The Tribune

THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused The Tribune of misleadingly reporting on the United States’ latest investment climate report on The Bahamas.

This newspaper reported that the report accused the country of stalling on enacting anti-corruption laws that would improve transparency and accountability in Bahamian governance.

The US cited the delay of campaign finance reforms and the creation of an Integrity Commission as issues that expose the country to corruption and undue foreign influence in policy decisions.

It highlighted the “complete disregard” some politicians and high-ranking public officials have toward complying with the Public Disclosure Act and noted that the Public Disclosure Commission has failed for the past 13 years to meet its legal obligation to publish reports on who complied and who did not.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not challenge or respond to these concerns.

The ministry said the report was mostly positive, adding: “The headline and article are misleading in that they extrapolate a few comments from the US report and give the impression of an overall negative picture. Such an assessment of the US report is false.”

The ministry said the publication of the Country Commercial Guide (CCG) report and the Investment Climate Statement does not negatively impact bilateral relations with the United States.

“We have always maintained close political and commercial ties with the United States and look forward to expanding those ties,” the ministry said.