By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE government is seeking to secure legal counsel in its quest to recover the $650,000 lost as a result of the failed 2015 Caribbean Muzik Festival, according to Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar.

In an interview with The Tribune on Monday, Mr D’Aguilar insisted that the government “has not rested in its effort to get the people back their money”, calling the festival’s failure the latest in a long line of “PLP debacles”. He said since coming to office, he was informed that the former government began the process but halted efforts shortly before the May 10 general election “without reason or fact.”

“According to the information provided to me, the former administration made attempts to secure the necessary counsel to go after these people and recover the country’s money,” he said.

Mr D’Aguilar added: “However, that process was ceased without reason or fact right before the election and things (were) left unresolved.”

The Free Town MP said once he was made aware of the status of the ordeal, there was an immediate push to have the matter concluded.

“Here we are trying to recover yet another debacle orchestrated by the PLP government. Yes, another one of those PLP debacles that we have grown accustomed to seeing.

“This event, when you look closely at it, lacked all the normal oversight practices and was pushed despite all the warning signs that something was off; that something was not right.

“Again, here is another clear example of how the PLP paid no regard to how they were spending the country’s money.

“Not only did they lose money in this case, but they openly dragged their feet in the recovery effort. They’ve spent a lot of time defending their actions, ask them to defend this,” Mr D’Aguilar added.

The Caribbean Muzik Festival was a part of the Christie administration’s efforts to fill the Bahamian calendar with musical and sporting events that would promote culture, encourage commerce and put a spotlight on the country’s tourism products year-round.

The festival was produced and promoted by a company called Caribbean Republic Inc.

The Ministry of Tourism was the event’s biggest sponsor, having invested $650,000 in the festival.

The Caribbean Muzik Festival was scheduled for October 28 to 31, 2015.

The four-day festival was postponed after two nights of activity.

The debacle spurred a war of words between former Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe and former Attorney General Alfred Sears, both of whom ran as candidates for the PLP during the last election.

Mr Sears was a director of Caribbean Music Festival (2000) Limited, however he quit this post in December 2015.

At the height of the dilemma, Mr Wilchcombe told members of the press that Mr Sears was the “lead person” in the Caribbean Muzik Festival, saying it was the latter who convinced his colleagues to give the event an opportunity and he should be the one to explain why the festival did not succeed.

Mr Sears took issue with these statements and later criticised Mr Wilchcombe for “lecturing him on integrity” and also accused the former West End and Bimini MP of playing “gotcha” politics with his handling of the matter.