The Tribune

AT LAST it’s out!

All week a-word-of-mouth rumour has been circulating that the PLP was busy hatching a plot to “smear” the reputation of suspended NIB Director Algernon Cargill.

Yesterday the PLP’s gutter mouthpiece published on its website and sent to selected individuals — including The Tribune— a list of Executive Management Bonuses paid to NIB executives between January 2010 and May 2012. This document —obviously copied from the original – happens to be protected by the Data Protection Act, which means that the law should soon be trying to trace the source of the leak.

Another interesting feature of this document, which is obviously lifted from the original, lists the names of all NIB executives, but one. The name and confidential information for that particular executive is blocked out by a solid black line. Of course, that should have been enough to tease the curiosity of most persons, especially journalists. A search soon discovered that the missing one is no other than the Legal Officer/VP of Legal/Deputy Director Heather Maynard-Thompson, sister-in-law of the Attorney General.

If the sensitive and confidential information of the other eight executives could be leaked to the public, why was hers protected? We suppose to ask that question is as dumb as to ask: Why was NIB director Algernon Cargill put on administrative leave and not PLP Marco City MP Gregory Moss, newly appointed chairman of the NIB board, who, since his appointment, has been acting more like an Executive Chairman than a mere chairman. Also Moss is the one who carries the blame for opening the book on NIB, which started this whole disgraceful – and unfair — conversation.

Of course, there is much speculation as to how the confidential, personal documents were leaked. The auditors have not got as far as that in their inquiry, so they can be ruled out. It is claimed that information on the executives’ compensation was only in the possession of Labour Minister Shane Gibson. At a luncheon for Garden Hills stalwart councillors yesterday, PLP chairman Bradley Roberts repeated the website’s claims about Mr Cargill’s salary and bonuses, saying that he has been “assured of its accuracy.” Maybe he can assist the police by telling them who assured him, and Mr Gibson can help by suggesting how such information could have been whisked from under his nose.

It is interesting that Mr Roberts was lunching with PLP stalwarts yesterday. We wonder if any of Mr Cargill’s family — a family entrenched in the PLP government – was there. It is also interesting to note that Mr Cargill’s father is a PLP Stalwart Counsellor, as is his eldest brother and several of his first cousins and aunts and uncles. His family openly supported Otis Brown, Neville Adderley, Michelle Pindling-Sands, and Melanie Griffin in the Yamacraw Constituency.

Yet, former prime minister Hubert Ingraham had enough confidence in Algernon Cargill’s integrity to look beyond his family politics and appoint him to protect the public’s national insurance contributions.

Mr Cargill got into trouble when he refused to bow to Mr Gregory Moss’ dictates and agree to orders that he thought were not in the best interest of those funds.

As for his bonuses, Mr Cargill did not ask for them, he did not approve them, but he received them on merit based on the Board Approved Budgets and the recommendations of NIB’s Human Resources Committee. This had nothing to do with Mr Cargill.

Because, he performed well and with tremendous integrity he was paid well. His pay and his bonuses were no secret, he clearly laid them out in his affidavit as Exhibit One in his court case against the NIB Board and MP Moss. So all of that brouhaha that the PLP have been stirring up all week to discredit Mr Cargill’s reputation, and the spin they have tried to put on his benefits is all PLP nonsense.

Read the court affidavits and see how Mr Cargill legitimately earned what he was paid.

Also note that in the name of integrity, he was prepared to give it all up by saying “No” to actions that he thought were not in the best interest of the Bahamian people.

This does not mean that there are not many others who have a lot of explaining to do. But we’ll get to that later.