The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FORT Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins went back on the offensive yesterday accusing the Christie administration of sacrificing Bamboo Town MP Renward Wells in the letter of intent controversy in a bid to protect senior party members who orchestrated the signing.

Dr Rollins branded the letter of intent (LOI) scandal as a “manufactured political controversy,” during an appearance on radio talk show “Darrold Miller Live” with host Darrold Miller.

His comments come as recent revelations suggest that some members of the Christie Cabinet knew in advance that the government was set to issue the LOI ahead of Mr Well’s ill-fated move.

“He was thrown under the bus with the letter of intent,” Dr Rollins, who spoke to the host by telephone, claimed. “No one in the leadership of the PLP wanted to take ownership of them advising him to sign that letter of intent. No one else indicated that they had any knowledge of a letter of intent, then two years later we find out the minister of state for finance was communicating with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) about this very same letter of intent.”

Dr Rollins said: “But they didn’t want any of the senior persons in the party taking the fall for it. They rather a new generation person, that they said was the future of the party, to take all of the blame, forcing his resignation when in truth the person who ought to have resigned was somebody way high up the food chain, one of the senior members of the party.”

“But that’s just the way the PLP plays its politics,” Dr Rollins added. “They rather sacrifice their young in order to look after the welfare of those who have been in the business of politics for decades and the country is regressing as opposed to progressing.”

Mr Wells declined to comment further on the matter when contacted by The Tribune yesterday.

In October 2014, Prime Minister Perry Christie fired Mr Wells from his post as parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Works and Urban Development following months of controversy sparked by his reportedly unauthorised signature on the $600 million LOI in July 2014.

Before he was removed from the post, Dr Rollins had threatened that if Mr Wells were fired, he would reveal the names of those involved with Mr Wells’ signing of the $650m LOI with Stellar Waste Management. Insisting that other people needed to be fired if Mr Wells was dismissed, he said he was prepared to say who those people were because there was more than met the eye regarding the controversy.

One month later, Mr Wells broke his silence and said he signed the LOI – without Cabinet approval – for the “good of the people.”

A year later, in November 2015, Mr Wells announced in Parliament that he had quit the PLP before crossing the floor to join the Official Opposition.

In a letter dated May 26, 2014, and obtained by Tribune Business last week, State Minister for Finance Michael Halkitis informed a representative of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) that the government had issued an initial LOI to Stellar Energy. The company had proposed to establish a $600 million 70-80 megawatt waste-to-energy plant that was to be located at the New Providence landfill on Tonique Williams Highway.

Mr Halkitis’ letter was dated about five weeks before Mr Wells signed the LOI with the company.

Mr Wells has said he took responsibility for the controversy because he signed the document without “written approval”.

This new development has unearthed calls for the Christie administration to fully disclose all details related to the scandal.

Yesterday, Dr Rollins also responded to questions about the nature of his relationship with Mr Wells.

Good friends

Dr Rollins maintained that he and Mr Wells remain good friends and that he respected his “political acumen,” despite the fact that they have taken markedly different political stances since they crossed the floor to join the Free National Movement last year. Mr Wells has become a staunch supporter of FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis, while Dr Rollins took a critical stance of the Killarney MP and joined calls for an early convention.

“I like to be frank and upfront with people,” Dr Rollins said.

“I have very strong views, I can’t expect Mr Wells to - he’s his own man. He’s not a puppet, he doesn’t have anybody pulling his strings and so I don’t tell Mr Wells what he should think or what he should do.

“I had certain views and it led me to say certain things and he didn’t have those same views so he’s considered somebody who has remained very strong in his support for Dr Minnis.”

Dr Rollins pointed out that any political observer would see the benefit in engaging with not only political yes-men but also persons that will bring constructive critique - appearing to make a distinction between Mr Wells and himself.

“You don’t want to surround yourself only with people who may tell you what you want to hear but also surround yourself with others who will tell you not necessarily what you want to hear but what you need to hear,” he said.

“I’ve also been a very plainspoken person. I tell you what is my frank assessment of a situation and if you fault me for that and believe that I’m not somebody that is going to serve you well in your position as leader then you have every right to sideline me or believe that it’s not in your interest to have me be a part of your team.

“And if that’s what Dr Minnis feels I’m not going to object,” Dr Rollins said.