By Shenia Roberts
Journal Staff Writer

During the conclusion of the mid-year budget debate in parliament, member of
parliament for Freetown and National Security Minister Wayne Munroe
highlighted several major differences in governance under both the Progressive
Liberal Party (PLP) and The Free National Movement (FNM).
Munroe began by emphasizing that the PLP’s approach to issues has historically
been more transparent. This came in response to several claims of corruption and
conflicts of interest made by the opposition specifically about the recently
terminated deal with Bahamas Moorings Ltd.
However, Munroe compared the government’s handling of the moorings deal to
the opposition’s dealings with the controversial Oban deal. He suggested that the
Davis administration handled their issues more transparently saying that “at least
we can find the moorings document we still can’t find the Oban document. So,
when you want to look at who is transparent the moorings is a classic example of
it.”
Additionally, he went on to address the claims surrounding a conflict of interest
he noted that in order for there to be a conflict of interest the person in question
must be a decision maker. He went on to emphasize that “the person who they
claim has a conflict is not a decision maker.
Despite these declarations former Prime Minister and FNM MP for Killarney Dr
Hubert Minnis raised several questions to the Prime Minister with reference to
the alleged conflict of interest surrounding Bahamas Moorings Ltd.
Dr Minnis called on the Prime Minister to terminate the employee who allegedly
had direct involvement with the company and to release the names of the
beneficiaries of Bahamas Moorings Ltd. Minnis also questioned the Prime
minister’s hesitance to relieve the person in question saying that “if the answer is
no to the previous question why are you protecting this person who is bringing
the reputation of the highest office in the country into disrepute.”

The FNM member of parliament also called on the Davis Administration to
appoint an independent body to thoroughly investigate the incident and rule out

and suspicions of corruption or a conflict of interest. Although the Prime Minister
has not responded to these questions he recently described the FNM as
pessimists as he says “they have attached themselves to a narrative of failure.”
He emphasized that despite the negativity the government will continue its
efforts to improve the way of life for Bahamians.