The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE revelations that some politicians and others enjoyed special treatment which allowed them to rack up exorbitant utility bills without disconnection is nothing new, former Progressive Liberal Party Cabinet minister Loftus Roker said yesterday, telling The Tribune he faced push back decades ago when he disconnected members of Parliament who owed money to the Bahamas Electricity Corporation.

Last week, The Tribune revealed a culture of preferential treatment afforded to politicians and other well-connected people, which allowed them to be placed on a special list to avoid disconnection of electricity despite exorbitant bills.

Subsequently, there were also reports of circumvention of the tender process at Bahamas Power and Light and a similar list at the Water and Sewerage Corporation.

Reflecting on the revelations from the past week, Mr Roker said behaviour and actions on display today were nothing more than "a manifestation of things we saw laying root back in my day".

"My boy, there is nothing new under the sun, you hear me? These things been going on and been known, do you hear me?

"Why you think these boys like this thing so much? I recall during my time, (former Prime Minister) Sir Lynden held a Cabinet meeting where he told us we were getting a raise, and in that same breath he told all of us pay our utility bills because the practice of non-payment was becoming an issue.

"I was the minister responsible for BEC at this time, and a couple of the (Cabinet ministers) went back to Pindling complaining after I turned them off for non-payment."

Mr Roker added: "I was shocked by it because the man (Sir Lynden) told us specifically to pay our bills and these men, about four of them, three still alive today, had gotten so use to the slackness, that they refused to pay their bills."

He continued: "So that's why I say it like this, while we should be proud of what is going on now with everything coming to light, we have to wait this out and see if they going all the way with it and clean the whole slate because this thing run deep."

Mr Roker suggested the perks that have enticed so many to pursue careers in politics are "out there for all to see now," but he asserted wrong still exists on both sides of the political divide.

The outspoken Pindling era politician also cautioned those "celebrating" the recent actions of the Minnis administration, warning it is "too early to grade actions" of a party "recently on the ropes".

Mr Roker, who served as immigration and works minister in two separate Pindling administrations, said the Free National Movement, led by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, had yet to "clarify and make right" a number of significant ordeals.

"All we see coming out is great and moving us in the right direction," Mr Roker said. "But it wasn't that long ago when these guys were fighting to stay relevant, pushing back against their own problems and wrongdoings. Winning an election doesn't delete those facts."

Mr Roker, reflecting on Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Renward Wells' letter of intent (LOI) mishap when he served as parliamentary secretary in the former Christie administration and the management of public health contracts in the Ministry of Health when Dr Minnis was the minister of health in the former Ingraham administration, said average people still need answers on what exactly happened.

He said: "I consider myself an average person, and still have no clue what happened with that LOI with Wells. Yes we can be happy about all of the things that they are doing to air out the former government, but we cannot forget their wrongs in our happiness."

Mr Roker added: "We have to pat them on the back for making public everything they have to date, the light bill foolishness and the water bill thing. Yes, that is great. But we remember the issues under the prime minister when he was in health. We remember - if we are going to clean the slate, can we clean it fully?"

Dr Minnis' company received a contract with the Public Hospitals Authority while he was private citizen in 2005 for a building rental. The contract continued while he was minister of health, although Dr Minnis said he disclosed the matter and had asked for the PHA to find another landlord.

The contract reportedly came to an end shortly after Dr Minnis became prime minister.

Meanwhile, when asked about the status of the government's effort to investigate the existence of similar preferential lists throughout other government entities, Press Secretary Anthony Newbold told The Tribune comprehensive reviews were ordered for all government ministries and departments shortly after the Minnis administration took office, and that all revealed to date came as a result of those reviews.

Mr Newbold said the government has taken the approach to "report on findings already concluded and wait for those still ongoing to conclude."

He said: "There is no rush to bring things to the public. As things are discovered and concluded, they are presented. Everything you have heard to date, came as a result of those reviews and as they continue and conclude, you will hear more."