Glenys demands: Were we misled?

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

BRANDING Oban Energies’ executives a “cornucopia of crooks,” Englerston MP Glenys Hanna Martin questioned whether the Minnis administration “misled” Parliament when a Heads of Agreement was tabled for the $5.5bn project proposed for Grand Bahama.

Insisting yesterday the document tabled at Parliament earlier this month is not the same document signed at the Office of the Prime Minister on February 19, the MP demanded to know if there were any Bahamians associated with Oban, adding this question among others needed to be answered to understand how such a “strange and peculiar” deal is continuing despite push back.

She also questioned whether Oban had the money to fund this project.

The MP further sought to draw a connection between the removal of the BEST Commission from the portfolio of Environment Minister Romauld Ferreira to the purview of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and connect it to the proposed oil refinery and storage for Grand Bahama.

She said the clauses in the Heads of Agreement do not in her opinion honour Bahamian provisions for the protection of the environment and the failure to do so should be laid at the feet of the prime minister.

This along with public uncertainty on the scope of the project, issues relating to Crown land and the proposed use of the seabed has compounded this matter, Mrs Hanna Martin said.

Her remarks came as Mr Ferreira was yesterday reportedly unable to give answers when he was pressed by reporters on the impact the project was expected to have on the environment.

“Where y’all find these people Mr Speaker?” the MP asked yesterday during her contribution to the mid-year budget debate.

“We have learned that the foreign investors touted to invest in our Bahama land are of dubious character. Y’all bring investors of dubious character here.

“To think of the investor as someone whose role has been shifting before our eyes and has more lately, when I wrote this last night, he was more lately described as an ambassador, but today he is being called a non-executive chairman so we got a ping pong of whoever this man is.

“We know he has a conviction of fraud. He has been barred by the SEC from engaging in a multiplicity of activities, but we bring him here to invest in our country.

“The ambassador was seen on our national TV seated next to our prime minister purporting to execute a $5bn Heads of Agreement. If this wasn’t real we’d be laughing our heads off right now. While singing someone else’ s name not his own. This lil man who can’t do anything in America was in their presence…yet he was signing the name of the president of the company Mr Dhunna who was in the papers with some contorted explanation.

“He’s telling us after the fact now that he authorised Mr Krieger to sign and that he signed too because he couldn’t be here. But if you signed too why was the agreement in here dated the 19th of February, but you say he couldn’t be here that day but your agreement is dated that day and it ain’t witnessed by nobody and the man you send here who can’t do certain things in America signed your name, Mr Speaker?”

She continued to question whether the House was misled.

“The document laid in this House said to be the Heads of Agreement is not the same document we witnessed being executed in the formal ceremony where our prime minister was and the Cabinet and touted the Heads of Agreement.

“The document laid in this House was apparently signed by someone else. I can’t read the signature, but it is alleged to be Mr Dhunna, but who knows. Who knows who signed? I don’t know who signed Mr Speaker, but if the government said Mr Dhunna signed I got to accept that, Mr Speaker. But that within it self creates questions because I am asking Mr Speaker has this House been misled?”

The Englerston MP said the Heads of Agreement did nothing to protect the environment and placed the country in an inferior position.

“We note the BEST Commission was removed, no announcement to the Bahamian people, and placed in the Office of the Prime Minister therefore it is at his feet the member for Killarney, the prime minister, that we lay squarely the grotesque and unprecedented departure of standard provisions over the decade for the protection of our environment.

“It is stunning to see that under this deal the developer may abandon the project if it does not wish to take steps that are commercially reasonable. So even if it’s commercially reasonable they don’t have to do it.

“Under this agreement the penalties for damage to the environment caused by failure to remediate infractions are capped at $3.5m. Remarkably the agreement gives the developer immunity and/or exemption from any future laws or regulations any future approvals or legal requirements, which is applied including any changes in the condition applicable to the issuance of any approval. So what does this do Mr Speaker?

“This is exempting Oban from complying with for example new environmental laws that change the current construct. This is unheard of, Mr Speaker.”

She also said: “They are going to take the agreement that we gave them and go out and raise some money. They don’t have the money. They are going to use our agreement to go out there and raise money.”

Oban Energies President Satpal Dhunna has said Peter Krieger signed the Heads of Agreement with the Bahamas government during a “ceremonial” event at the Office of the Prime Minister three weeks ago because he, Mr Dhunna, could not make it.

In a March 7 letter addressed to the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr Dhunna said he signed “the original counterparts” of the Heads of Agreement “for and on behalf of Oban Energies” in Nassau prior to his return to London.

“As I was unable to return for the ceremonial signing scheduled for February 19, 2018, Peter Krieger, non-executive chairman, attended under the consent of Oban Energies, including but not limited to its members, the ceremonial signing for and on behalf of Oban Energies LLC,” Mr Dhunna’s letter notes.

“Oban Energies. . . hereby considers itself bound by the Heads of Agreement and is fully committed to progressing the project in accordance therewith.”

Comments

birdiestrachan says...

doc signed the document in the dead of night. it was a ghost move. OBAN executives wrote that agreement and told doc here sign this and he did.
The ceremonial signing was for a photo shot. and for the peoples time voters to wear their
red shirts and wave their pompoms and guess who was front and center No Games Dames
and Campbell big as bully. It is a done deal . It has been signed and it is now an agreement.

It is true when you Dumb you dangerous. They saw those fellows for who they are..

Posted 13 March 2018, 2:58 p.m. Suggest removal

licks2 says...

I GUESS YOU FORGOT THAT THIS WAS A PLP PROJECT. . .PLP SIGNED THE LOI. . .FNM SIGNED THE HOA. So what is the difference between the two? It goes like this: OBAN-PLP-OBAN-FNM-OBAN-FNM. . .now here we are!!

Posted 20 March 2018, 12:52 p.m. Suggest removal

sealice says...

Please Lady if it's a cornucopia of crooks you would know because that's your style.... but pretending you or anyone else in the PLP cares about the environment is a huge HUGE even bigger the huge JOKE, AND yes this deal does sound shady as all hell but once again..... you are the expert so we'll just have to agree with you one this one item....

Posted 13 March 2018, 3:41 p.m. Suggest removal

TigerB says...

I try not to be political on this but I learn something about governments, the one with the most votes for a motion always win when its time to pass a bill... so no matter what noise the opposition makes the final result will be the same, I have never seen a government withdraw a project. Look at the Pointe, Baha Mar, Bimini Bay, and to bring it closer to home, The Container Port and Bahama Rock...all these had this same argument with the environment...Baha Mar was said to have an owner who was a in the Chinese Triards, The GB Port Authority's Wallace Groves was said to be shady ... plenty noise was made, but the projects is still serving the Bahamian public... many will not agree with this but I'm sure if our opinion could have change anything we wouldn't be on here debating the issue. If the government try to pull out now its law suits, its a binding agreement. It may have been done wrong, the EIS still not complete... but honestly, what can we do til the 5 years is up to change them... then the other set just got kicked out was worthless...... so what DNA now? Nuff said

Posted 13 March 2018, 4:45 p.m. Suggest removal

You forgot Kerzner background. . .Sin City trouble. . .British problems. . .his "black eye" in the USA. . .OR THE HILTON BUYER PROBLEMS. . .

Posted 20 March 2018, 1 p.m. Suggest removal

proudloudandfnm says...

Big time FNMs involved so of course the PLP could not go along with it. But you can tell they jealous and wish they could...

Posted 13 March 2018, 5:13 p.m. Suggest removal

One thing is for sure. This FNM smells funny. If this is our only option against the PLP we're in real trouble. The FNM would do our country and themselves a huge service by getting rid of Minnis. Seems LBT and her crew were exactly right....

I still don't understand how we ended up with PM Minnis after his debacle as opposition leader. Bahamians need to wake the hell up. Enough of this voting in suck eggs and expecting good results.

Posted 13 March 2018, 5:16 p.m. Suggest removal

Sickened says...

We voted for the best option available to us. It wasn't a great... or even a good option, but it was the best one we had at the time.
I hope at some point this year the humble Minnis will come back to us. For now though... Minnis you SUCK!

Posted 14 March 2018, 11:46 a.m. Suggest removal

MAYBE IT IS BECAUSE WE SAW LBT AND CREW AS A "JACKED-UP BUNCH OF MISFITS" WHO ARE "PUSHED" BY THE ELITE AND CONNECTED!! WE HAD ENOUGH OF YINNA DUMB CRAP!

Posted 20 March 2018, 1:02 p.m. Suggest removal

sheeprunner12 says...

Ok, Glenys, let's talk real talk........... You served in a Cabinet that was a cornucopia of crooks ......... smh