The Tribune

THE Progressive Liberal Party's leader has defended tourism consultant Ian Poitier from "an effort to smear" his reputation, saying the highly paid advisor "delivered exceptional value" to the country.

The defence came in a statement released by Official Opposition Leader Philip "Brave" Davis after Tourism Minister Dionisio D'Aguilar said in the House of Assembly last Thursday that he discovered that the consultant was paid over $400,000 a year, "more than the combined salary of over seven Cabinet ministers."

Mr D'Aguilar said the issue "smells fishy" and that he has ordered that no further payments be made to him. Mr Poitier was paid more than $1m for his consultancy.

"The minister made a number of comments and innuendo, which were wrong, incomplete and/or misleading, clearly in an effort to smear the reputation of the consultant, and to insinuate that something improper has taken place," Mr Davis noted.

"He continues to show himself to be a person of poor judgment. For example, had he had the courtesy and the wisdom to meet with the consultant or anyone else familiar with the situation before making his remarks, the minister could at least have availed himself of some of the basic facts. The consultant he refers to has delivered exceptional value to the country. The minister could easily have determined this had he been interested in finding out."

Mr Davis said in the PLP's 2012 Charter for Governance, the party committed to a policy of recruiting Bahamians who were living abroad to return home to help with national development.

In the case of Mr Poitier, Mr Davis said he came to the Christie administration's attention "because of the work which he had done under the previous FNM administrations."

"At a presentation in London in 2013, the (then) Prime Minister (Perry Christie), invited a room full of Bahamians living there to consider returning home," Mr Davis continued. "He met with several of them the following day, and apart from shorter commitments made with other Bahamians, Mr Poitier was the only one who agreed to make a full-time commitment."

The Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador MP also explained Mr Poitier's work with the former administration.

"In his first year, Mr Poitier worked largely out of the Ministry of Tourism, and it is for this reason that his payment was generated there," he noted. "He also worked for the Office of the Prime Minister, and the Ministry of Youth, Sports & Culture. Since April 2016, he worked principally from the Office of the Prime Minister, as the (former) prime minister had asked him to work as his policy advisor. This was in addition to the work he was already engaged in. It is not surprising therefore, that members of staff at the Ministry of Tourism, were unaware of the additional work that Mr Poitier had been charged to undertake.

"Mr Poitier's work covered six broad areas, each one of which is a separate career strand in itself. As the minister has sought to question whether Mr Poitier delivered value for money, I would happily highlight them. However, I believe Mr Poitier has already given a full and detailed account of his skills and accomplishments in a separate statement. If we want to encourage Bahamians to come home and to stay home, if we want our brightest and our best to contribute to national development and not just on their own fortunes, we have to do better."

On Sunday, Mr Poitier released a statement defending his reputation and rejected the suggestion of being involved in anything "crooked or underhanded".