The Tribune

By Inigo “Naughty” Zenicazelaya

This past week, a new Bahamian political party emerged on the scene and an old controversy in politics made its way into the spotlight.

Waste not, want not

So just when we thought the old Letter of Intent scandal would finally die, one of the principals at Stellar Energy, the waste-to-energy company, found time to visit a talk show and reveal more about the organisation than we had previously known.

Jean Paul (JP) Michielson (who I admit I count as a friend) is the reported Chief Operations Officer at Stellar Energy and was a guest on a radio show hosted on Global 99.5fm with Lincoln Bain and Greg Collie. And, boy, did I learn more about Stellar than I could ever imagine.

When the Letter of Intent scandal broke last year, all the hullabaloo surrounded then Progressive Liberal Party MP Renward Wells, who has since a) admitted signing the document was his mistake and b) left the PLP to join the Free National Movement.

But this week, when Mr Michielson visited the Global talk show, he revealed that Stellar Energy employs only four people. I’ll let that sink in for a moment.

According to Mr Michielson’s broadcast interview, Stellar Energy is made up of himself, CEO Dr Fabrizio Zanaboni, CFO Bruno Pletscher and an unnamed office manager.

When I heard the words from JP’s mouth I was astounded. Not only was this company at the centre of one of the biggest political scandals in recent times but it was also so anemic in terms of staff that I contemplated putting together my own ‘waste-to-energy’ company comprised of myself, two dudes I play basketball with and a really friendly waitress I know.

Do you think we could get a letter of intent from the government with $600m in the fine print? Doubtful. Which only resurrects thoughts Bahamians have long had in terms of government contracts and wastage.

How is it that all this time I thought of Stellar as a big company with scientists, experts and financial gurus on staff when in fact it is essentially comprised of two bankers and ‘my boy’ JP? None of whom have any large scale, hands-on experience in the area of waste-to-energy. None of whom (according to JP’s interview) have any waste-to-energy projects going on anywhere else in the region. Or the world. Or the solar system. Or the galaxy for that matter.

According to a subsequent interview played on the same show (and shockingly), the CFO Mr Pletscher stated that the Central Bank has blocked him from serving in a financial capacity at another endeavour he pursued here in this country.

Seriously? You can’t make this stuff up folks. And for all of you not too lazy to ‘Google it’ there’s a New York Times article out there that may shed some light on the situation.

Which leads me to ask: who does the tough, in-depth vetting process for this government in terms of would-be investors? Sylvester the Cat?

But I digress. The point is that the much talked about and as yet not enacted Freedom of Information Act would go a long way to answering questions Bahamians have on this and a range of other questions about our governance.

I sincerely doubt the current government will give us this tool we in the media (and society at large) have been seeking for years. Instead, we will have to continue to investigate where we can. And, most importantly, we will have to keep a close eye on Sylvester the Cat since he seems to be the one making all the big decisions around this town.

Party fever

After months of anticipation, Marco City MP Greg Moss (formerly a member of the PLP) has revealed the name of his newly-formed party. Mr Moss notified the House of Assembly this week that he is the (chosen?) leader of the United Democratic Party.

When I first heard the name, I thought to myself that it was a bold step for Mr Moss to give his party a name so close to the forlorn United Bahamian Party (UBP). Then again, I’m sure Mr Moss went through a rigorous selection process.

On the cutting room floor (I’m sure) rests the BAPP- Bahamians Against Poor Politicians.

Also discarded was CANT- Citizens Against New Taxation.

Tossed out was CROC - Carnival Revellers Organised Coalition.

And in the trash went PFP - Politicians For Politicians party.

Mr Moss has taken a bold step and, even though many have already written off his chances at winning his current Marco City seat in the next general election, I think he has offered a few brilliant ideas specifically in terms of mortgage relief for the country.

Perhaps he should gone with KYH - Keep Ya House party.

Who would vote against the ‘keep ya house’ party, especially after getting foreclosed on after missing two mortgage payments?

That’s right. Nobody.

But the entrance of the United Democratic Party means that there will be another 37 candidates the public has absolutely no idea about to add to the ever growing pile of persons who swear they can do right by this country.

Maybe there will be a few diamonds in the rough in Mr Moss’ group. Maybe not.

I’m just glad his group didn’t take my preferred name of BUG – Bahamas Under Governance.

As a matter of fact, I think I’ll form my own party and contest all 38 seats too. Where my homies at?

• Inigo ‘Naughty’ Zenicazelaya is the resident stand-up comic at Jokers Wild Comedy Club at the Atlantis, Paradise Island, resort and presents ‘Mischief and Mayhem in da AM’ from 6am to 10am, Monday to Friday, and ‘The Press Box’ sports talk show on Sunday from 10am to 1pm on KISS FM 96.1. He also writes a sports column in The Tribune on Tuesday. Comments and questions to naughty@tribunemedia.net