By SANCHESKA DORSETT

Tribune Staff Reporter

sdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AGRICULTURE and Fisheries V Alfred Gray sought to defend himself from criticism yesterday, after a letter he wrote to the Bahamian ambassador to China expressing interest in a $2.1 billion Chinese proposal for Andros was published.

Mr Gray reiterated yesterday that there is currently “no proposal before the government” to enter into a partnership with the Chinese for development of agriculture and fisheries in Andros.

In the House of Assembly last night, Mr Gray said there is no way, under any circumstance, that the government would give foreigners, no matter who they are, a license to fish in the Bahamas.

Mr Gray was responding to a report in The Nassau Guardian on Tuesday, which stated that the government had given the “green light” to its embassy in Beijing to further pursue such a partnership.

Although he admitted on Tuesday that he did give the ambassador permission to have the discussions, he later released a statement calling the contents of the article “utterly false.”

On Wednesday, the daily published a letter from Mr Gray dated October 3, to the ambassador about the issue.

The proposal reportedly projects a $2.1 billion injection into the local economy over ten years through an equal partnership between Bahamians and the People’s Republic of China. According to the report, the proposed partnership will entail the incorporation of 100 companies, with the agricultural products and seafood to be used for local consumption, and exported to China and the United States for sale. The proposal also reportedly includes the option to lease 10,000 acres of Crown land in Andros.

Mr Gray said he “never spoke with any Chinese” and simply gave the newly appointed Bahamian Ambassador to China Paul “Andy” Gomez permission to discuss “investments.”

“The truth is this, I said in a statement that there was no proposal before the government of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas or this minister for any Chinese to enter into fishing in the Bahamas and that is true,” Mr Gray said.

“There could be no way that this minister of this government would give foreigners, whether Chinese, American or Dominican, no foreigner will every get a license to fish in the Bahamas full stop and that is part of what my letter said. “That is why they don’t want to print the whole letter,” he said, even though the full letter appeared to have been published. In the letter, Mr Gray noted that his ministry has reviewed the final draft of a proposed China-Bahamas agriculture and fisheries initiative and felt it “could be a very impactful project that economically benefits” Bahamians for decades.

He said in Parliament yesterday: “If you print the letter you will see the letter said that is a non-starter, do not even bring it up. Non-negotiable is the term I used. Do not bring it up because it cannot happen and, Mr Speaker, the letter I wrote was to the Bahamian ambassador to China, I never spoke to any Chinese. The Bahamas ambassador brought me some things that he was thinking, as (they) were his initiatives and he wanted my permission. He presented me a few initiatives that he was considering and he was approached by investors and he wanted my permission to discuss those initiatives and we gave him the permission to discuss it.”

He added: “Now, if you consider giving the ambassador permission to discuss investments a proposal, because Mr Speaker, that is the extent of the letter and I challenge the press to print the whole letter, not a little but, the whole letter, so the Bahamian people will be able to determine for themselves whether it is a proposal from Chinese or whether it was something coming from the Bahamian ambassador to this minster. That is the essence of it; I have nothing else to say about it.”

Despite the denials from the government, the report prompted FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis on Tuesday to criticise Prime Minister Perry Christie for his “deafening” silence on the matter.

It is not the first time he has raised concern on this issue. In July, while speaking at a rally at Christie Park, Dr Minnis said the government was negotiating with the Chinese for 10,500 acres of land in Andros.

Dr Minnis also insisted that the proposal was part of the “secret deal” Mr Christie negotiated with the Chinese to remobilise the Baha Mar resort.