The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement leader Michael Pintard said the government has continued to mislead the public through public relations to give the impression that all is well with them and civil servants.

His comments came as members of the Bahamas Public Service Union (BPSU) gathered on Parliament Street yesterday morning in frustration over negotiations for their industrial agreement.

Reacting to the union woes, the opposition leader told reporters: “Well, I mean again, the government has continued to mislead the public through public relations to give the impression that all is well with them and workers in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. We asked on our feet in the House of Assembly, we asked the minister with responsibility for social services, the Honourable Obediah Wilchcombe, we asked him what was the nature of the issues.

“We then suggested to him quietly – there are persons in the ministry who have represented that you are bringing in others who don’t have a history or the knowledge in depth knowledge of what is happening in social services, and what the needs are of the community that social services and yet, you want to promote them over persons who have institutional memory, long standing relationships are part of a broader network. He denied it.

“He says, no, this is a long standing problem, struggling multiple administrations, but what we have found out is that for the last 10 months they have made representation to him. He’s made a commitment to get back to them, has not done so in a timely fashion.”

 Mr Pintard made the accusation that officials are spending more time trying to determine who is loyal even though the election is over and, therefore, they have very little time to make sure that they take care of the needs of the workers of the Ministry for Social Services.

 “So Mr Wilchcombe I know he’s upset that he’s in the ministry he does not desire to be in but now that you’re there, you get a rare opportunity to serve the Bahamian people. So we support the union in putting pressure on the government to be transparent in what they say and how they behave,” Mr Pintard said.

 Mr Pintard also responded to Prime Minister Philip Davis telling grocers to follow the law on price controls. He said the Davis administration should take its own advice.

 “We believe that every Bahamian ought to follow the law. The Prime Minister unfortunately he’s in a weak position now to advocate following the law. This is the same Prime Minister who instructed a consultant in the ministry, in his ministry, to help fund with public funds, a trip to Bermuda that was political in nature,” he said.

 “There is no provision in our law that gives him a blight, a pass to do that.” He claimed that in his opinion “he has broken the law, those who acted on unlawful instructions, who are senior persons in government who should know better, they have broken the law.”

 “What does he recommend happened in that case, he’s duty bound to explain and share with the public all of these contracts that he and his administration has issued since they came to office in accordance with the Procurement Act. They have failed to do so.” He insisted that this was “in violation of the law.”