The Tribune

BAHAMAS Union of Teachers President Belinda Wilson yesterday called the government’s failure to pay the electricity bills of public schools on Grand Bahama on time “a national disgrace”.

On Wednesday, the Grand Bahama Power Company disconnected several

government schools on the island for unpaid electricity bills, which reportedly are several months overdue.

Ms Wilson told reporters that the power cuts showed that the Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald was not “on top of his game.”

She also criticised the Ministry of Education for engaging in “union busting” tactics over the past few months instead of focusing on important issues. “I thought that the time they spent with trivial matters, that they could have used (it) more wisely,” she said.

“It begs the question as to where is the priority in the country because education is the foundation, (it) is the basis of the community and what we are about as a country.”

Ms Wilson said the power cuts disrupted activities of some teachers who were preparing report cards for release yesterday.

On Wednesday Neko Grant, FNM MP for Central Grand Bahama, said the “inability” of the government to pay the schools’ bills was an “absolute disgrace.”

“The people of Grand Bahama deserve more and they deserve better,” he said. “Despite having two ministers of finance and a minister of Grand Bahama the Christie government has consistently proven themselves to be incapable of doing basic administrative functions.”

Attempts to reach Mr Fitzgerald for comment yesterday were unsuccessful.