The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

PUBLIC Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Hubert Chipman has said he has no clear indication when the committee will delve into matters related to the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI).

Speaking to The Tribune, Mr Chipman said despite a written request to House Speaker Dr Kendal Major and Prime Minister Perry Christie to have a public hearing along with assurances that provisions would be made in the 2015/2016 budget, there is still no word on when the hearing will happen.

“As far as I am concerned we wrote to the Speaker (and) we wrote to the Prime Minister asking to have them in public," he said. "Now there is a new budget but still no clue of when.

“The only movement we’ve had is we got an acknowledgement from Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis that he was prepared to assist us with nine of 13 items of concern on our list. The minister of agriculture (V Alfred Gray) has not responded to us on the remaining items.

“To be honest we probably won’t hear anything on it this year.”

In April Mr Chipman said the public hearing would come following the 2015/2016 budget debate as it was awaiting financial clearance from the Ministry of Finance, which is headed by the Prime Minister. 

Earlier, Dr Major had revealed in Parliament that he granted the PAC’s request for the hearing. At the time, he said, a letter was forwarded to Mr Christie for approval. Financial matters relating to Parliament are subject to the Ministry of Finance’s scrutiny, Dr Major said.

“The Speaker has written to the Prime Minister," Mr Chipman said. "Let me say here that this is not for permission, but for financial clearance because the Speaker doesn’t have the funds to finance a public hearing. In that regard he has to reach out to the Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister.

“However, going forward, I did have that discussion with him and he did indicate that he will take those things into consideration when the budget comes around that we would (have) adequate funds for events such as this. Even from a staffing point of view ... as you know since Mr (Leon) Rahming died a year ago, he has yet to be replaced (as assistant clerk in the House of Assembly). So there are staffing challenges as far as the House is concerned as well.

“I think the Speaker is taking all of that into consideration because it is more than the Public Accounts Committee that requires funding. But he is not in the position to proceed from a financial standpoint.”

The PAC petitioned the Speaker for a live, televised hearing in March following accusations by the Free National Movement that protocol might have been broken to issue BAMSI contracts.

At the time, Mr Christie not only told reporters that he was certain all of the contractors working at BAMSI had all-risk insurance, but he urged the PAC to widen the parameters of its probe into the spending of the Ministry of Works to include contracts signed during the previous Ingraham administration.

Mr Christie insinuated that the contents of files from the Ministry of Works could uncover wrongdoing under the previous FNM government, implying some policies were not adhered to during the tenure of former Works Minister Neko Grant.

Mr Grant, at the time, shot back at these accusations.