The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

DEPUTY Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis and Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson focused on Baha Mar’s long-promised opening on Friday morning rather than address the controversy surrounding Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald.

Mr Davis said there have been no discussions in the Progressive Liberal Party over whether Mr Fitzgerald should resign as Cabinet minister or stand down in the Marathon constituency in wake of emails showing him soliciting business contracts for his family from Sarkis Izmirlian from as early as 2013.

“He’s our candidate for Marathon and we expect him to win his seat,” Mr Davis said.

Unusually for a controversy of this nature, no one from the Christie Administration has attempted to answer a question that goes to the heart of the matter: were Mr Fitzgerald’s actions appropriate or not?

Mrs Maynard-Gibson, who has had allegations about her published in The Punch, said she is consulting her lawyers.

“Let me say that’s not a matter for today,” she said when asked if Cabinet procedures were breached by herself or Mr Fitzgerald. “Any action would exist for years to come. Right now today I’m focusing on the successes for Bahamians and wanting to make sure they keep moving forward.”

Mr Ftizgerald’s email exchanges with Mr Izmirlian prompted critics to question if the original developer’s refusal to grant his requests influenced in some way the decisions of the Christie Administration on the future of Baha Mar.

Those supportive of Mr Izmirlian say his unwillingness to “play ball” with the government with respect to contract awards turned some officials in the administration against him.

Mrs Maynard-Gibson denied this notion on Friday.

“I can say without fear of contradiction that on many stages of the entire process, Sarkis was in contact with the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the negotiating team and he was given every opportunity to continue to be involved and you see what happened,” she said.

The controversy surrounding Mr Fitzgerald has not cast a shadow over Baha Mar’s opening, the pair said.

“I don’t want to take anything from this,” said the Attorney General. “Fitzgerald has already made a statement. Look at the smiling faces of young Bahamians. They speak for themselves. We are simply celebrating young Bahamians who are so happy that we have been able to do the heavy lifting of getting this resort open for their benefit.”

Mr Davis added: “This has not caused a dark shadow for me or the hundreds of Bahamians that are now working. When I walked to my seat and saw the look on the face of Bahamians who are now working, their hope and expectations for their future and the future of those yet to be employed, why should there be a dark cloud over it?

“We have to remain focused on what this means to us as a people and as a nation, and that’s creating jobs and opportunities. We’re not going to be distracted by anything else. As journalists y’all should be asking yourselves the question: why now, why now these things are being said?”

For his part, Prime Minister Perry Christie refused to talk to reporters about Mr Fitzgerald’s situation even as the Marathon MP himself spoke to the press about it.

At various times, officials even seemed to steer Mr Christie away from the media.