By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement (FNM) Leader Dr Hubert Minnis on Friday questioned whether Prime Minister Perry Christie supported embattled Cabinet minister V Alfred Gray’s “ill advised and ill conceived” sanctioning of a $2.1bn proposal involving agriculture and fisheries for Andros.

Dr Minnis further questioned whether Mr Christie was “clueless” about the activities of Mr Gray and if he is “complicit” in the “giveaway” of 20,00 acres of Crown land to the Chinese.

He again called on the Prime Minister to terminate Mr Gray over not only this matter, but for “misleading” the Bahamian people in the Mayaguana Magistrate matter.

“Another week has passed and the people still don’t have an answer from their Prime Minister," Dr Minnis said in a statement. "Does the embattled Prime Minister support minister Gray’s ill-advised, ill-conceived secret proposal to give away 20,000 acres of Crown land and our fishing rights to the Chinese?

“His continuing silence only serves to even further erode his fading credibility. But doing the people’s business in secret is a hallmark of the Christie-led government as he has refused to address repeated questions about the details of his own secret proposal with his Chinese allies in the Baha Mar deal.

"We are all also in the dark as to whether he even knew of his own minister’s activities before reading it in the papers.  So which is it Mr Prime Minister?  Are you clueless about the scandalous activities of your minister or are you complicit in the ill-advised proposed give away to the Chinese?”

He continued: “It was also a week ago that Prime Minister Christie let us know it was his hands that decide what happens with Crown land, yet it is his mouth that remains shut on whether he supports the proposal in Andros or not. The Bahamian people deserve an answer from their elected leader, not stony silence on this critical question. 

"Minister Gray made it clear that he continues to support the secret deal and refuses to rescind his letter to the Ambassador to the People's Republic of China. So is this the position of the PLP government or is it a rogue minister who needs to resign?”

Dr Minnis said the Bahamian people know that the FNM stands united with them, and will not only reverse these horrible Progressive Liberal Party policies, but will institute a true reform agenda that will legislate a Freedom of Information Act and bring transparency and accountability to government.

He said a Minnis-led government will be a people’s government, answerable to the people and not the chosen few like the PLP’s Chinese allies.

The Bahamian people deserve leadership that will put their interests first, last and always, Dr Minnis said.