Gray: Govt would not give foreigners licence to fish

As of Thursday, November 3, 2016

V Alfred Gray

By SANCHESKA DORSETT

Tribune Staff Reporter

sdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AGRICULTURE and Fisheries V Alfred Gray sought to defend himself from criticism yesterday, after a letter he wrote to the Bahamian ambassador to China expressing interest in a $2.1 billion Chinese proposal for Andros was published.

Mr Gray reiterated yesterday that there is currently “no proposal before the government” to enter into a partnership with the Chinese for development of agriculture and fisheries in Andros.

In the House of Assembly last night, Mr Gray said there is no way, under any circumstance, that the government would give foreigners, no matter who they are, a license to fish in the Bahamas.

Mr Gray was responding to a report in The Nassau Guardian on Tuesday, which stated that the government had given the “green light” to its embassy in Beijing to further pursue such a partnership.

Although he admitted on Tuesday that he did give the ambassador permission to have the discussions, he later released a statement calling the contents of the article “utterly false.”

On Wednesday, the daily published a letter from Mr Gray dated October 3, to the ambassador about the issue.

The proposal reportedly projects a $2.1 billion injection into the local economy over ten years through an equal partnership between Bahamians and the People’s Republic of China. According to the report, the proposed partnership will entail the incorporation of 100 companies, with the agricultural products and seafood to be used for local consumption, and exported to China and the United States for sale. The proposal also reportedly includes the option to lease 10,000 acres of Crown land in Andros.

Mr Gray said he “never spoke with any Chinese” and simply gave the newly appointed Bahamian Ambassador to China Paul “Andy” Gomez permission to discuss “investments.”

“The truth is this, I said in a statement that there was no proposal before the government of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas or this minister for any Chinese to enter into fishing in the Bahamas and that is true,” Mr Gray said.

“There could be no way that this minister of this government would give foreigners, whether Chinese, American or Dominican, no foreigner will every get a license to fish in the Bahamas full stop and that is part of what my letter said. “That is why they don’t want to print the whole letter,” he said, even though the full letter appeared to have been published. In the letter, Mr Gray noted that his ministry has reviewed the final draft of a proposed China-Bahamas agriculture and fisheries initiative and felt it “could be a very impactful project that economically benefits” Bahamians for decades.

He said in Parliament yesterday: “If you print the letter you will see the letter said that is a non-starter, do not even bring it up. Non-negotiable is the term I used. Do not bring it up because it cannot happen and, Mr Speaker, the letter I wrote was to the Bahamian ambassador to China, I never spoke to any Chinese. The Bahamas ambassador brought me some things that he was thinking, as (they) were his initiatives and he wanted my permission. He presented me a few initiatives that he was considering and he was approached by investors and he wanted my permission to discuss those initiatives and we gave him the permission to discuss it.”

He added: “Now, if you consider giving the ambassador permission to discuss investments a proposal, because Mr Speaker, that is the extent of the letter and I challenge the press to print the whole letter, not a little but, the whole letter, so the Bahamian people will be able to determine for themselves whether it is a proposal from Chinese or whether it was something coming from the Bahamian ambassador to this minster. That is the essence of it; I have nothing else to say about it.”

Despite the denials from the government, the report prompted FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis on Tuesday to criticise Prime Minister Perry Christie for his “deafening” silence on the matter.

It is not the first time he has raised concern on this issue. In July, while speaking at a rally at Christie Park, Dr Minnis said the government was negotiating with the Chinese for 10,500 acres of land in Andros.

Dr Minnis also insisted that the proposal was part of the “secret deal” Mr Christie negotiated with the Chinese to remobilise the Baha Mar resort.

jackbnimble 8 years, 1 month ago

This jack## lies in his sleep. If you put him before a firing squad and hold up the evidence he would go down lying!

TruePeople 8 years, 1 month ago

Bey he'd tell you the same story on the boat with the Chinese fishing one time. Gray is a dirty liar for real.

ThisIsOurs 8 years, 1 month ago

He also said he didn't call the administrator. Then we found out he not only called him but he called him twice. He said he wasn't caught naked in the church parking lot with that woman too.

licks2 8 years, 1 month ago

His boss is no better. . .what do we expect. . .

TalRussell 8 years, 1 month ago

Comrades! If you read V. Alfred's letter it's indisputable that either the Chinese have been door knocking with their "100 Years" $2.1 Billion Androsian Crown Lands proposal on the door of Bahamaland's Ambassador to China, or we Ambassador tooks it at his pay-scale level to have made the rounds door docking for a whopping $2.1 Billion investment. Sounds similar to what some want you to believe happened with Renward Wells, Letter Of Intent? Yep, Renward acted along?
But Minister V. Alfred, wants to still standup on the floor of the Peoples Honourable House of Assembly to insist that outsiders are forever barred from stumping Bahamaland's fishing waters?
Isn't this the same Minister V. Alfred, who went all Bananas when he proclaimed how food prices will be halved within years - all because BAMSI had already produced $100 million worth of mostly Bananas?
Truth is not even the highly skilled comedic writers on Saturday Night Live (SNL), could have created our own living and breathing Minister V. Alfred. Him is for real.
Didn't we not so long ago also have an over eager for investments Ambassador stationed somewhere in the USA, who found himself in troubled waters after going door knocking for investments in we Bahamaland - I thinks Atlanta, Georgia? .

Abaconian 8 years, 1 month ago

"There could be no way that this minister of this government would give foreigners...a license to fish in the Bahamas".. Then why is the draft proposal called the "China-Bahamas agriculture and FISHERIES initiative"? Why is the word "fisheries" included if it wasn't something he is open to? Stop telling lies Gray.

In a time when we should be cutting DOWN on our fishing exports rather than increasing them, in a time when we should be looking to capitalise on our fisheries without harming our cultural heritage and tourism industry...here comes people like Mr. Gray who is open to the idea of exporting vast amounts of seafood to the Chinese to provide liquidity and cashflow for other Chinese investments.. which all stem from the desperate need for money...which further stems from poor decisions that this gov. has made. It's clear as day.

Just look at what he's done since he's been Minister - Either he doesn't give a shit about our environment or he is absolutely clueless as to the state of our environment and fisheries ("bey we got lone fish"). Or both.

Just because they might not give licenses to actual Chinese people to be on boats fishing our waters, doesn't mean they aren't open to Bahamians fishing for them instead - just like the proposal states. That's how they would screw us. They'll get Bahamians to fish for the Chinese in a China-Bahamas partnership that exports seafood to China and then claim that he never lied because no Chinese people are on the boats doing the fishing. He'll claim it as a "Bahamians first" type of deal. Gray is one of the biggest national security threats to this country. He's a terrible lawyer, politician and he's as crooked as they come. Plus, he's as dumb as a brick. Anyone who's ever dealt with him can attest to that.

ThisIsOurs 8 years, 1 month ago

Will you give foreigners the right to export commercial levels of fish "in aggregate"?

TalRussell 8 years, 1 month ago

Comrades! If the PLP Cabinet forges ahead with the granting of "Bahamalander Citizenship's" to Chinese nationals as media rumoured to number some 100 citizenship's, as being part and parcel connected to the Baha Mar deal struck via its still secret acquisition by Perfect Luck Assets Limited (Perfect Luck) ... then wouldn't it be so sweet PLP Cabinet easy to "backdoor" place a "Bahamalander Citizen" aboard each of the also rumoured to be 50 Chinese financed and controlled fishing vessels being built for Bahamaland's waters?
We done knows from past events that where there's Androsian smoke, there is bounds to follow... red hot flames fire!
Comrades! A while back wasn't there a still unexplained scandal involving Dominican fishing vessels that were tightly connected to high-powered PLP's?
Also, will the Chinese assume control over The Bank of Bahamaland?

sheeprunner12 8 years, 1 month ago

The sad fact is that V Alfred Gray should not have been allowed to be in the PLP Cabinet as he is not morally or ethically fit to hold that post ........... he has proven that again and again ......... but who will fire him when he remains a huge defender of Vomit???

Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 1 month ago

I just can't wait until the U.S. media and U.S. public wake up to the fact that their government (the Obama/Hillary/Kerry government) has permitted Red China to set up shop (including deep water stealth submarine operations) in the Bahamas only a few short miles away from Florida and the entire Eastern Seaboard. I imagine most Americans will want all senior officials of the U.S. embassy in the Bahamas, the Dept of State in the U.S. and the NSA over the past decade or so to be drawn and quartered for high treason because of their serious failure to gather and act on intelligence information in order to protect the national security interests of the U.S.

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