The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Christie administration is “selling souls to the Chinese,” businessman Dionisio D’Aguilar said yesterday in response to reports that the government gave the Bahamas embassy in China the go-ahead to have talks with Chinese officials about an agri-fisheries proposal for Andros.

News of the matter has been controversial.

On Tuesday, government ministers sought to downplay the matter, and said the proposal was not before the government for consideration.

However, on Wednesday, the Bahamas ambassador to China Paul “Andy” Gomez confirmed the talks and The Nassau Guardian published a letter signed by Agriculture & Fisheries Minister V Alfred Gray in which he said the proposed project could be “very impactful” for the country, permitting the ambassador to have further discussions about it.

Mr Gomez said in a statement yesterday: “In pursuit of my responsibilities as ambassador to China I have engaged in vigorous discussions within China to generate new economic activity for the Bahamas.

“The objective is to attract and create new activities and opportunities for Bahamians and our country. The issue that has raised attention in the local media is along those lines. I sought and received permission from the minister responsible for agriculture and fisheries merely to continue dialogue and to prepare reports on the economic possibilities in China. That is what happened.

“We are presently evaluating the possibilities in China. No report or proposal has been submitted to the minister of foreign affairs or minister of agriculture and fisheries or any other minister of the government,” Mr Gomez said.

However, Mr D’Aguilar said the government’s denials of the matter ring hollow because of its trust deficit.

“Because of the lack of transparency and the ability to see what they are actually up to do, we don’t know what to believe. We have to remain extremely vigilant that they don’t enter into any transaction that hasn’t been well thought to.”

As for the proposal, Mr D’Aguilar said: “I have to believe that the Bahamas government is selling our souls to the Chinese. They purchased the Hilton, they have Baha Mar, the Chinese country controls the Container Port in Freeport . . . and now they are looking to give them 10,000 acres of land in Andros?

“The Chinese government is beginning to exert undue control over our government. It’s as if the Chinese ambassador is a Cabinet minister. The effect on the economy is frightening.

“The potential effect on the water supply or ecosystem in Andros is a pressing issue, especially in light of the total disregard the Chinese usually have for the environment. People have to remember, they are $1.3 billion people and we are 350,000.

“It’s very, very easy for them to take control of our country and we don’t know what private deal is going on in the background. We don’t know what type of arrangements.”

Mr D’Aguilar, recently ratified as the Free National Movement’s (FNM) candidate for Montagu, has emerged as a strong critic of the government’s partnership with China.

A former director of Baha Mar, he has been especially critical of the government’s handling of the beleaguered Baha Mar resort.