By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement leader Michael Pintard has called on the Davis administration to be transparent and reveal the documentation that shows who paid for Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis’ recent trip to Bermuda.

In a press release yesterday, he said that like many Bahamians, including the press, the opposition party is unclear on whether the government or the PLP paid for this trip.

Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell had earlier said there was nothing unusual about his and Mr Davis’ recent trip to Bermuda.

 The minister, over the weekend, said the trip was a standard official visit to another country at the invitation of the Premier of Bermuda E David Burt, who is also leader of Bermuda’s Progressive Labour Party.

 Communications Director Latrae Rahming also said Friday the travel costs were covered by the Progressive Liberal Party, adding any further questions should be directed there.

 Mr Pintard highlighted the “conflict” in the two men’s statements on the trip.

 “There is a definite conflict in the story told by the Office of the Prime Minister and the chairman of the PLP in terms of who paid. It is customary that official trips (of) a sitting prime minister and civil servants would be paid for by the government when they are acting in their official capacity,” the press release said.

“Why would a political organisation organise and finance an official overseas trip by a sitting prime minister that also included paid public servants? The OPM story and the PLP chairman story can’t both be true. Did the government pay for the party officials who accompanied the prime minister? We find this decision most unusual and based on what happened when they landed, we also find this action to be reckless and potentially dangerous.

 “We also ask the Office of the Prime Minister to confirm if the prime minister and his delegation were at all times within reach and contact with Air Traffic Control in the airspace enroute to Bermuda? Was the prime minister and his delegation ever in danger?

 “This situation highlights the deep concern we raised from the start about this administration commingling government business with PLP business. We saw it with the approvals surrounding the debacle of the 2021 Christmas Carnival where the PLP had conflict on who approved the carnival during COVID, and we see it every day when a sitting senior minister in charge of the public service — where employees, especially those senior should avoid blatant political actions — also serves as chairman of the PLP.”

 In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, he said the government must be transparent in who financed the trip.

“This is not just about being careful,” he said “This is about them, one, being transparent in revealing the documentation that shows who paid for the trip, that’s one. Secondly, reveal the correspondence so that we can be clear on what the objective of the trip was - was this a state visit by the prime minister and his ministers, and the civil servants who accompany them, once they are over there on official government business. That’s important because of the persons who paid or whoever paid, that is directly related to what the nature of that trip was.

“If it was a party function with a sister organisation, that happens to be the ruling party in Bermuda, then obviously, what they would they put on the table would then reflect that it was paid for by the Progressive Liberal Party and any civil servants who were on that trip, who then paid for them. And if it was not a state event - should any of them have been on that trip?”

 Meanwhile, Mr Pintard noted reports that the prime minister and his delegation had to be grounded upon arrival in Bermuda is deeply concerning.

 The opposition is also calling on the Prime Minister to explain to the Bahamian people why this occurred.

 “Did the Office of the Prime Minister and/or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ensure that the aircraft which was carrying not only the current Prime Minister and leader of the country, but also former Prime Minister the Rt. Hon Perry Christie, (was) approved by local air traffic control officials in the Bahamas as well as international air traffic control towers for their flight to Bermuda?” he asked.

 “What were the aviation reasons and conditions that contributed to this flight which also included public servants, being identified and grounded? Was this flight and all, or any of the delegation searched by aviation officials while on the ground in Bermuda?

 “This in our view is very serious, especially as it raises the alarm of concern that a sitting Prime Minister and his flight could be grounded upon arrival in a foreign destination where the government of that jurisdiction was expecting them. This is also very embarrassing for the country and very unusual as the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should have ensured this flight had met all local and international aviation protocols before their departure.”

 Last week, Mr Rahming said the Western Air flight Mr Davis and his delegation travelled on was grounded upon arrival in Bermuda due to an “operational matter” with the airline.

 Mr Mitchell said over the weekend that the Bermuda trip “was a standard foreign affairs goodwill trip, not a political trip” — appearing to be at odds with Mr Rahming’s statements on the trip.

 “The Prime Minister spoke at the convention of the PLP in Bermuda. The Prime Minister met with the premier and members of his Cabinet in Hamilton and exchanged views on housing, transport and our relationship within CARICOM.

“The visit was a success on all levels. He was able to solidify relations on a party to party basis with the next generation of leaders of The Bahamas and Bermuda. He was able to visit the grave of Dame Lois. He promised that there will be further governmental exchanges on public transport and housing and disaster relief.”

Mr Mitchell continued: “There was nothing unusual about the trip whether in its financing or otherwise. There was a one-hour delay on departure to fulfil a requirement of air traffic control, but this was resolved by the airline. The flight departed without incident and landed safely in Nassau two hours and some later.

“The standard procedure is for most if not all flights of the Prime Minister to be arranged through the Office of the Prime Minister. When settlement of expenses are done there is a reckoning as between personal expenses and public expenses. That procedure was followed in this case and there is nothing unusual about it.”

The FNM leader argued that more and more Bahamians are becoming increasingly concerned about the conduct and decisions of Prime Minister Davis and his administration.

“There is a shameless attitude that they can do as they please and do not have to consult before they make life-changing decisions nor answer questions on the back end of Ill-advised decisions,” Mr Pintard said.