The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement leader Michael Pintard said government must become more focused on good governance in 2023.

“The government of The Bahamas, led by Prime Minister Davis, must become more focused on good governance, and less controlled and motivated by politics in 2023,” Mr Pintard told The Tribune.

He pointed out several matters that the government needs to address.

“The government must follow the law. They have broken the law in the manner in which they have issued contracts. They have operated in secrecy in how they manage the people’s money, not just in the issuance of contracts, but in engaging in private, financial settlements with persons who sued the government and spending public funds on private political matters such as the Bermuda trip,” he told this newspaper.

Back in October, Mr Pintard accused the government of violating the Public Finance Management Act when it is claimed it used public money to pay for Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis’ controversial trip to Bermuda.

The Progressive Liberal Party released a copy of a cheque for $24,750, reflecting money the ruling party reimbursed to the Public Treasury to cover the cost of a chartered Western Air flight to Bermuda. However, officials have said this did not cover the trip’s full expenses.

Yesterday, Mr Pintard stressed that the government should spend more time addressing national issues rather than spending its time on “excessive travel and PR driven events.”

He also pointed out that the government still has many questions to answer in regard to the FTX saga.

“The government must move with a sense of urgency to answer the emerging questions surrounding FTX and the potential reputational damage that can be caused,” he said.

The collapse of the crypto giant has grabbed local and international headlines, with some scrutiny and criticism being levelled at The Bahamas government and its digital regulatory framework.

However, Prime Minister Phillip Davis has insisted that the collapse of FTX has nothing to do with The Bahamas, saying “you don’t blame the jurisdiction, you blame the bad actors”.

“It’s like saying that The Bahamas lacks (a) regulatory (regime). It is not the lacking of regulatory regime. It is actually bad actors and bad actors all countries have. What about Enron in the United States? What about those major collapses? And looking at what’s happening in the tech industry. You start seeing some of these same tech giants falling as well,” Mr Davis had said earlier.

“So, it has nothing to do with our reputation or what we do. When you have bad actors, you have a regime to be able to identify them and get them out and we have that regime in place and so you don’t blame the jurisdiction, you blame the bad actors and we are ferreting out the bad actors,” Mr Davis said earlier this month.

Mr Pintard added that the government must become focused on making the necessary changes needed, adding that a plan has to be set in place.

He continued: “The government must unveil a plan of action to fuel economic growth and development. There must be a prosperity agenda pursued. This must be seen in legislation, policies, programmes, and projects.”