By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked police to investigate claims by Coalition of Independents (COI) Chairman Charlotte Green that the government is “selling passports like candy.”

The ministry said a written correspondence was sent to Commissioner of Police Shanta Knowles requesting a probe.

It urged Ms Green to “exercise her patriotic duty” by presenting evidence to substantiate her claims. “If she cannot, the country will know that the allegations are bogus,” the ministry said.

Ms Green made the accusations on August 19 in an audio post on Facebook, directly criticising Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell, who has overseen the ministry under multiple Progressive Liberal Party administrations.

“During his watch, we have witnessed an alarming increase in fraudulent Bahamian passports being issued,” she claimed. “Foreigners [were] granted passports despite lacking basic legal requirements. Visa scandals where visas are being sold like candy. Daily flights arriving with Haitians in possession of Bahamian passports — something we do not see happening with people from China, Jamaica, or Europe.”

She also alleged that Haitians with Bahamian passports were flying daily to the Turks and Caicos, unable to speak English or fill out immigration forms.

Police have not confirmed whether a formal investigation has been launched.

This was not the first time this week the COI faced backlash over immigration-related allegations.

West Grand Bahama and Bimini MP Kingsley Smith over the weekend blasted a video circulated by a COI supporter as misleading and false, rejecting accusations that he is “selling out the country.”

In a press release, Mr Smith said the video clips were edited to “intentionally misquote” him, adding that he and his team reviewed both videos and “neither is an accurate reflection of what was said.”

“Truth is often a distant friend of the COI when they seek to speak on national issues. In this instance, their xenophobia was on high display, as we have known it to always be,” his said.

The controversy stemmed from an encounter over the weekend in which a COI supporter claimed to have confronted Mr Smith about why the government “is bringing in so much illegal immigrants.” That exchange, recorded and shared online, triggered the MP’s angry rebuttal.

“At no time did I say or suggest that the government is selling out the country, or anything remotely similar to such nonsense,” he said, insisting such claims cannot be made “without facts in good conscience.”

Mr Smith also criticised the supporter’s grasp of governance, saying: “What is also bewildering about that encounter, is that this COI representative seems to lack a full understanding of the laws and processes with respect to governance.”