The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

OBIE Wilchcombe, Minister of Tourism, yesterday said the government plans to continue a probe into allegations made against his predecessor during the height of the 2012 campaign season.

He made his comments at the British Colonial Hilton, Bay Street a short time after Bahamas Speed Week officials announced their plans for the upcoming event.

The Minister said: “It is continuing and is now at the Attorney General’s office. Of course it’s taking a while, but we are ensuring that the work is done and once it is completed we would be able to give a full report to the country.”

Four days before thousands of Bahamians took to the polls to cast their ballots, which saw the Ingraham administration defeated by the PLP, a row erupted between both parties over claims that the former government had been fooled into signing tourism contracts worth more than $2 million.

The PLP, which raised the issue, claims to have uncovered a “major scandal,” but the FNM called it a “wild allegation” that is completely false, and a “disgraceful” personal attack on Tourism Minister Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace.

At the centre of the issue is an alleged contract for marketing services for the ministry, apparently signed in August 2010. The PLP claims it has proof that the American company hired, had misled the government. They alleged the company never performed the services claimed, and ultimately had its contract cancelled.

But, Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said it is clear the PLP’s source does not have all the facts, as the ministry’s marketing efforts have saved the country millions.

“These last minute accusations from the PLP,” he said, “are just a continuation of their strategy of disseminating overblown accusations or outright falsehoods.

“It is clear that the PLP has decided that since they cannot address the significant growth in tourism that the Bahamas is currently experiencing, nor can they deny the significant loss of air arrivals that came as a result of their ineptitude, they are now grasping at straws to attack the bearer of the facts.”

In the PLP’s claims, the party suggests that a US-based marketing firm purported that it had a qualified board of directors, and staffing to provide the Ministry of Tourism with its services.

However, the PLP said that the company did not have any such directors or staffing and was only comprised of a single individual.

The contract with this company is reported to be in the amount of $1,650,000 – paid in quarterly instalments of $137,500 from September 1, 2010.

Addressing these accusations, Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said: “The simple fact is that there is no contract with the company that they describe as Destination Solutions-LLC.

“It is also clear that their source of the information does not have all of the facts and if they did, they would recognise that the marketing services arrangements of the Ministry of Tourism are saving the country and the Ministry millions in fees compared to previous arrangements.”

The FNM’s spokesperson at the time, Tommy Turnquest responded: “The PLP seems to think that making wild allegations and innuendo makes a scandal. The PLP should know better. The list of scandals in the PLP’s administration is longer than the list of actual achievements.

“The people slinging these accusations are the same people who tried to sell off Mayaguana for next to nothing. The same people responsible for the Korean fishing boat scandals, the Harachi scandal, Anna Nicole Smith and a long list of other disgraceful acts.

“This shameless and baseless attack is just one more disgraceful act from a party desperate to regain power at any cost,” Mr Turnquest had said.