The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

FNM Chairman Darron Cash yesterday raised concerns over Prime Minister Perry Christie’s failure to reappoint statutory government boards as they expired more than a month ago on June 30.

Mr Cash stressed that with the boards’ legally mandated periods of reappointment passed, current board members are powerless to act in the best interests of their respective organisations.

The delay, Mr Cash said, signified a “lackadaisical and disinterested” approach to governing on Mr Christie’s part sending the wrong message to prospective domestic and foreign investors that the government cannot be relied on to partner with them.

“It appears once again that Prime Minister Perry Christie is incapable of keeping up with the demands of his dual jobs as prime minister and minister of finance,” Mr Cash said. “His inability to keep up is clearly obvious as the prime minister continues to demonstrate that he is unable to perform some of the most basic functions of governing.

“In essence, thanks to a prime minister already predisposed to taking his own slow time to do anything, government has slowed down even further.

“At a time when most government agencies are grappling with a number of significant national issues—youth empowerment, small business development, trade and global competitiveness, energy reform, overhaul of the financial services industry, tax reform, health care reform, etc, this failure to empower boards is nothing short of dereliction of duty on the part of the prime minister.”

Mr Cash singled out three statutory boards as points of interest that the FNM will be watching closely. They include the National Insurance Board, the Bank of the Bahamas and the Bahamas Electricity Corporation.

“At NIB, inflated contracts to special interests have been the order of the day due to an overly intrusive minister.

“. . .More than a year after BOB’s fiscal year ended on June 30, 2013, BOB has not held an annual general meeting of shareholders due to the bank’s fear of having to face angry minority shareholders.

“The BEC board has been missing in action as the Executive Chairman Leslie Miller has controlled the ebb and flow of the corporation as if it was his personal business to do as he pleases. Other than the instances when he was totally lost on technical matters, Mr Miller has usurped the authority of the general manager and his management team and rendered the rest of the board impotent.”