The Tribune

By TANEKA THOMPSON

Tribune News Editor

tmthompson@tribunemedia.net

ON Thursday, the Christie administration will celebrate three years in office.

In this term, the government has been able to meet some of its campaign promises and institute reforms in key areas, such as immigration, gaming, taxation and the energy sector, most recently with the announcement of the selection of a management company to take over operations at the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC).

In spite of these gains, this administration has been dogged with scandal after scandal and average Bahamians feel disconnected from the executive. For many observers, it appears as if the government is imploding, with the most vicious assaults on its failures coming from some within the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).

Try as PLP supporters might to spin the negative news in their favour, the fact is too many people feel as if this government is failing. They are weary and they want and deserve a change.

Art of silence

Since winning the last election, this government has perfected the art of silence and secrecy. As the days go by, unanswered questions on issues of national importance continue to mount.

We have yet to find out who will rebuild the fire-damaged, uninsured dormitory at the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute and if anyone in the Ministry of Works will be held to account for the millions in public funds that went up in smoke.

Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson has repeatedly refused to give a status update on her office’s investigation into the judicial interference allegations against her Cabinet colleague V Alfred Gray. Nor are we any closer to knowing what, if anything, has come out of her office’s probe into allegations of bribery by a BEC official more than a decade ago.

The list goes on.

However, the most glaring failure of this government to keep the public in the know was its handling of the 2012 underground Rubis fuel leak in the Marathon constituency.

For more than a year, The Tribune has been reporting on the fallout from the situation and outlined the frustration area residents felt about the lack of communication from their MP, Jerome Fitzgerald, Minister of Environment Ken Dorsett and other government officials.

However the issue recently caught the nation’s attention and came to a head last month when it was revealed that the government held on to an independent report into the leak for more than a year. That document, prepared by Black and Veatch International, found that residents were potentially exposed to harmful, cancer-causing compounds in their ground water and even in the air.

Last week, as he moved for the formation of a select committee in the House of Assembly to investigate the environmental concern, PLP backbencher Dr Andre Rollins laid into this own party. He attacked the government for seeming to cover up the circumstances surrounding the leak and for not appropriately addressing the matter.

Most MPs - except Dr Rollins, PLP backbencher Renward Wells and the Opposition members present - voted against the committee. Fifteen MPs were absent.

“To deny the formation of a select committee into the details surrounding the Rubis oil spill would cause the government to appear callous, reckless and deceitful,” Dr Rollins said. “I am not suggesting that that is the case. I am merely stating that the level of cynicism and mistrust that exists in the public domain surrounding that, many have come to believe is an attempt to suppress the freedom of information. By saying no to a select committee we would only be increasing that perception in the public domain.

“The government cannot hide behind the argument that the details surrounding the oil spill are a matter of national security and must remain secret and confidential at the level of Cabinet privilege. This is not a matter that can be considered privilege.”

He added that he is not one to play “ham and turkey” politics, arguing that voters deserve more than cheap handouts but instead need representatives who will stand up and defend them.

The Tribune spoke to many of the MPs who voted against the committee and most of them defended their actions. Minister of State for Legal Affairs Damian Gomez said he did so because he was confident that a comprehensive explanation and breakdown of the government’s response would be forthcoming from the Environment Minister in due course.

Yesterday, the government finally released a statement detailing some its actions since the leak and what it will do to mitigate against future disasters. The response is appreciated, but for those who live in the area affected by the spill it is a little too late.

While those in government might feel satisfied with their course of action in dealing with the leak, public fury over the government’s lukewarm response to such a critical issue has reached a fevered pitch on social media and on the airwaves.

I doubt that many of the Cabinet ministers associated with the perceived “cover up” of information, specifically Ken Dorsett and Jerome Fitzgerald - who both masqueraded as champions of the environment while in opposition - will emerge from the onslaught unscathed.

Crime wave

Despite campaigning heavily on the pre-election promise that it had the answers to crime while the Ingraham administration did not, this government has not been able to stem the flow of blood on our streets nor assuage the heightened fear of crime.

Since last Thursday, this country has recorded four homicides and one unclassified death of a female, who was found tied to a tree with a nylon stocking. Excluding the unclassified death of the young woman, identified by friends as Jade Saunders, the country’s murder count for the year stood at 49 for the year up to press time.

Aside from murders, there are almost daily reports of shootings, stabbings and armed robberies.

Last week, prominent American businessman Sandy Schaeffer, who is a Bahamian resident, told The Tribune how he was robbed at gunpoint in “broad daylight” at a Royal Bank of Canada branch during the afternoon.

After his ordeal, a frustrated Mr Schaeffer said the government must accept that its crime fighting measures are not doing enough.

“Crime is out of control,” he said. “Is (the government) doing the right thing? Clearly not. Are they doing enough? Clearly not. Has the government done what is necessary in terms of mitigating crime? Clearly not.

He added: “Everybody who knows me knows that I have a great deal of respect for (Prime Minister Perry Christie), but again I find it impossible to defend the reality, the results. The results are not good.”

In August 2011, during a nationally televised address on crime, Mr Christie, then Opposition leader, said the “tsunami of violence sweeping our nation” was due to “poor governance”.

“This government has been paralysed, unable to lead on this crucial issue,” Mr Christie added at the time. “And their determination to put politics first, not Bahamians, has made a terrible problem much worse.”

I can only wonder what the Prime Minister and the PLP would say today on the very same issue. Would he admit that after three years, using his own yardstick, that his administration has failed on crime?

Buyers’ remorse

With three years of this present Christie administration already passed, the feeling among many Bahamians appears to be that of buyers’ remorse. Last year, in celebration of its two-year benchmark, the government released what many saw as a “wasteful” propaganda publication that outlined its achievements.

One can only wonder what will be said this year as the government gears up to tout its successes to a jaded electorate that is tired of rhetoric and political spin.

Just as the first Christie administration was besieged by scandals and allegations of impropriety, for the past three years this government has had to dodge and weave all manner of misconduct accusations.

The most egregious is the judicial interference claim against Mr Gray, the Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, who has been accused of allegedly threatening Mayaguana Administrator Zephaniah Newbold in order to have a man convicted of disorderly conduct freed from custody.

While we await the findings of the Attorney General’s investigation into that incident, it is highly likely that another scandal will ensnare another member of this government.

These missteps have overshadowed the work of this administration and will be a part of Mr Christie’s legacy of leadership. Whether the government can rebound in the remaining two years of its term and recapture the trust of voters remains to be seen.

What do you think? Email comments to tmthompson@tribunemedia.net