Former Prime Minister Perry Christie.
By KHRISNA RUSSELL
Deputy Chief Reporter
krussell@tribunemedia.net
FORMER Prime Minister Perry Christie was “absolutely amazed” to learn he owed the Water and Sewerage Corporation more than $23,000, telling The Tribune yesterday he was never informed of such arrears and wondered how it was possible to accumulate this debt.
While he questioned the legitimacy of the claim – which he said he only found out about through The Tribune’s reporting – Mr Christie said he “could pay it” if it is found he owes the money.
Meanwhile, WSC has expressed disappointment that details about the “alleged outstanding bills of its customers” were published in The Tribune, adding those found responsible for the “illegal” leak of customers’ private information will be dealt with “severely” once found.
As prime minister from 2012 to 2017, the former Centreville MP explained there were staff members who handled paying his utilities and they would at times query water usage because of leaking toilets. In these instances, Mr Christie suggested $23,432.51 in water bills had not come up for discussion.
The former prime minister said during his time in office, he was required to disclose his debts, suggesting had he known, this would have been declared in his financial disclosures.
He questioned whether the bill in question was connected to Davis & Co, the law firm he once practised with but left in 2002. Progressive Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis now heads the firm.
Both the firm and Mr Davis’s Westridge home were included on WSC’s “confidential list” with bills of $22,603.33 as of March 31 and $2,334.21 as of April 5 respectively.
Mr Christie tops this “confidential list” at WSC, which allowed politicians and elites to accumulate arrears and not be disconnected. There were two accounts in his name.
The document, dated June 13, shows that a payment of $57 was made on July 25, 2014 on a West Bay Street account in Mr Christie’s name, leaving a balance of $23,432.51. It is unclear if other payments were made on the account after that. Another West Bay Street account in the former Centreville MP’s name, which he shared with his wife Bernadette, had a balance of $514.55 as of May 1.
“I was absolutely amazed,” the retired politician said. “Initially I said it had something to do with the law firm that I left in 2002.
“As prime minister, the bills were paid by my staff. Utilities and all of that (was handled).
“And from time to time you have queries for use of water through leaking toilets. But to have a bill of $23,000 or whatever that amount is?
“I called a gentleman who is involved in customer relations and he said he will move immediately and then I called Mr (Glen) Laville, the general manager of the corporation, to ask him how is it possible for me to owe that money (and) nobody write me about it (or) nobody talk to me about it.
“I’m required to disclose my debts. I have not disclosed any such debt because I know of no such debt. How do you put me in a position like that to find out in a newspaper that this is the situation that the water corporation is maintaining?
“That is the sum total of my knowledge of it I must say.”
He continued: “And so it is something obviously if I owe it I could pay it, it’s not a question of that. I have just never been told about it at all and so therefore during the course of the day I would be told what it’s about.”
Asked to respond to criticisms lists like this that give the perception that elites and politicians are exempt from paying their bills while the poor struggle, Mr Christie said: “I am out of it right now. Quite frankly my job is to ensure separation from public life and I have been trying to do that by staying out of sight, staying out of comments, with the view to ensure that things could go on normally. So to be confronted by this now requires a public explanation and I am in the process of trying to determine what it is really to the extent to which there is legitimacy to this claim.
“I don’t know how you build up a water bill of $23,000.”
“If it’s commercial then I knew I had an association with a law firm and if its 10 (or) 20 years ago, however long it started. I have no idea. Therefore I’m liable. I have no idea, none whatsoever,” Mr Christie said.
For its part, WSC noted the list obtained by The Tribune “was neither officially nor formally released by the corporation.”
WSC said it “will not comment on the integrity of the information nor on their clients’ accounts publicly.”
WSC General Manager Glen Laville added: “We take very seriously the release of customers’ information to the public. Those responsible for illegal disclosure of private records to the media will be dealt with severely once found. This action does not reflect the values of our organisation or our commitment to our clients. We sincerely apologise to our valued customers and assure them that this is not a practice that WSC engages in.
“As a matter of courtesy, we employ a number of methods to contact our customers about outstanding balances. We do not have a ‘no disconnect’ list.”
However last week, WSC Chairman Adrian Gibson confirmed the existence of a special list for the well-connected, saying it held 221 accounts, with a combined total of $175,000 for the period ending June 2017.
Comments
BahamasForBahamians 7 years, 1 month ago
I smell a lawsuit against WSC for this leak, especially when most on the list do not owe the corp anymore money. poor Adrian ain't sit as the chair for half of a year yet and already in lawsuits
licks2 7 years, 1 month ago
Oh please. . .every one of them know that they own the money!! Just like the rest of us. . .there will be no law suits. . .now if you talking about smelling some law suits coming for them millions owed at BOB. . .I do smell plenty coming. . .one other broad-side for the PLP crime group. . .and of course DPM Davis "een ger know" anything about any BOB bill either! Lol!
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 1 month ago
Typical lying Christie - he takes responsibility for none of the corruption he personally engaged in.
As for Glen Laville, he should be fired for denying WSC kept a "do not disconnect" list under his watch as General Manager!
tell_it_like_it_is 7 years, 1 month ago
...And the plot thickens...
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 1 month ago
I posted the following to this web site yesterday:
Whether they asked to be on the list or not is completely irrelevant. The only thing of relevance is their grave misconduct in knowingly taking advantage of this list and no doubt other similar lists kept by various government departments, agencies and corporations. Of course crooked Christie and equally crooked Davis will try tell us that they were much too busy governing our country (i.e. stealing from us wherever and whenever they could) to realize they had run up water bills in excess of $20,000. I can just hear each of them lamely saying: "I trusted for others to promptly pay my personal bills and the bills of businesses connected with me while I was busy doing the people's business; therefore, I was completely unaware that my bills had not been paid when they fell due for payment."
It is now beyond a shadow of doubt that both Christie and Davis are dishonourable to their very core and inclined to engage in criminal activities for their own unjust financial self-gain. The preponderance of evidence gathered to date shows that these two greedy ego-centric dolts repeatedly abused their public office and the public trust while serving in the last government as PM and DPM, respectively.
TalRussell 7 years, 1 month ago
Comrades! There is a big difference between the preparation in the numbers than the signature of the MP doing the filings.
I'm pretty sure as a trained barrister the former PM would have known that once he affixed his signature(s) to each of his yearly MP's Financial Disclosures - it is he and not his staff certifying to the true accuracy of all his financial disclosures. I am still eagerly curious to learn the details about how a payment of {$57} came about to be made on July 25, 2014? What exactly was the amount of the bill that brought about the {$57} payment? Surly, BEC/BPL's accounting people can cross reference the two?
proudloudandfnm 7 years, 1 month ago
These tiefin PLPs could lie now... muddos...
TalRussell 7 years, 1 month ago
Down On My Knees. Time Have Little Talk My Jesus!
...........////https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WvT16_SGxs
ohdrap4 7 years, 1 month ago
Reminds me of the halcyon days before caller ID when the children would call a phone and ask :
Yes
Sickened 7 years, 1 month ago
What's Perry's number. I feel like re-living my childhood.
baldbeardedbahamian 7 years, 1 month ago
And the PLP Comedy show continues.
baldbeardedbahamian 7 years, 1 month ago
Is Christie amazed at having a bill with WSC or amazed at having to pay one? I'm not quite clear which it is.
sheeprunner12 7 years, 1 month ago
Is Christie also amazed at .......... the Panama accounts........ the Out West condos ........ the Atlanta home ........ the Cabinet misfeasance ........ the untold suffering and embarrassment that he inflicted on this country??????? .......... He needs to hurry up and go on the other side of life
Sickened 7 years, 1 month ago
Christie doesn't know what a 'bill' is. He's never seen one and he's never been asked to pay one.
banker 7 years, 1 month ago
He looks like a sad old man. I hope that he is suffering for his sins against the Bahamas. I see that he is still using shoe polish on his head. I think that he would enjoy a stint in Fox Hill, just for the company with benefits.
TalRussell 7 years, 1 month ago
Comrade Banker, how I miss your stores, likes the one about your Grannies 'Hot White' made from OK Flower Sacks, bloomers..
My, how I enjoyed reading your posts - before you turned so angry and politically slanted. Let's meet at the edge of Izmirlian's dock to work on bringing back the old, cheerful more positive Banker, to these hereto Tribune blog pagers.
banker 7 years, 1 month ago
Do you know what happened? I got a job off-island. My eyes were opened. Nassau is a dark place. I became accustomed to it. I became acclimatized to the slackness, the lies that the people would tell you straight to your face.
In my new job, in my new city, things work. People are nice. No black crab, even though I am black. Erryone try to help me. I call the phone company, and the tech comes at 8:00 AM next day to let me get to work for 9:00 AM. The government here works. The civil service works.
With my new perspective, I see what the city island state could be, if there were no PLP -- if we had honest politicians -- if niggeritis was erased -- if we had an enlightened politicians.
I saw hope in you when you criticised PGC at times, but I realise that east will never meet west because you still jab and make up shiite to soothe the cognitive dissonance of your PLP support.
Folks here ask me about Bahamian culture. I tell them how it was. I tell them the stories of the farm community of Moss Town where my mums family comes from. I tell them of Ronny Butler and Dry Bread. And speaking of bread, I tell them about toasted coconut bread with seagrape jelly. I tell them about rake 'n scrape and sky juice and all sort of tings. But that is all gone. We have the culture of a Miami parking lot.
So in my view, it is all gone. Unfixable. I am pissed off at how slow Minnis is. I dislike how PTurnquest is still spending like a drunken sailor. There are no kleptocrats in jail yet. I would like to see Jerome do the Bank Lane shuffle as well as Brave and Obie and the lot of them.
Yeah, I'm mad and bitter. It's gone and its unfixable.
OldFort2012 7 years, 1 month ago
You are so right. If only we could ensure that all politicians had to spend at least 10 years off island before accepting any responsible position and learnt how the real world works, we would have hope. Now, there is none. All gone, as you say.
one_love 7 years, 1 month ago
banker...you're BLACK???? I am in utter disbelief...You have the most ontologically white written voice that I have ever seen... I thought you were king of the white people...what happened, friend?
birdiestrachan 7 years, 1 month ago
This bill does not seem to be real, and who ever made it up should suffer for their actions.
Economist 7 years, 1 month ago
Yes Birdie, you are quite right.
These bills and those false power bills and let us not forget the fictitious National Debt.
I am sure you would agree that with such fine honest, hard working, upstanding persons who made up the former government cabinet must have obliterated the National Debt and the people who made up the $7 Billion figure should be made to suffer for their actions.
You go Birdie!
The_Oracle 7 years, 1 month ago
On the Money Banker, black, white, all Bahamians have suffered under "selfish rule" I have not left yet, but I can see the day coming. As to the "new Government" i see old ways hard to break, a lack of abstract thought, and no crooked politicians in jail. Nor any stolen assets/proceeds seized. Same old appointees, same old verbal vapor, little action. Hell of a way to run a country.
BaronInvest 7 years, 1 month ago
The sad part is the Bahamas are such a small nation that it should be significantly easier to govern the country in a proper and effective way. It could be one of the best places to live at in the world. You guys need a revolution. A real one where everyone wonders where all the crooks went and no one can find them
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