By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

INSISTING that the conflict of interest claims against Free National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis were a distraction from government controversy, Fort Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins yesterday said he was lured into a political trap when he first accused Dr Minnis of benefitting from a government contract while he was a Cabinet minister.

Dr Rollins said he regrets making the claim against Dr Minnis during a row in the House of Assembly two years ago, and in hindsight would not have rushed to make the assertion that would later prove to be an embarrassment to himself.

However, he urged the Killarney MP to directly address the renewed claims or face the deterioration of his party’s campaign against the alleged conflict of interest concerning Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson and Baha Mar.

“That was a very valuable lesson that I learned,” he said as a guest on 96.9 FM radio show Let’s Talk Live. “I was played. I was called very hurriedly into a meeting and told that they had some very juicy information on Dr Minnis and they would like me to bring it to the public’s attention in the House of Assembly.

“I allowed myself to be drawn into a trap and so if I had to do it all over again I would have understood that in this business of politics, you have to at times look at things from a 360 (degree) perspective and not be naive in thinking that people have your best interest at heart.”

In 2013, Dr Rollins accused Dr Minnis of benefitting from a lease agreement – valued at $15,000 a month – with the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) while he was minister of health under the former Ingraham administration.

Dr Rollins, who was a member of the governing PLP at the time, went on to say that the Killarney MP knew it was wrong, and that Dr Minnis was advised by then-Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham to either end the contract or resign as health minister. He alleged at the time that Dr Minnis “sought to cover it up”.

Yesterday, Dr Rollins – who resigned from the PLP in June amid disagreements with the governing party’s performance since the 2012 election – explained that he was given stamped legal documents that led him to believe the claims were legitimate.

At that time, Dr Minnis explained that he had shares in a company called Leechez Investments Company Ltd, which was awarded a rental contract with the PHA in 2005 before he entered politics. Dr Minnis maintained that he made the requisite declaration when he was elected to government in 2007.

Yesterday, Dr Rollins said: “If I had to do it all over again, I would have realised that the same legal office that obtained the information, that is associated with a leading politician, if it were really legitimate and something they could bring to the public’s attention and gain the political traction from it that they suggested could be gained from it, then the question I should have asked is: Why didn’t they wish to be the ones responsible for bringing it to the attention of the public through the House of Assembly?”

“It was a mistake that I made,” he added. “I regretted it because at the end of that, if you would go back to that time it was something that ended up being a somewhat of an embarrassment to me in terms of adding to this perception that I was too immature in my behaviour as a member of the House of Assembly.”

The accusations against Dr Minnis resurfaced last week amid his calls for Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson to resign due to her alleged conflict of interest with Baha Mar. Mrs Maynard-Gibson revealed two weeks ago that her two daughters had leases to operate stores in Baha Mar. Last Monday she admitted that her husband Maxwell Gibson owns the retail jewellery store chain that has been granted those storefront leases. She has twice led a government delegation to China to mediate talks with Baha Mar and its Chinese stakeholders to get the stalled resort back on track.

PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts fired back, questioning whether Dr Minnis benefited financially from the PHA entering into a lease agreement involving the use of the Stat Care building – in which Dr Minnis had invested.

Dr Minnis has maintained that there was no conflict of interest during his tenure as health minister, adding that Mr Roberts’ claims were an attempt to deflect from the present issue and malign his character.

However, reports in The Nassau Guardian this week indicated that the PHA continued to make monthly rental payments to Leechez Investments in 2007 and 2011 - while Dr Minnis was a Cabinet minister.

That newspaper also revealed that Dr Minnis was named as the president of Leechez in the two-year lease signed with the PHA in 2005.

Yesterday, Dr Rollins agreed that it was critical for Dr Minnis to answer this latest round of accusations despite his belief that it was an attempt to divert attention from the present administration’s “obvious” conflict of interest.

“It’s what you would expect the government to do,” he said, “all they’re trying to communicate to the public is that Peter is no better than Paul. So it’s incumbent on Dr Minnis to speak directly to this matter to clear the air, because if it’s a situation worthy of critique it’s going to depend on his response to it.”

Dr Rollins said: “If he [Dr Minnis] has an acceptable response that would nullify any charge of conflict of interest then I think it puts him as the leader taking the FNM into the next election on stronger footing.”