The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas National Coalition Party (BNCP) on Friday claimed that "pertinent points" connected to oil exploration efforts in the Bahamas, the Petroleum Bill and the Sovereign Wealth Fund Bill have been intentionally sidestepped by the Christie administration during recent discussions in the House of Assembly.

The BNCP alleged that the government refuses to disclose the nature of the agreements it has made with the Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC).

In a statement obtained by The Tribune, the party questioned why Bahamians were being denied the opportunity to buy into a company operating exclusively in the Bahamas.

"The BNCP is aware that the model supported by the Government bars Bahamians from benefitting," the statement read.

"This model is the same one used by the British Government, and the British oil industry that allowed a foreign company to exploit the oil resources and prevent the Trinidadian people, from benefitting from their oil resources."

Additionally, the BNCP suggested that the fact that BPC has been allowed to operate multiple leases in the Bahamas places the company in contravention of the Petroleum Act.

"Why is the Government breaking the law to put BPC in such a favourable position?" the party's statement asked.

Earlier this week Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner revived speculation that the government's coy approach to discussions on the Petroleum Bill and the Sovereign Wealth Fund Bill was due to supposed conflicts of interest by senior Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) members.

Mrs Butler-Turner questioned whether Mr Christie received payment from BPC for consultancy work he did for the company when it was a client of Davis & Co, the law firm of Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis, between 2007-2012 while he sat as Leader of the Opposition.

Mrs Butler-Turner on Wednesday goaded: “Is the Prime Minister afraid that the people might reject this horse that he has in this particular race just as they rejected the last horse that he didn’t have in the referendum debate?”

The PLP promised as a part of its 2012 campaign a referendum on oil drilling. To date, the party has stayed silent on the issue.

Meanwhile, Environment Minister Kenred Dorsett has maintained that the PLP has not eliminated plans to put the issue to Bahamians through a referendum.

He stated, instead, the Christie administration intends to ensure that there was oil in the county in commercially viable quantities before it held a costly referendum.

That remains the very notion the BNCP has argued against, insisting that it is not worth the risk.

The party questioned: "Why would the Government risk damaging the repetition (sic), the ecology, and the existence of the Bahamas with BPC when we have inexhaustible supplies of aragonite resources that pose no danger, no damage or no threat to our environment? There has still been no consultation with the Bahamian people on their recourse."

BNCP officials said their position on the matter of oil drilling and a sovereign wealth fund remains clear - Bahamians should are to remain sole owners of the country's natural resources.

"A National Sovereign Fund should hold 20 per cent of the assets of the value of the natural resources and $100,000 per annum should be distributed to every household."

"Should there be the discovery of natural gas, a separate managed arrangement should be entered into with a competent company to develope this resource, in conjunction with the Bahamian people. Days of depending on foreign direction and foreign ownership are over. It is about Bahamian ownership. It is about, sovereignty. No less."

The Bahamas National Coalition Party, formed in June under the guise of providing voters with a new vision to guide the nation forward, has committed itself to contesting every seat in the next general election.

The BNCP is led by Reverend Andrew Stewart.