By JADE RUSSELL 

Tribune Staff Reporter 

jrussell@tribunemedia.net 

FREE National Movement leader Michael Pintard bashed the Davis administration for allocating $2.5m to repurpose a seized plane for government travel, insisting the maintenance cost of the aircraft will be “exponentially higher” than travelling on a local airline.

Before the recent budget exercise ended in the House of Assembly on Monday, members of the opposition asked for details about a line item in the Ministry of Finance’s capital expenditure budget concerning $2.5m for a plane. 

Leon Lundy, a minister of state in the prime minister’s office, said the funds were for “the procurement of an aircraft to facilitate travel of government personnel throughout the Family Islands.” 

On Wednesday, the Office of the Prime Minister clarified that police confiscated a plane that will be repurposed for official government use and refurbished for $2.5m. 

Yesterday, Mr Pintard questioned the OPM’s response, saying opposition members in the House of Assembly gave Mr Lundy multiple chances to clarify matters related to the plane. 

Mr Pintard noted the government has not said whom the plane was confiscated from or its size, model, or mileage. 

He said that, to his understanding, work on this aircraft has already been completed, adding: “If that is the case, then we find the statement from the Office of the Prime Minister rather troubling.” 

Mr Pintard said the $2.5m could have been used for more pressing matters like buying fire trucks for Family Islands, enhancing medication supplies in clinics, or acquiring more dialysis machines. 

“In terms of the maintenance costs, we believe it’s going to be high; you know, they love to fly,” he said. “So yes, we believe that the cost is going to be exponentially higher. For government officials, we believe they should travel where possible on the local airline so they can interact with the Bahamian people.”