The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party Chairman Fred Mitchell criticised the Minnis administration for unfinished projects throughout the country.

The senator expressed his displeasure while sharing his concerns on Friday about the William Thompson Softball Field. He said the renovations to the field should have been finished by April 30.

Other unfinished projects he listed included government buildings in Eight Mile Rock and Bimini; the public school in Holmes Rock and upgrades to the hospital in Grand Bahama.

“I am here at the…. William Thompson Softball Field to demonstrate a simple point,” he said on Friday. “That point is that during this financial debate notwithstanding all the grandstanding and chatter in the House (of Assembly) by the prime minister, the minister of sports and the minister of works, the government appears to be unable to pay its bills. The result is a legacy of unfinished projects and the government cannot state publicly why the projects aren’t finished. The glaring fact is that they are unable to pay the contractors.”

He continued, “The ball field should have been in use by the softball teams. Instead, you can see that the grass is as high as Georgia pine and the work has come to a complete stop. As usual, the FNM government half-finished the project and then proclaimed a few months ago in a grand opening ceremony that they had done great favours for the people Over-the-Hill. “The evidence is that their claims are rubbish.

“The idea was when the whole park was refurbished, remember they had a big grand opening saying they had finished that part of the (park) and were moving on to this part of the park and the project has come to a full stop and that’s what you see here with the trees, the grass, everything grown up…and if you go down to the baseball stadium its the same thing the work has come to a complete halt.

“. . .If the budget is so great and if they’re doing so well with management of public funds why have these projects come to a stop?”

He added this also shows that the Minnis administration’s commitment to sports and the creative industries is hollow.

“They started off by cancelling the IAAF World Relays,” Mr Mitchell said. “They refused to support the travel of Bahamians abroad to sports events. In one case the Progressive Liberal Party had to supply financial support because the government did not pay for the rings for the children who won the basketball championship in 2018.”

He alleged that contractors are still owed money on a few jobs.

“The national baseball stadium in Nassau remains unfinished after more than five years and the general contractor is reportedly still owed some $2.5 million. The engineers and architects have not been paid in over two years,” he claimed.

“I also add that the various small contractors—they are many of them who owed money. Amongst them in Fox Hill for weeding the sides of the road and others who are owed rent throughout the country which cannot be paid,” the former Fox Hill MP said.