The Tribune

By KYLE WALKINE

Tribune Staff Reporter

kwalkine@tribunemedia.net

DEMOCRATIC National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney warned Prime Minister Perry Christie to be very careful of the words he uses towards the United States as they can have serious negative effects on the Bahamas. 

His comments came a day after Mr Christie told reporters he was “puzzled” by the US’ criticism of his administration, which is contained in US Department of State’s 2014 Investment Climate Statement on the Bahamas.

During a press conference yesterday, Mr McCartney said the US was only warning the government in “big brother, little brother” fashion to “get it together”. However, he said Mr Christie’s response to the report has once again proven his inability to lead and take constructive criticism.

“This Christie-led government has once again embarrassed this country internationally,” Mr McCartney said. “I think Mr Christie has to be very careful of what he says. They (the US) are our neighbours to the north. They are the strongest country in the world. They are our big brother. When the US sneezes, we’ll catch a cold. Let us not fool ourselves.

“The US has sent a message to the Bahamas: get your act together. If the US decides to pull out any type of support, security of our borders, which they help us tremendously with, if they cut us off in terms of trade we (will) go belly up in days. The US has indicated to their little brother get your act together because we do not like what we are seeing.”

The report noted corruption in high and low levels in the government and spoke about government issued contracts, which they called “problematic”.

“Successive administrations have reneged on or renegotiated contracts executed by previous administrations. Over the last year, the Embassy has received several complaints from US companies alleging a lack of transparency and undue government interference with bidding and procurement processes,” the report said.

According to the report, the process of the government issuing contracts “lacks transparency” as there is no requirement to engage in open public tenders and awarded decisions are not subject to challenge or review.

Mr McCartney said the fact that the US Embassy has received complaints from US companies with the bidding and procurement process proves that the government is abusing its power in the issuance of contracts. 

“I listened to what he (Mr Christie) had to say, but he failed miserably to answer to his accountability and transparency and what he as the leader is going to do in that regard,” Mr. McCartney said. 

“The bottom line is, persons are trying to invest in this country, but they have to dish out money to certain persons in order to get their proposal on the table. I challenge this government to tell me otherwise.”

On Tuesday, Mr Christie said he was disappointed in the US’s report saying it used only what “opposition sources” were saying and did not give an objective assessment of the PLP government. 

“It’s important that I do not allow the emphasis we’re placing on developing our country to be misconstrued by people who might just happen to read a paper and not have a full understanding of what is taking place and the effort we are making as a government across the board,” Mr Christie said at a press conference at his office.

However, Mr McCartney admonished the prime minister for discrediting the writers of the report and suggesting the information came from the official opposition. 

“The US has their people who live in this country,” he said. “They have their border control in this country. The opposition hasn’t said much, quite frankly, unless they’re listening to the DNA. The only thing the opposition is saying is who should be the leader of their party and when they should have convention. They’re not speaking about certain things. The US knows we are 50 miles away from their country and it would be remiss of them if they didn’t know what’s going on in their backyard.”

The US report also noted that the government has failed to live up to many of its election campaign promises.

Mr McCartney said he is glad the US picked up on these failures.