By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune News Editor
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
FREE National Movement Leader Michael Pintard said Immigration Minister Keith Bell superseded senior immigration officials on January 17 to force the release of dozens of Chinese nationals working illegally at the British Colonial Hotel.
Mr Pintard, citing information from unnamed senior immigration officials, said when officers showed up at the Hilton and loaded buses with Chinese nationals, a senior official of the hotel contacted Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper.
“After a call from Minister Bell was made, the nationals were released from the bus to return to the site,” he claimed.
Mr Bell declined to respond yesterday, saying he would address it in the House of Assembly. Mr Cooper also declined to comment.
Mr Pintard said top immigration officials “took strong issue” with what happened and “communicated their objection to the permanent secretary”.
“Immigration,” he said,”was not able to process the great number of Chinese and had no idea who they were.”
Mr Pintard claimed there were between 60 and 100 Chinese nationals without a work permit. He said officials told him some workers were in the country for “possibly a year”.
“The rationale is obviously they are facilitating those that wish to have the hotel completed,” he told The Tribune. “Our position is, while there’s an urgency in making sure the infrastructure of hotel properties are taken care of, the manner in which we do it is as important.”
Mr Pintard said the Chinese nationals should have been detained and their documentation properly assessed.
“Since they were released, there was great uncertainty around who all these people were and the circumstances surrounding them,” he said.
“This chain of events has raised questions about the appropriateness of Minister Bell and others’ actions and his alleged interference in the due process of immigration enforcement. If proven true, such actions undermine the principles of fair and equitable treatment for all workers, as well as the credibility of the government in upholding immigration laws.”
Immigration Director Keturah Ferguson referred this newspaper to the department’s public relations representative yesterday when asked about the matter. A response did not come before press time.
The FNM has increased its scrutiny of Mr Bell after he oversaw an unorthodox citizenship oath ceremony at a funeral last month. The party says many questions about the episode remain unanswered.
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- Immigration Minister’s actions ‘nothing new’ and happen ‘all the time’
- Hotel and Immigration statements differ from previous comments
- BCA president says govt ignoring Bahamian labour when signing deals with foreign companies
Comments
Sickened 1 year, 3 months ago
Bell and these boys can break all the rules and laws and go against policies at anytime and all of the time with no risk of punishment or admonishment! They run the country the exact same way a cartel runs its organization. The only difference is that the cartel spreads some of its vast wealth around by building schools and houses and feeding people. The PLP does not!
The_Oracle 1 year, 3 months ago
They assume power, but they have none. They have authority under the rule of law. The day our politicians learn this important distinction we move forward, upward, onward, together.
rosiepi 1 year, 3 months ago
Under this and previous PLP administrations the rule of law has never been a guiding principle, but rather the rule of power over the law. And only when voters discern this pattern of corruption will the Bahamas be unshackled.
DWW 1 year, 3 months ago
i tink we bahamian love corruption when it favours us but not when it works for others
sheeprunner12 1 year, 3 months ago
The Bell runaway train continues to run wild.
This is a disaster that the PM seems powerless to confront or control.
Or maybe the PM is complicit .......
ThisIsOurs 1 year, 3 months ago
So Atlantis get the heavy hammer and a surprise investigation for writing a public letter letting employees know they are free to exercise their legal rights but the Hilton gets a pass and a phone call on having had hundreds of workers in the country illegally for a year??? This isnt an oversight.
themessenger 1 year, 3 months ago
The hand come hand go arrangement with the Royal Caribbean folks and the Hilton Chinese is obvious a lot looser than that with Atlantis, goes to show that when you dealing with the local clowns you only gwine get what you pay for, no tickee no washee..............
BONEFISH 1 year, 3 months ago
Minister Bell needs to resign.The politicians here in the Bahamas are slowly and surely destroying one of the building blocks of a modern society. The rule of law. They do not care.
ThisIsOurs 1 year, 3 months ago
Have any of they illegal migrants been captured in smuggling operations to the US?
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