Prime Minister Perry Christie
AS Prime Minister Perry Christie set off for South Africa, government officials failed to confirm how many people would be a part of his delegation.
On Saturday, Mr Christie said he would be leaving to attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral within 24 hours, but while last night senior information officers confirmed his departure yesterday, they did not confirm the size of the delegation.
A statement issued last night said: “The official delegation includes the Minister of Tourism, Hon Obie Wilchcombe; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Fred Mitchell; Senior Policy Advisor Sir Baltron Bethel and Foreign Service staff.”
The statement said that the delegation will travel to Trinidad and Tobago where they would join other Caricom heads of government for a private charter flight to Johannesburg courtesy of the government of Trinidad and Tobago.
The statement continued: “It should be noted that the Bahamas played a prominent role in the release of Nelson Mandela. Once released from prison, Mr Mandela came almost immediately to visit The Bahamas to personally thank former Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling for his leadership in securing the release.In fact, Mr Mandela made two trips to the Bahamas.
“Sir Lynden Pindling was chairman of CHOGM in 1985 which issued the ‘Nassau Accords; that led to Mr Mandela’s release.
“As a result of this close relationship, Thabo Mbeki, who succeeded Mandela as the second president of a democratic South Africa, made an official state visit to The Bahamas during his tenure as president in 2002.”
The delegation will attend the state memorial service due to be held tomorrow morning. The viewing of the body will take place on Wednesday, with the state funeral scheduled for Sunday.
The Prime Minister and his delegation will leave Johannesburg on Thursday.
Meanwhile, it is still unclear how much public money was spent on the Prime Minister’s recent trip to Sri Lanka, the Vatican and London. It was claimed that his entourage on that occasion was 30-strong, but this was denied by the government.
When asked last week about the earlier trip, Mr Christie did not reveal how much it cost, but he explained in great detail what he did while out of the country.
He left the country on November 11 and returned on November 22.
During that time, members of the public expressed concern of why the government with its monetary constraints sent such a large delegation.
While in London, Mr Christie spoke with the Turkish Co-operation and Co-ordination Agency to examine proposed projects and technical assistance for the country.
Mr Christie said he also held discussions with the Prime Minister of New Zealand. The talks centred around the Value Added Tax (VAT) System and improving the fiscal position of the Bahamas.
Comments
proudloudandfnm 10 years, 11 months ago
Why is Baltron Bethel going and why do we have to pay for that millionaire to fly to South Africa? How many in the foreign affairs staff? How much did we pay to put our folks on the chartered aircraft out of Trinidad?
And they wanna shove VAT down our throats.
Well there is a silver lining in VAT. VAT would most certainly assure us at least 15 years of no PLP.....
John 10 years, 11 months ago
I hope when Perry Christie sitting in Nelson Mandell funeral his sense come to him and he realize that some of the same things this man stood for and spent 27 years in jail for, he still allowing to happen in the Bahamas today.. Just look at what Cable and Wirelsee ehind the face of one Marlon Johnson has done to hundreds of phone card and Top Up vendors. in the Bahamas.and they go about the country wearing the face of a proud corporate citizen...cry shame o Bahamaland
John 10 years, 11 months ago
No government official seems to want to address the issue with phone card vendors being paid 2 and 4 cents on the dollar to sell phone cards. Not even Bradley Roberts who sits on the board of BTC. Marlon Johnson claims vendors are being paid according to world standards but he(intentionally) failed to mention that these "world standards' are set, in part. by his own parent company (Cable and Wireless) and exists mostly in impoverished countries, like Haiti and Hounduras, where the average income can be 100 times less than what it is in the Bahamas. Yes some people earn $2 per month in the countries of which he speak. Why don't he adjust his salary according to their standards and see if he can survive in the Bahamas.
John 10 years, 11 months ago
“Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom Nelson Mandela
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