The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

DEMOCRATIC National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney yesterday said his party is “eager” to review “all aspects of every deal” between the Christie administration and the People’s Republic of China.

Mr McCartney said his party has been noticeably absent from ongoing public discourse over the recent revelation that Minister of Agriculture V Alfred Gray gave the Bahamas ambassador to China the go ahead to discuss a $2.1b agriculture and fisheries proposal for Andros, as it was in search of “all the details and sides in this complex puzzle.”

After the matter was made public, the government said it was not considering such a proposal. Mr Gray has also been on the defensive about the issue, saying the ideas in the leaked proposal were put forth by the Bahamian ambassador and not Chinese officials, however public outcry over the matter remains high.

Addressing the fallout over the matter, Mr McCartney said details of this latest “secret deal” have to be made public in order for everyone to get a complete understanding of the dilemma.

He called “blanket claims” put forth by the Official Opposition “misplaced”, citing that while he is opposed to overarching Chinese involvement in the economic expansion of the Bahamas, there are technological and structural advancements that could be aided by foreign governments, companies, citizens and agencies.

On Sunday FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis said if his party were elected the government in the upcoming general election, his party would review and reverse any “secret deal” that gives land or fishing rights to foreigners.

Calling into question this assertion, Mr McCartney said the comments were made in “vacuum” of political rhetoric and fear tactics.

“You don’t know what the deal is. We don’t know,” stated the former Bamboo Town MP.

He added: “We all have to work to see what exactly these deals pertain before we run out and call for all of this outrage. Not knowing what the deal is with these agreements - the Baha Mar deal has been sealed, this deal is still not clear - once we have clarity we will go forward.”

He said the “panic” over Chinese investment in the country should not be encouraged before clarification is sought.

“We need to see what the deals are.”

However, he added that the government has issues with transparency.

“The people have every right to be concerned as the government and the prime minister have shown that they are incapable of doing right by the Bahamian people. This isn’t me siding with the government, this is me just saying that our issues with the PLP should not push us to be brash to any and all investment and project that involves foreign groups.”

“Certainly, listening to the government and when the government says, in particularly the prime minister that he did not know anything about the Crown land concern, I find that most amazing. As a matter of fact, it brought me back to the time he said he didn’t know about the letter of intent (LOI) and two years it transpired that he knew about the LOI.”

He continued: “(The prime minister) is asleep at the wheel. He went out to lunch and never came back. Something is fishy with that and on the other hand, if I may, if he did know and he is not being truthful again to the Bahamian people, I have said it before and I will say it again, you cannot trust the PLP.”

Environment Minister Kenred Dorsett on Monday said neither his ministry nor the government has issued a licence to any company in this country for forestry harvesting in Andros.

He admitted that a proposal of this kind, submitted in 2015, was approved in principle by the government’s Forestry Unit, but maintained that to date all the conditions imposed by the Forestry Unit were not satisfied, therefore no licence was issued.