie emailed to advise the Prime Minister about a senior staffer testing positive for COVID-19 and seeking answers on what to do, all he received was a one-word answer: “Noted.”

We don’t care how well Dr Minnis and Mr Moultrie get on – we just care that they get the job done. And last Wednesday’s debacle shows that, whoever is to blame, that job isn’t getting done the way it should be.

Face-to-face meetings might not be advisable in this age of COVID-19, but there’s absolutely no reason why virtual meetings could not be held to discuss matters of importance to the administration of government business.

The relationship between the two has clearly broken down, and Mr Moultrie has been outspoken on a number of issues, but the two should still be able to have an open dialogue when it comes to ensuring the House meets as it should and that issues that pose a risk – such as a positive COVID-19 test – are discussed properly.

Many of us have had testing relationships with work colleagues – but you just have to set aside any dispute and do the work that needs doing. We don’t expect to see Dr Minnis and Mr Moultrie exchanging bouquets – we do expect to see Parliament meeting as it should and without further disruption.

The shutdown of Parliament should never have happened. Equally, it should never have reached that point and should have been dealt with beforehand.

If a communications breakdown contributed to that? Well, time to pick up the phone a little more often. Let’s not have this happen again.

Freedom of information

It has been a long time coming, but a Freedom of Information Commissioner has at last been appointed.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Keith Thompson has been given the role – and it is one that will face plenty of demands as the media and civil groups seek information on a host of topics.

While the Freedom of Information office is due to open today, however, it won’t be for some time that it will start to provide service.

In an announcement yesterday – ironically enough, one where the media was not invited to ask questions – Attorney General Carl Bethel said that the team will be planning for the next three to six months for the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act.

A consultant is going to be hired for 90 days to give advice to the commissioner on best practices.

In other words, nothing’s happening in a hurry – and with the prospect of an election at some point, we probably shouldn’t expect a huge amount this side of casting our votes.

We have seen Freedom of Information Acts passed in 2012, and 2018, and yet here we are only just catching up.

Still, this is a step forward, and one that we welcome. We wish Justice Thompson the best in his role, and hope that he and his team can help to bring a little more transparency to Bahamian society.