By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

KEITH Bell, State Minister for National Security, said that while the long anticipated legislation to support the National Intelligence Agency is complete, it must now make its way through Cabinet before it is brought to Parliament.

His comments came more than a year after National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage made similar statements to reporters, bringing the Christie administration’s credibility on the matter into question.

Yesterday, following a Cabinet meeting, Senator Bell and Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis also declined to talk about the government’s plans to deal with violent crime in the country, weeks after Prime Minister Perry Christie promised to introduce new, tougher measures to deal with the issue.

The NIA is intended to be an intelligence gathering hub where law enforcement agencies would combine their efforts to pinpoint and address threats to the national security of the country. It was launched by the PLP shortly after the 2012 general election.

Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner has in the past accused the government of “running a spy agency with no clear legal footing and no accountability.”

The government has since denied that the NIA is spying on civilians.

In May 2014, FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis called on the government to shut down the NIA.

“They are working outside the law,” Dr Minnis said at the time. “They should not have started outside of the law. They should now be closed. It should be shut down until the laws and framework are in place to govern it.”

In December 2014, Dr Nottage told the media that the government had to postpone tabling the NIA legislation because the Office of the Attorney General had requested to review it.

He said at the time that he intended to have the legislation tabled before Parliament broke for the holidays in 2014. That, however, never happened.

Mr Bell had previously told The Tribune that the law would be ready by year’s end in 2014.

“Because of the draconian nature of a National Intelligence Agency we want to ensure we do it right,” Mr Bell said at the time. “We could’ve put something together a long time ago, you know, just copy and paste, but we’re not doing that. The minister (of national security) himself has taken personal responsibility of that and he himself is spearheading those meetings to ensure that the act is fair and transparent and what we envision for the country comes to fruition.”