The Tribune

THE FNM has dismissed the opposition's assurances on oil drilling as untrustworthy considering the PLP's scandal-ridden record.

The stance of the opposition is that if elected, the intimate involvement of some senior PLPs with the Bahamas Petroleum Company will not influence the company's chances of being allowed to drill off Andros in 2013.

Calling this an empty statement that Bahamians will undoubtedly see through, the FNM said that while in office between 2002 and 2007, the PLP was involved in a variety of scandals, including the acceptance of gifts and payments of nearly $1 million by a party officer to approve a foreign project "that would have lined the pockets of a select group of PLPs".

The FNM statement said: "Senior members of the PLP, who would have a say in granting the exploration licence to the Bahamas Petroleum Company, are deeply intertwined with the company. BPC is represented locally by the PLP's deputy leader, 'Brave' Davis, the PLP's candidate for Killarney, Jerome Gomez, is its managing director and Perry Christie is a consultant.

"Believing that these relationships will not influence the contractual process to the benefit of BPC requires a level of blind trust in the PLP -- a trust that the record clearly shows they do not deserve.

"If the PLP is elected, the Bahamas Petroleum Company will be another one of many on the long list of PLP scandals."