By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

MORE than three years after the controversial Oban deal was signed, Minister of Marine Resources and Agriculture Michael Pintard suggested yesterday the government made “a rookie mistake” with the billion-dollar project, calling the deal “a clumsy execution of a ceremonial signing”.

Mr Pintard made the remarks during his contribution to the 2021/2022 budget debate in the House of Assembly yesterday.

While voicing his support for the 2021/2022 budget, Mr Pintard also made clear he doesn’t support every decision his party has made and even noted earlier in his speech that more could have been done by the government in its response to certain events, such as Hurricane Dorian.

However, the Marco City MP said it is still his belief that the Free National Movement is the better “choice” for the Bahamian people adding it would be “disingenuous” of him to say the Minnis administration has not made efforts to return the Bahamian people’s lives back to some normalcy.

He told Parliament: “We have not got everything correct in this administration in how we’ve responded and I don’t believe anybody has made that case… but I’ve certainly, like others, raised concerns about certain approaches taken, but I would not be disingenuous to say that we have not made the effort to transform some persons’ lives and bring them back to a place of normalcy.”

He went on to comment on the many unfounded allegations made against the Minnis administration, labelling the critical remarks as “unfortunate”.

“I’m not going to sit down in a Cabinet and hear a corrupt concoction and be party to it,” he said. “I find it offensive when certain charges are laid on matters that had to come to Cabinet and you presume, because you see we can’t be good friends but yet your allegations has the presumption that I could’ve been present when a deliberation was taking place that was not in the interest of the Bahamian people. That’s a problem.”

He also referred to the proposed $5.5 billion dollar deal the government made with Oban Energies in 2018 for an oil refinery and storage facility for Grand Bahama.

Questions were first raised in The Tribune about the people fronting Oban which was followed by a ceremonial Heads of Agreement signing that was considered one of the government’s most controversial points since winning office.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has previously admitted his administration made mistakes with the billion-dollar project. The deal has yet to materialise.

Yesterday, Mr Pintard said of the project: “The bottom line is Oban is a clumsy execution of a ceremonial signing, a signing that was done according to law but a simulation of it, that is a reproduction of it, it was clumsy. I don’t know what all my colleagues think about it, but I think it was a clumsy signing, a rookie’s mistake, but was there a concoction? Nonsense. Absolute nonsense.”

He then turned to criticism of a 2020 UN pledge conference for Hurricane Dorian assistance and allegations about the money pledged.

He said: “I’ve heard the opposition say ‘You touted a large figure in terms of donation. You know all that wasn’t donation. Some of it was public private partnership. Some of it was them giving a loan at a preferential rate so what you got were pledges. So, what you got was a small amount.’

“How could it be over a year ago, we’re convinced it was a small amount but today when it is politically expedient, (you’re saying) that it was a large amount and you’re looking for the equivalent of where did the VAT money go and now it’s where did the donation money go?

“It’s unfortunate. If the VAT allegation was incorrect, then condemn that but we don’t need to create an equivalent which we know there is no basis in doing so. It’s a problem and in the same way, we ought not function in that way, it’s true for government.”

The minister also called on parliamentarians to stop playing the blame game and instead do the work they were called to do.

“We should stop the demonising of each other,” he said. “... The reality is we’re not going to inspire Bahamians to be more self-reliant when we seek to convince them that every hurt and every inadequacy that they have is a result of the fellows who now hold power. Have we done it in the opposition, I’m sure we have. But I want to say to all that continue to make that case. That some of the unhappiness in some persons lives is not necessarily a result of good or bad governance. The bottom line is we also have to teach personal responsibility.”

Mr Pintard also called for political parties to be more sensitive when deciding the fate of their candidates and noted everyone should be treated equally.

“I must tell you, seeing my colleagues, some of whom are now sitting on the back bench, it hurts me,” he said. “I sat here and saw one of my colleagues rise to his feet and made an intervention and it brought tears to my ears.

“I was hurt for him because when you make a determination of (how) you see your future and the role you want to play in helping transform it and then another group makes a choice for you, that is painful and so all of us have to decide we going to be more sensitive to each other.

“The same thing happened to me with Brother Picewell you see, it’s an equal opportunity thing. There has to be a difference in how we deal with each other.”