The Tribune

By LETRE SWEETING

FORMER prime minister Hubert Ingraham called into question a decision made by the former Minnis administration to appoint a member of Parliament as chairman of a utility company.

The decision by the FNM to appoint Long Island MP Adrian Gibson to the post of executive chairman of the Water and Sewerage Corporation left the party with “all kind of egg over our face,” Mr Ingraham said.

On Friday, Mr Ingraham addressed the FNM for the first time in 10 years at the party’s headquarters as part of celebrations in commemoration of the FNM’s first election victory 30 years ago.

He delivered bold statements about some decisions made by the former administration to over 100 people present, including many of the 1992 FNM party officers.

Asked by former ZNS reporter Anthony Newbold what the FNM should do now under the guidance of leader Michael Pintard to get it “clicking” like it was in 1992, Mr Ingraham, as the longest serving FNM party leader, said: “We determined for good reason that we would not make MPs chairman of the utility companies. Yet still we went and made Adrian Gibson executive chairman of Water and Sewerage Corporation and now we got all kind of egg over our face.”

Mr Ingraham said, with the abundance of first time members of Parliament elected in 2017, he had hoped himself or another experienced parliamentarian would have been invited to speak with the party in advance of appointments.

“My one regret was that when the FNM won in 2017, that I did not have an opportunity to speak to all of those new ministers who had been appointed for the first time, who had never been in government before, cause I was not invited to speak. I think I could’ve helped them,” Mr Ingraham said.

“I hope that the party will focus on what’s best for The Bahamas as opposed to what’s best for individuals,” he also said.

In June, Mr Gibson along with several others were charged for offences related to his tenure at WSC.

He is alleged to have illicitly gained more than $1m from contracts granted to Elite Maintenance and Baha Bay. It is alleged that he gained a financial advantage of a collective $1,279,532.97 after he allegedly received a variety of payments in cheques and wire transfers.

This money was then allegedly laundered through the purchase of properties and vehicles, including those used in Gibson’s Rental Company in Long Island.

Over the weekend, the FNM celebrated the 30th anniversary of its first election victory on August 19, 1992.

The celebration events included a midday power panel, which consisted of FNM standard bearers former House of Assembly speaker Alvin Smith, Dame Janet Bostwick - the first woman to serve as deputy prime minister, former attorney general Carl Bethel and former House of Assembly speaker Rome Italia Johnson.

Later that day, Mr Ingraham reflected on his time in office under the theme “Government In the Sunshine”.

On Saturday, the FNM’s fundraising committee hosted a Grill and Chill Fun Day event and on Sunday, the party held a church service at Evangelistic Temple on Collins Avenue to conclude the anniversary celebrations.