The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Hubert Ingraham's public condemnation of the PLP for allowing City Markets to be sold a second time sparked an irate response from Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell yesterday.

Mr Mitchell said the Prime Minister's comments were

"materially misstated" and that during both sales, the PLP sought to put Bahamians first.

"The PLP at all times in 1967 and in 2006 acted in the best interests of the people of the Bahamas," he said.

Speaking to FNM supporters at a constituency office opening over the weekend, Mr Ingraham said: "City Meat Market was originally Bahamian-owned. One of the early decisions of the PLP upon coming to office in 1967 was to approve the well-known Winn-Dixie chain of supermarkets in the United States to buy the food chain of stores.

"It was also the PLP that approved the Barbados Shipping & Trading, along with a small prominent Bahamian private investor group, to buy the company back from Winn-Dixie in 2006."

At the time of the second sale, the Prime Minister said, 1,350 Bahamians and pension funds owned shares in City Market.

Up to this point, he said, the company had always been profitable and was considered a sound investment of 'blue chip' quality.

"Bahamians who owned shares felt secure that they were investing in a reputable company that would give them safe returns. They believed that the shares would provide for them in retirement and secure the future of their loved ones should they leave dependents at their death," Mr Ingraham said.

But soon after the second sale, he said, things began to change.

"In the second year of operations the new owners reported a net loss and negative cash flow. Thus began the endless spiral downwards which included the endless need for additional injections of cash."

Today, Mr Ingraham said, shares of the company are in his opinion "worthless".

According to Mr Mitchell, during both sales, the PLP tried "as far as possible" to apply the principles of the market and respect the right of private owners to sell their shares to willing buyers.

He said: "It is a delicate balancing act in a small country but the PLP balanced the rights of ownership with the public interest in putting Bahamians first.

"In the case of both transfers undertaken under the PLP, if the PLP had refused then there would have been a cry about the PLP stopping free enterprise."

The 2006 sale, Mr Mitchell said, came as a result of Winn-Dixie's declaration of bankruptcy.

He said it was the US company that put the supermarket chain on the market, which led to a group of well-known Bahamian shareholders entering a winning bid to own it.

"It is therefore incorrect to say that the PLP turned down Bahamian shareholders," Mr Mitchell said.

"Further, the PLP administration took steps upon the approval of the transfer to protect the policy of 'Bahamians first' by insisting that the new financiers from the Caribbean were just that financiers and not equity owners."