The Tribune

By Ava Turnquest

OPPOSITION Leader Philip Davis yesterday reiterated his call that “heads must roll” as he rejected the explanation proffered by Commodore Tellis Bethel over the second illegal landing of a Haitian sloop near the Royal Bahamas Defence Force’s (RBDF) Coral Harbour Base in recent weeks.

Commodore Bethel told the Nassau Guardian on Monday patrols of western New Providence were suspended under the previous administration due to “procedural matters that were being ironed out between the various agencies at that time”. The commodore said patrols in the area had recently been reinstated by the current administration.

Yesterday, Mr Davis called those comments a shocking breach of protocol and norms and warned public servants were prohibited from engaging in political commentary because it exposed them to similar attacks.

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) leader noted he had been restraining party supporters from publicly calling for the commodore’s dismissal.

He said the landings represented “shocking negligence” given the defence agency’s failure to intercept a slow-moving vessel from landing within three miles of its base.

In a press statement, Mr Davis said: “This is not a time for the commodore to engage in political commentary but this is the time for the Minister of National Security Marvin Dames to speak up and explain to this nation why he and his government cannot protect our borders. This has nothing to do with what the PLP did or did not do but this is about real time defence of our borders. 

“There are sound rules why public servants are prohibited from engaging in political polemics,” Mr Davis continued.

“When they do so, the public servant then becomes a legitimate target for political attack. Already I have been restraining our supporters from directly calling for the dismissal of the commodore. I have told them that the jury is still out on that, but we are bound because of the commodore’s statement to call out both the prime minister and the minister of national security on what is at best a shocking breach of well-established protocols and norms.”

Mr Davis said the party did not accept Commodore Bethel’s explanation, but noted even if those orders were given eight months ago - both the government and the RBDF could not be so rigid in the face of an “obvious threat”.

Mr Davis continued: “The facts on the ground are these. A sailing sloop that moves at less than five miles an hour was able to navigate its way up the whole chain of our islands to our main island and disgorge its human cargo on to the shore within miles of the RBDF base. In fact, in operational terms in plain sight of the base. The prime minister, the minister of national security and the commodore all ought to be ashamed and embarrassed at those incontrovertible facts. 

“Then when egg is on the face of the force, you claim it’s the PLPs fault,” he continued.

“We remind the Hubert Minnis administration that it is their time to govern. They must protect the country’s borders. Do your jobs and stop giving excuses for plain and obvious negligence. The country awaits a full explanation.”

After the sloop landed in the Clifton Pier area on Monday morning, immigration officers and other authorities combed the area for the migrants. On Monday evening, the RBDF said 57 people - 43 men, 11 women and three children - were taken into custody and transported to the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.