By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA) leader believes the Government so vehemently opposed Baha Mar’s Chapter 11 filing because it feared contracts held by public officials, and their families and associates, might be exposed in the US courts.

Branville McCartney told Tribune Business that by helping to secure the dismissal of Sarkis Izmirlian’s bankruptcy protection bid, then instigating winding-up proceedings against the former developer in the Supreme Court, the Christie administration had “covered up” any incriminating evidence.

“Had the Chapter 11 gone through in Delaware, then all of these contracts would perhaps have come to light with these government officials,” Mr McCartney said.

“This is why the Government filed winding-up proceedings to protect themselves from becoming exposed in the Delaware court. They would have come to light.”

The DNA leader even suggested that, had the Chapter 11 process proceeded, ministers and government officials may have been called before the US federal bankruptcy court “to explain how they got contracts with this company”.

“They did everything to cover up the contracts they controlled and had at Baha Mar,” Mr McCartney blasted. “This is what happened. It’s all coming to light three weeks before an election.”

Mr McCartney was speaking after it was revealed last week that Jerome Fitzgerald, minister of education, science and technology, personally lobbied Mr Izmirlian in a bid to secure lucrative Baha Mar contracts for his family’s customs brokerage and limousine firms.

E-mails disclosed by The Tribune revealed that Mr Fitzgerald, while also asking Mr Izmirlian to use his influence with China Construction America (CCA), Baha Mar’s main contractor, was effectively exploiting his ministerial position for private advantage, and to derive financial gain for his family.

Mr McCartney told Tribune Business that Mr Fitzgerald’s actions “go completely contrary” to ministerial ethics, as set out in the Manual of Cabinet and Ministry Procedure.

Its Article 40 (b) states that ministers must not “solicit” any benefit or advantage for themselves, their family or business interests from persons who have a “contractual or special relationship” with the Government.

“When you become a Minister of the Government, you are given a manual, and that [Mr Fitzgerald’s actions] is in complete contradiction of the manual,” the DNA leader added.

“Ministers are not supposed to solicit business, and use their power to solicit business for themselves and their families. It would be best for Jerome to be quiet.”

That, in effect, is what Mr Fitzgerald has done. While confirming the authenticity of the e-mails, he has refused to comment on the matter beyond saying no contracts were awarded to his family’s companies by Baha Mar.

The Government, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and Mr Fitzgerald’s fellow ministers have adopted a similar stance, using the argument that ‘no contracts were awarded’ to downplay and deflect attention from the issue, shrugging it off and hoping it will ‘get lost’ amid the fanfare surrounding Baha Mar’s first phase opening.

Mr McCartney said the controversy surrounding Mr Fitzgerald had “most absolutely” strengthened the DNA’s campaign pledge for a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the Baha Mar debacle.

He also questioned whether Prime Minister Perry Christie had been aware of Mr Fitzgerald’s contract lobbying, noting that the latter had been one of the Government’s principal negotiators in the deal with the China Export-Import Bank and CCA to complete the $4.2 billion development.

Mr McCartney, though, said ‘conflicts of interest’ were not exclusively confined to the PLP, pointing to similar accusations made against FNM ministers and officials over the years.

“You have it on both sides,” he argued of the two major parties. “The pot cannot call the kettle black.

“Yes, it is bad what was done [by Mr Fitzgerald]. There’s conflict there and there should be consequences for it. But if Minnis is calling for Jerome to resign, what about his position when he was Minister of Health and rented his building to the Public Hospitals Authority? What is the difference.”

Dr Minnis previously addressed this in 2015, acknowledging that Leechez Investments, a company in which he is a shareholder, leased the Stat Care building to the PHA.

The FNM leader added that his interest in Leechez Investments was disclosed when he became a Cabinet Minister in 2007

Mr McCartney, meanwhile, said that while all Bahamians wanted Baha Mar to succeed, the next government could not afford to give the Christie administration a ‘free pass’ on how it had handled the dispute between Mr Izmirlian and his Chinese partners.

With details of the agreement between the Government and China Export-Import Bank still sealed despite the Government’s promises that they would be disclosed, the DNA leader said it was hard to trust the Christie administration in such circumstances.

“What is the deal with Baha Mar, especially since they have it sealed?” Mr McCartney asked. “It casts more suspicion as to what is going on with this Government and the Chinese. This government cannot be trusted.

“There’s no doubt we want Baha Mar to be successful, get Bahamians back to work, but the new administration has to see where we are. It’s almost like shooting in the dark without knowing what the deal is.

“The new administration must go on the premise that we need to make Baha Mar work, but we also need to see what’s there.”

Mr McCartney added: “If there’s been wrongdoing by persons in this government, they’re going to have to be prosecuted.

“We’ve got to make sure we go about it the right way. That’s going to take reviewing all the documents, and ensuring what’s there at Baha Mar is ultimately for the benefit of all parties concerned, including the Bahamas, which is the priority.

“We want to see Baha Mar open, see it successful, but if there’s any wrongdoing heads will have to roll, there will be consequence, and the chips will fall where they may.”