PRIME Minister Perry Christie should demand the resignations of the ministers responsible for trade and investments in view of criticism from the United States about the level of corruption in government and the process surrounding the issuance of government contracts, FNM Chairman Darron Cash said yesterday.
Mr Cash’s statements came a day after Mr Christie expressed his disappointment with the US Department of State’s 2014 Investment Climate Statement on the Bahamas. Mr Christie said the report noted only what “opposition sources” were saying and did not give an objective assessment of the Progressive Liberal Party government. The report, released late last week, pointed directly at the PLP’s campaign promises, which they labelled as “unfulfilled.”
It also spoke of international economic rating downgrades, which Mr Christie dismissed as “inaccurate” and “misleading”, corruption in high and low levels in the government and about government issued contracts, which it called “problematic”.
According to the report, the process of 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.
“The US State Department’s well crafted language was carefully chosen for diplomatic purposes,” Mr Cash said. “The average Bahamian should interpret the US statement as a clear expression of their serious concerns about the perceived high level of corruption that exists within the Christie government.
“A prime minister worth his salt would demand and accept the resignations of his ministers responsible for investments and trade as a demonstration to the Bahamian people that he is serious about fixing the problems. But alas, Perry G Christie is prime minister so nothing will be done, and our country’s reputation in the international community will continue to be damaged.
“The average Bahamian should interpret the US statement as a clear expression of that country’s serious concerns about the perceived high levels of corruption within the Christie government and the processes government ministers oversee,” Mr Cash added.
Comments
ThisIsOurs 10 years, 4 months ago
If incompetence were sufficient everybody would resign, Works, Environment, National Security, Finance, Labour, Social Services, PGC will ignore the fact that everything is crumbling and he's appointed a group of people who at minimum know nothing about planning, management, financing, public policy or work ethics. No one will resign and no one will be asked to resign. They are all safe in the company of incompetence.
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