Fitzgerald brings his political career to an end

Jerome Fitzgerald

As of Wednesday, February 27, 2019

FORMER Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald has announced an end to his political career, telling Progressive Liberal Party members he will not seek a nomination for the next general election.

Mr Fitzgerald, pictured right, made the remarks at a meeting in the Marathon constituency for aspiring candidates on Monday night. The former senator represented the area from 2012 to 2017.

He lost his bid for re-election weeks after The Tribune exclusively revealed in April 2017 that as early as 2013, he was seeking to secure millions of dollars in brokerage, trucking, and limousine contracts at Baha Mar while he sat in Cabinet. Emails leaked from a data breach of China Construction America’s (CCA) servers and obtained by this newspaper showed Mr Fitzgerald appeared to also be requesting $20,000 a month from Baha Mar’s developer Sarkis Izmirlian, citing the expenses that were necessary to cover the cost of his ailing father’s medical treatment. There were immediate calls for Mr Fitzgerald to resign his post as education minister.

In a statement released after The Tribune’s bombshell reporting, Mr Fitzgerald admitted that he sought contracts from Baha Mar for his father’s business but said nothing came of it.

At the time, Mr Fitzgerald said he had communicated with Mr Izmirlian “on any number of matters over the past eight years either in person or by email.”

“Prior to my father’s illness he had engaged in discussions with Baha Mar to get some work,” Mr Fitzgerald’s April 2017 statement noted. After my father’s illness I wrote to Sarkis to follow up on those discussions and seek his assistance. Nothing came of it and that remains the case today.”

Meanwhile on Monday, Mr Fitzgerald said his political career has been “active and exciting, rewarding and painful, dynamic and challenging, but most of all, it’s been gratifying.”

He continued: “But as with many great things, they must at some point come to an end, and my season of vying for a nomination to represent a constituency for the great Progressive Liberal Party came to an end on May 10, 2017.”

He said he spent 15 years in active public life, first as deputy chairman of the then College of the Bahamas in 2002, later becoming a senator in 2007 and a member of Parliament in 2012.

He had this advice to aspiring Marathon candidates: “Remember this is a sacrifice of time, treasure and talent. It is a commitment of service above self. The road will not always be easy, but never lose sight of the fact that you are here to make a meaningful contribution to both Marathon and our wider Bahamaland. As with any meaningful career, work with strategy and diligence, keep your commitments and refrain from making empty promises.”

sheeprunner12 5 years, 8 months ago

Why was he not brought to court for his open acts of trying to swindle Sarkis???? ........ Or was the cutass at the polls enough punishment???????

Twiggs 4 years, 4 months ago

You obviously do not know Jerome. Absolutely a man of his word - if he says there was no wrong doing, then there was none.

SP 5 years, 8 months ago

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

Twiggs 4 years, 4 months ago

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

birdiestrachan 5 years, 8 months ago

**MR Fitzgerald you have served your Country well you were a good minister of education, and under your term the University of the Bahamas is a reality. you worked hard and long to make that dream come through.

I do not blame you for moving on there are better things ahead for you. enjoy your life with your beautiful wife and brilliant children, There are many things that no one can take from you no matter how they try

May God walk with you all the days of your life LIVE WELL.

joeblow 5 years, 8 months ago

... I do feel so sorry for you! I can't imagine life without the ability to think objectively!

licks2 5 years, 8 months ago

Where is the university of Bahamas. . .who is dat bird!! Give him his daps for changing the name. . .taking the school from under UWI. . .accredited by no accreditation board in this part of the world. . .in any other part for that matter!!! NOT A ONE. . .ERGO. . .DEGREES ARE UN-ACCREDITED. Ding! Problems with degrees gotten from UB. Yes. . .this is the kind of stupidity the PLP government got us into with their incompetent ways of doing things. . .therefore, future UB degrees are not eligible for any accredited schools in Europe, US, CA etc. . .or we must meet accreditation requirements for some regional board or our future degrees are worth less than the small bag of chicken and fries you can buy in UB cafe!! Congratulate JF and the PLP for that blunder. . .in case you don't know. . .when they put UB in legislation they removed us from the gown tail of UWI. . .SOMETHING THAT CAUSED EVERYBODY ACCEPTED OUR DEGREES IN THE PAST! Now we are alone. . .all dumb and lost. . .led into the bush by JF and the PLP. . .with they dumb self!!

sheeprunner12 5 years, 8 months ago

PLP has a history of F&$K...... UP the education system ....... Abolishing the old GHS ......... creating a bogus BGCSE ............. setting up a hollow high school diploma .................now creating a shell University???????

ohdrap4 5 years, 8 months ago

they are accrediting themselves, under naecob.

same process why they ran from the education jbte (UWI) accreditation and also shunned the cxc examinations.

licks2 5 years, 8 months ago

Do you know what NAECOB is???? That is a group of educators out of Department of Education. . .not withstanding it is headed by a very competent person. . .Mrs. Rolle. . .that body is a M&E component of MOE for monitoring schools in the Bahamas. . .THERE IS NOT ACCREDITATION BOARD IN THE BAHAMAS!! The closest to us is the Accreditation Board for Southern Colleges and Universities for the southern region of the USA!!

WE NEEDED TO BE ACCREDITED BEFORE WE FORMED OUR UNIVERSITY. . .WE DID NOT. . .PLP STYLE. . .NOW WE HAVE THIS BIG DUMB PROBLEM. I already met a few students who are having problems with schools in the USA. . .another one was rejected by a British school for that same reason. . .TOTAL SNAFU. . .

ohdrap4 5 years, 8 months ago

I meant my comment as a criticism. But look them up and see that they have an accreditation process on the website.:

The National Accreditation and Equivalency Council (NAECOB) is a statutory body established under the National Accreditation and Equivalency Council ACT of The Bahamas on 4th October 2006; assented 29th December, 2006 and came into force 28th February, 2007. NAECOB is responsible for registering and accrediting primary schools, secondary schools, post-secondary schools, and any institution or provider that offers training in The Bahamas

I think it was made up to recognize cob degrees for civil servants and, as collateral, provide employment for some.

COB could not be accredited for lack of audited statements--reported in the news--, among other things.

So yes they are accrediting themselves.

truetruebahamian 5 years, 8 months ago

Please hold back Ladies and Gents - he was only led to do what his party enables and encourages their reps to do. Whoa and please cruise lightly because what you beleive you see will seriously bite you up the arse because it might require further investigation.

Sign in to comment

OpenID

The Tribune