The war of words of the perceived “political interference” of a tenant who owed over $3 million at the Lynden Pindling International Airport continued yesterday in the House of Assembly.
Reading a copy of former Nassau Airport Development (NAD) Chairman Anthony Mckinney’s resignation letter in the House of Assembly Monday morning was former Minister of Transport and Aviation Glenys Hanna-Martin, who sought to give a proper breakdown of the timeline of events.
“In a statement, Mr. Mckinney said he was asked by the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation whether members of the boards had tendered their resignations. Mr. McKinney said he gathered from that conversation that Cabinet was prepared to proceed with its appointments accordingly. He wrote Minister D’Aguilar to confirm his resignation.
“According to Mr. D’Aguilar, it was for condoning special favours to ‘undeserving people’ that the board was summarily dismissed. But according to Mr. Mckinney, dismissed they were not, as on may 16 or shortly after, he and most, if not all, of the board members submitted their resignations,” Mrs. Hanna- Martin said.
Her point of order was refuted by Carmichael Member of Parliament Desmond Bannister.
“There’s nothing that this member (Englerston MP) has said that showed that he did not dismissed the board. The board may have asked to stay on, but at some stage afterward he dismissed the board,” Mr. Bannister said.
In a fiery budget contribution last week, the minister revealed that NAD’s board had been summarily dismissed for acting improperly as the minister said.
This matter stems from an incident whereby a tenant, PATMOR holdings, operated five stores at the Lynden Pindling International Airport, hadn’t paid their rent for five years, amounting to millions of dollars in back pay in the run-up to the May 10 general election.
The tenant is said to have approached NAD’s board to write off $1.2 million of the debt and to allow PATMOR holdings to pay the remaining balance – if the tenant gave up one of the five stores.
Mr. D’Aguilar has vowed that the government will investigate the agreement’s legality with the view of having it cancelled.
