The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

BAMBOO Town MP Renward Wells told the National General Council of the Progressive Liberal Party on Thursday why he signed a $650m letter of intent with a waste-to-energy company, PLP chairman Bradley Roberts confirmed yesterday.

Mr Wells has yet to publicly explain the controversy, though Mr Roberts said yesterday that the MP will be making a statement on the matter shortly.

Mr Roberts, with another PLP stalwart who was contacted for comment yesterday, declined to give their views on Mr Wells’ testimony or to divulge his statements on the matter.

This comes two weeks after Prime Minister Perry Christie fired Mr Wells from his post as parliamentary secretary at the Ministry of Works.

“He did tell the council why he signed the letter of intent,” said Mr Roberts yesterday, when contacted by The Tribune about the meeting.

“I wanted him to speak to the Bahamian people. It’s imperative for public consumption that he does. I invited him as a representative of the council because we wanted to know. The Prime Minister asked him to explain himself to the Bahamian people and he didn’t do so. I said let me see if I could persuade him to speak to us.”

Mr Roberts said the Bamboo Town MP was not pressured to speak before the council.

He continued: “I’m satisfied that all this (nonsense) that someone forced him to speak to us is false. He spoke on his own authority.”

Mr Wells’ controversial signing of a letter-of-intent (LOI) with Stellar Waste to Energy Management in July has grabbed headlines for months and the government was dogged by criticism over its initial silence over the matter and refusal to explain the back story behind the signing of the LOI.

Mr Wells reportedly signed the LOI without Cabinet approval.

This culminated in Mr Christie’s decision to fire Mr Wells from his position days after it was revealed that he was no longer playing an active role in the Ministry of Works.

Nonetheless, no explanation has been given as to why he signed the LOI in the first place.

Last week, Mr Christie said he has not spoken to Mr Wells since he was fired, adding that he had expected Mr Wells to explain the controversy by now.

He said because no statement on the matter has been given by Mr Wells, he himself would eventually speak on the matter.

“I will get to it,” Mr Christie told The Tribune last Wednesday, on the sidelines of press conference after a National Ebola Task Force meeting. “I do understand my obligation to the public. I had anticipated that he was going to say something besides that if (Fort Charlotte MP Dr Andre) Rollins goes he was going to go as well. He is a young Bahamian and I am giving him the opportunity to speak to this issue. If he doesn’t, obviously I will have to speak to it and  I tried to explain that to him.”

Attempts to reach Mr Wells yesterday were unsuccessful.