The Tribune

THE tone of dialogue between the government and the company hunting for treasure from ships on the Bahamian seabed has taken a turn for the worse – and then some.

First, Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe effectively told the company, Allen Exploration, that if they didn’t like the new terms the government was bringing in then they could take a hike.

Allen Exploration had said that if the government was to change the existing 75/25 split to one where The Bahamas received the majority share, the company would leave the country as it would not be feasible to explore under those terms.

Mr Munroe said: “The treasure won’t go anywhere and when it becomes economic to be gotten, then somebody will go and get it.

“But this concept that you can dictate to a sovereign nation is just something that ought not to be countenanced. If you say, for instance, that a service station is unprofitable then you really shouldn’t be in the service station business.”

That latter part might not have been so wise given that gas station operators have been petitioning government themselves of late for an increase in their operating margins or they may have to shut down.

But aside from that, Allen Exploration has been operating under the terms introduced by the government. It’s the government wanting to change the deal, not Allen Exploration. They’re just saying that if the government makes it unprofitable, then they’re out of here.

Although they’re not mincing words about it. A spokesperson for the company said that it seemed like the minister was “perpetually misinformed”. He went on to describe the comments as “impertinent remarks made by an isolated minister”.

Interestingly, the spokesman, David Concannon, also said: “We have, in fact, had conversations with the government since the minister’s last press briefing. I am not at liberty to discuss the particulars, but I can say they are not consistent with what the Minister of National Security said today.”

He added that Mr Munroe was the first government official to suggest Allen Exploration should leave the country and asked “in doing so, was he representing The Bahamas or simply himself?”

It is not beyond the realms of possibility that Mr Munroe might be speaking out of turn – he’s done it already since moving into government office.

Previously, he got into a tangle over the Prison Commissioner being placed on leave, with concerns raised that Mr Munroe had represented two deputy commissioners in a lawsuit seeking to quash that commissioner’s appointment. Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis was drawn into the matter when he said that he did not know Mr Munroe had represented the deputy commissioners, and the probe was to be placed in independent hands.

Then, in April, Mr Munroe managed to suggest that sex with a 14-year-old girl by a 40-year-old man was not rape, in a matter prompted by a court case, and that the sentence involved of four years was too harsh.

Again, the Prime Minister had to step in, saying on Twitter: “Let’s be clear, grown men should stay away from children. The law is designed to protect children, who cannot meaningfully offer consent, and it should be enforced to the fullest extent.”

He later said Mr Munroe had no need to resign, but noted that Mr Munroe’s “personal views may be best kept to himself”.

So is this a personal view or is this a government policy? If it is not the government view that a long-term investor in The Bahamas such as Carl Allen, who as the spokesperson noted, “has invested too much of himself and his fortune in The Bahamas to simply leave,” will the Prime Minister have to intervene again?

If so, that’s the third strike for Mr Munroe. He ought to be glad that politics is not baseball.

Plea bargains

Outgoing Police Commissioner Paul Rolle is advocating plea bargains as a way to unclog the court system – and also stop the number of murders of suspects out on bail.

There may be something to that in terms of speeding up the time it takes for cases to get to court, but when it comes to suspects being murdered, that’s just reducing the window of opportunity for revenge – not stopping the act itself. Instead, we may well get people getting a shortened sentence, then coming out of jail and getting murdered then instead.

He’s right that something must be done, of course – he highlights himself the 2012 Fox Hill shooting in which he says that the case still hasn’t come up and some of the witnesses have since died. That’s no path to justice for anyone.

Interestingly, one of the cases he highlights is the same rape case that Wayne Munroe commented on that landed him in political hot water.

The length of that sentence – four years – is perhaps indicative of the flaws that go with plea bargaining sometimes. It should be used to get justice, by all means, but it should not be used to let someone get away with too light a sentence, leaving victims or their friends or family feeling aggrieved and that their interests have not been served. It should be a balance, not simply a tool to cut through the failings elsewhere in the court system.