Prime Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis giving remarks at the Office of the Prime Minister where agreements were signed to facilitate the development of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Clifton Pier on March 20, 2025. Photo: Chappell Whyms Jr
By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS
Tribune Staff Reporter
lmunnings@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis has dismissed further discussion on the Bahamas Moorings controversy, declaring that the matter is closed and suggesting that no one will be held accountable for how the deal advanced without the necessary approvals.
“The matter has been stopped and it’s cancelled. That’s the end of that,” Mr Davis said when asked for an update yesterday.
A 21-year lease, signed by Mr Davis in his capacity as minister responsible for Crown Land, had granted Bahamas Moorings control over 49 mooring and anchorage sites across the Exuma Cays. The deal faced intense public backlash due to the lack of transparency and consultation. Critics argued that leasing seabed areas to a private company, which would then charge mandatory fees, effectively privatised a public resource without public input.
Concerns over potential conflicts of interest also emerged after it was revealed that Sandra Kemp, Deputy Director of Communications in the Office of the Prime Minister, acted as a witness to the lease agreement.
Her husband, Philip A Kemp II, is a principal of Bahamas Moorings Ltd, raising questions about whether the deal received preferential treatment.
The company had begun operations before obtaining the required environmental and port approvals, prompting Exuma’s administrator to order work to cease.
Former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has called for clarity on the government’s involvement in Bahamas Moorings Ltd. In the House of Assembly on Wednesday, he cited a February 23 press release from the Office of the Prime Minister, which described Bahamas Moorings as “a Bahamian-owned company in which the government holds equity”.
Dr Minnis questioned the government’s role in the company, demanding answers on how many shares it owns and whether it had appointed officers to safeguard the interests of Bahamians. He also challenged the government on why a company in which it held equity was allowed to begin preliminary activities under the lease agreement before receiving full approval.
Opposition Leader Michael Pintard also criticised the government’s handling of the matter, arguing that it cannot simply be “swept under the rug”. He said Bahamians deserve a full explanation of how the lease was granted and why it was only cancelled after public outrage.
The Bahamas National Trust (BNT) has urged stricter regulations to ensure better oversight of future mooring agreements. The organisation warned that if mooring fields are not properly managed, they could pose serious environmental and financial risks.
Mr Davis had announced a review of mooring regulations in response to the controversy. He said officials would assess whether existing mooring fields have the necessary approvals and ensure compliance with tax and fee obligations. He said public consultations have been opened for stakeholders to provide input on new policies.
However, no updates have been provided on the progress of this review.
Comments
DreamerX 2 days, 11 hours ago
Very bad messaging. PLP or not, whether this is the best result is inconsequential to what it does the image of claims of transparency and being corrupt free in form and appearance. Saddening level of public disregard.
Dawes 2 days, 10 hours ago
Expect nothing different from the Government, so not surprised.
Porcupine 2 days, 10 hours ago
Disgusting is, as disgusting does. As a trained criminal defense lawyer, he has honed to perfection making excuses for criminal behaviour, including his own. The very idea that the public is so uneducated and immoral to allow this to continue is a testament for what's to come. The PLP is the party of corruption.
bahamianson 2 days, 7 hours ago
Brave Davis is carrying on worse than Donal Trump. Is Brave Davis a dictator? He had a duty to answer any question the Bahamian people present to him or otherwise, leave the position of Prime Minister and wander off into his lucrative , private life.
birdiestrachan 2 days, 7 hours ago
The project has been canceled. Stop. What is it the doc wants to know lest we forget the dredging in the Exuma sea park
Porcupine 1 day, 4 hours ago
Yes. The murder has been committed, so just stop birdie. It's over. Great thinking.
pt_90 14 hours, 26 minutes ago
Birdie you always bring up toogie, bobo, vat going up, oban and all of the stuff that occured in the past. Should we not bring those up because thats canceled and in the past?
The only way you stop problems from happening again in the future is by knowing what occured in the past. If there was impropriety then it needs to be handled. Anyway, controls need to be in place to prevent whatever problem happening again. You only do it by dealing with it.
If the PM was in opposition, they would argue the same.
ExposedU2C 2 days, 7 hours ago
This most corrupt and arrogant wimp truly believes that he, as both PM and minister of finance, is above the law with no accountability or responsibility whatsoever to the Bahamian people.
Wimpy Davis, like Tyrant Minnis before him, seems to think that he, and he alone, gets to decide when matters of impropriety and illegality involving the Office of The PM are to be regarded as closed with no one being held accountable or responsible for their egregious misconduct and grave wrongdoings. This wimpy scoundrel clearly needs reminding that that is not how things work under our system of government. He and the others in the Office of The PM are not above the law!
ExposedU2C 2 days, 6 hours ago
Pintard has already let corrupt Davis sweep way too many controversial and very non-transparent deals under the rug, involving the crooked likes of Tony Ferguson, Snake, and their fellow greedy marauders who drool at the prospect of literally stealing everything they possibly can from the Bahamian people using so called Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs).
These PPPs are designed to take away from the Bahamian people, for pennies on the dollar of true value, profitable national assets that are mismanaged by personnel appointed by our corrupt and incompetent elected politicians, like Davis and Cooper. And these same corrupt and incompetent politicians just so happen to be financially-backed by the thieving corrupt marauders who use PPPs as their modus operandi of choice for fleecing the Bahamian people.
The theft of our nation's main electrical generation and power grid system by a group of greedy marauders led by Tony Ferguson and Snake is another shining example of corrupt Davis participating in the fleecing of the Bahamian people by way of a PPP.
bogart 2 days, 6 hours ago
Looking forward at the handling and use of the Liquid Propane, there must be essential safety measures like highly trained and qualified personnel to be handling this extremely explosive LPG gas.
Currently the LPG container trucks on Nassau streets seem to have no training or certification in driving these Propane Gas trucks and some seem to have only the experience of driving the Jitney buses and racing on the streets to sell and refill propane tanks in the quickest time to the most customers for the most sales.
Oftentimes one can see the greed for a few dollars to refill can see the lack of commonsense by parking the truck at intersections and dangerous spots placing entire neighbourhoods in danger and accidents happening in fractions of seconds at the flash point for explosion.
Some of these Propane Truck employees young and old seem not to be fully trained and educated in the handling of the propane and the equipment in dispensing the propane product.
Dealing with the handling with LPG needs to have fully certified employees and the danger of propane explosions can be dangerous not only to the employee but to entire neighbourhoods.
ExposedU2C 2 days, 6 hours ago
Is this the same LNG terminal facility that the Bahamian people resoundingly rejected years ago (as did Florida) because of grave safety and environmental concerns?
Are residents of Albany and Lyford Cay, and nearby commercial businesses, going to find that their annual insurance premiums soar because of the close proximity of this LNG terminal facility? If something goes horribly wrong, or the facility is subject to some sort of terrorist type attack, the devastating blast area from the explosion would likely be huge.
Is Shell North America behind this LNG facility with the help of their greedy and forever evil Snake in the background?
TalRussell 2 days, 5 hours ago
Easier If We Just Crop It! --- It would appear that someone up in the office of premiership (oop), decided to just crop out (17) faces from the Govt: LNG terminal ‘to save $50m a year’ in fuel costs photo, so that the PM: No more talk on Moorings issue photo, became the vanished 17 photo. . https://www.tribune242.com/news/2025/ma… https://www.tribune242.com/news/2025/ma…
--- Could it have returned; -- the OBAN vanishing act? -- With this govt, there's just the need to make stuff disappear. -- Yes?
rosiepi 2 days, 3 hours ago
Well one would think there’d be strict safety regulations as to the training of LNG personnel, equipment and maintenance, but since this is the Bahamas where such things are forgotten/ignored once the fanfare’s over…
Let’s just pray the next time some pair of fools decides to play chicken on Mackey St, one of them thinks FLAMMABLE before they land in those of the everlasting variety!!
TalRussell 2 days, 3 hours ago
@ComradeRosiepi, The MV Potcake sailed off with liquefied natural gas (LNG) 21 years ago when few were as serious as the "Potcake" about lowering the cost of electricity for struggling Bahamian families. -- Yes?
bogart 2 days, 2 hours ago
Tribune article. 30 Dec.2024. 3 months ago Baillou Rd south 9 people injured LPG blast taken to hospital and house damaged.
www.tribune242.com › news › 2024Gas explosion injures nine | The Tribune
bogart 2 days, 2 hours ago
I believe it was 8 injured persons sent to the hospital including children and in the photo is a propane gas truck and demolished debris from the explosion.
Porcupine 1 day, 15 hours ago
We will stop talking about the Mooring scheme when we get some answers. Nobody gets to tell us when and what to talk about. Real men don't do what our PM is doing. Corruption is real here and it appears there is Nothing we can do about it? So, we let our PM tell us what we can, and can''t talk about. Election time can't come soon enough.
TalRussell 1 day, 10 hours ago
TALKIN' is about to shift to BISX during dark economic clouds does loom over Trump and the Republicans' governance. -- Is goin' be an all out global shift to hold Liquid Cash. -- So must watch BSD to USD. -- Yes?
Porcupine 15 hours, 27 minutes ago
I believe you are right.
ExposedU2C 12 hours, 21 minutes ago
The Business Editor, Neil Hartnell, wrote the following which appeared in the November 26, 2024 edition of The Tribune:
As a integral part of this LNG terminal facility, our corrupt PM and his doofus AG have no doubt cut a most corrupt deal with Shell Oil's hugely profitable oil trading operation in The Bahamas (known as Shell Western Suppy & Trading or SWST) and various entities controlled by the evil and insatiably greedy Snake whereby the annual 15% Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT) our nation was expecting to receive from SWST will now be significantly reduced. This tax for 2023 would have amounted to $240 million based on SWST's profits for that year.
Yes indeed, corrupt deals are being cut here that will result in our nation's coffers being robbed of mega millions of dollars in annual taxes. Pockets are being lined here at great cost to the Bahamian people. Are the EU and OECD global tax regulators fully aware of what is going on here? Neil Hartnell should be asking the hard questions to the right people and avoid having way too many free lunches and dinners with the evil and insatiably greedy Snake.
Sign in to comment
OpenID