PM defends gambling referendum consultants

As of Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Prime Minister Perry Christie

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie has chastised Opposition leader Dr Hubert Minnis for his comments questioning the capability of the UK consultants hired to advise the government in the lead up to the web shop gaming referendum.

Speaking outside of the Cabinet office yesterday, Mr Christie said Dr Minnis’ criticism was shocking as the firm, Dickson-Wilson Chartered Accountants, had served successive governments of the Bahamas for several years. During that time, the Prime Minister said, the firm had handled every major investigation on applicants of gaming in the country.

He said Dr Minnis, who served as a cabinet Minister in the former Ingraham administration, should be examined as the FNM’s leader for his failure to conduct his own investigation of the consultants.

“I am told they even questioned the consultants,” Mr Christie said. “If the leader of the opposition allowed himself to question the legitimacy of the consultants who have been working for the Bahamas government, every FNM government and every PLP government over the last 30 years, then I should question his qualifications to be leader of the FNM because surely he should do more research and find out exactly who the people are.

“When I retained them as chairman of the Gaming Board over 30 years ago they were recommended by the British government who we had retained (along with) the UK Gaming Board to do a consultancy here in the Bahamas and that’s where those consultants came from.”

Mr Christie was responding to claims by Dr Minnis on Monday that the UK consultants have no expertise in the gaming industry.

During a press conference held at the FNM’s headquarters on Mackey Street, Dr Minnis said that Mr Christie was not giving the Bahamian people proper service by receiving non expert advice on a matter that has proven to be of great public concern.

He said: “The Prime Minister asserts that he has received advice from what he calls ‘our international gaming advisors’. The truth of the matter is that the government’s advisors have no professed expertise whatsoever in the gaming industry. Those advisors are the British Accounting Firm, Dixon-Wilson, whose published field of business is limited to accounting and tax advice. Their Internet web site specifically states that ‘we provide all the accountancy, audit and tax services you would expect.’ Nowhere does Dixon Wilson claim to have any expertise in advising on the gaming industry.”

Dr Minnis also condemned the Christie administration for not enforcing the laws that has left Bahamians vulnerable to national security breaches.

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TalRussell 11 years, 11 months ago

Rather than PM Christie wasting his time to respond to ongoing disingenuous statements being made by the red shirts leader, he should asked them unholy praise and worship church sisters, if he could borrow they shoes and tambourines to loan to the Comrade Opposition leader Minnis, cause the way him and his handful of MP's were unruly behaving in the House, I think it's just a glimpse of more to come when the same House sitting red shirts, all start attacking they own leader and from the rumblings it coming from all inside fronts?

And, don't we all know them done started singing some unhappy with the Minnis leadership tunes. If Minnis makes another six months he be more than lucky? Wouldn't you think as a former senior Hubert cabinet minister, Minnis would have known much details about the background of gambling consultants, his own damn regime has had on the payroll?

Comrades we shouldn't be expecting much more from an official opposition party of but 8 sitting House members, whose leader's main problem is not with PM Christie but with his unruly bunch suffering from ideological sterility, or as I like put it from the lasting effects of years of controlled mental castration by Hubert.

What more evidence do you really need that if two sets people ever deserved each other, they might be dead on right in inviting they former junior minister Bran, to return as they red shirts party leader, cause the two them got's about as much backward thinking ideology to embrace.

PM call the church pastor at Ebenezer Mission Baptist Church and ask for a loan of he unruly holy sisters shoes and tambourines, cause you might need them for a ?Minnis" mission of your own?

The only thing MP Loretta didn't do in House was to do the Holy Sprit dance for PM Christie. I'd suggest if da speaker doesn't want see sister comrade MP for Long island Loretta, tossing his Ceremonial Mace of authority out window, best he have he Sergeant-at-Arms, be, keeping close eye on both Loretta and he Mace, and we all know how them Butlers can't keep they hands off da Mace?

The problem here is this time there will be no crowd of Bahamian supporters in the public square below to embrace the red shirts action? No longer is the red shirts shouting about the daily struggles of the struggling Bahamians, many who are either already poor or heading on downward path. If anything under the red shirts rule the Speakers Mace more resembled a return to more colonial times of British rule. .

Nope. It ain't goi'in be the same the second time around, as long as Loretta represents the red shirts broken ideology of having blocked-off more footage of Bahamaland's Beach access while in power, even possibly more restrictive fences erected than under Sir Stafford Sands rule?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdwYXo6W…

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2012…

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