By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The Opposition’s deputy leader yesterday accused the Davis administration of being “enemies of transparency” as he blasted the now-aborted Bahamas Moorings lease deal.

Shanendon Cartwright, in his Budget debate contribution, told the House of Assembly that the Davis administration was “not diligent” in choosing to lease 4,000 acres of seabed in the Exuma Cays to a company with strong links to government insiders. He also insinuated that the buoys placed earlier this year by Bahamas Moorings are still in the water.

“We remember the moorings deal. Now the Government was not diligent about, not four, not 40, but 4,000 acres of seabed in Exuma until Exumians, FNM and PLP supporters spoke out and challenged it,” said Mr Cartwright.

“When the member for Exuma was asked he pulled the shaggy; he said it wasn’t me, go check OPM (Office of the Prime Minister). The thing is, we still understand that the moorings are still in the water. Enemies of transparency.”

Tribune Business previously revealed that many of those involved in the Bahamas Moorings Company deal have close links to the Office of the Prime Minister and senior persons who work in it. The two principals named in the lease, in particular, both have long-standing ties to Jerome Fitzgerald, the Prime Minister’s senior policy adviser.

Philip A. Kemp II is a long-standing business associate of Mr Fitzgerald, the two having been part of the failed BK Foods to acquire the now-defunct City Markets supermarket chain. They later participated in the Trans-Island Traders deal that acquired the same business just prior to its collapse, with Mr Kemp becoming its chief financial officer. A City Markets-related e-mail, sent to Tribune Business at that time, was also copied to Philip A. Kemp II.

And Raymond Christian Knowles, better known by his middle name, is a boat captain with the ‘Pieces of 8’ tour boat and charter operator, where he is described as “a 30-year veteran on the open waters” who has worked as a commercial fisherman. Mr Fitzgerald, in a 2021 interview with Tribune Business, neither confirmed nor denied when asked whether he had an ownership interest in the company.

There are also further connections involving Bahamas Moorings’ address. This newspaper’s own records, plus a VAT registrants list from 2016, reveal that 138 Wulff Road was also once the home of Bahamas Cargo & Logistics (BCL), a company owned by Mr Fitzgerald’s family.

Tribune Business previously reported yesterday how a bill of lading, detailing Bahamas Moorings’ importation of anchors and link chains from China, gives the company’s address as Suite No.5, 138 Wulff Road. That is now the address of Cubix Bahamas which, like Bahamas Cargo & Logistics, is also a shipping company and freight forwarder.

And Mrs Kemp states on her Linkedin page that she has served as “head of marketing communications” for Cubix Bahamas from March 2018 to the “present”.

Mr Cartwright, meanwhile, also targeted the Davis administration’s deal with Space X, branding it a “failed programme”. He criticised Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister, for indicating that environmental safeguards were in place prior to the first launch but, then, pausing the launches months later pending an environmental impact assessment (EIA) and post-launch report.

“This failed programme spat in the face of transparency, but it also provided a clear contradiction in the Government’s much-bragged about fight for global climate justice on transparency. The Bahamian people asked for, pleaded for, begged for an environmental impact assessment, as they were concerned about the launches’ impact on the environment, our waters and our people,” Mr Cartwright added.

“But they said, ‘to hell with the EIA, let’s just give them a baseline environmental assessment’. How can you have an EMP [environmental management plan] without an EIA?”

“What was very, very interesting, if you remember, on February 13, all systems go. Deputy prime minister says safeguards in place as Bahamas set for as many as 20 SpaceX rocket landings in 2025. All safeguards are in place,” he added.

“And then April 16, a few months down the road, SpaceX landings in The Bahamas paused pending EIA and post-launch report. So hold on. I thought they say that the safeguards were in place.”

Mr Cartwright also accused the Davis administration of being secretive about the details of the Grand Lucayan sale.

“The Grand Lucayan deal, while we are hopeful that the Heads of Agreement signing for the redevelopment of the Grand Lucayan deal will accrue significant long-term benefits for Grand Bahamians, we just don’t know what they are. It is just crickets from the Government on the Grand Lucayan deal,” he added.

Holding up a dollar bill, Mr Cartwright said he had more funds in hand than the Davis administration does for the sale of the resort, and pushed for more details about the development and any concessions Concord Wilshire received.

“This is a $1 bill. I have more money in my hand right now than the Bahamian people can see from this Grand Lucayan deal. They say there’s $120m. We need an explanation. We don’t see any indication of that $120m having been paid. Not a single dollar, and it’s not in the Budget,” said Mr Cartwright.

“What is the impact to the workers? We heard about phases. What is in each phase? What concessions have been given in the name of the Bahamian people, and what then is the long-term impact of whatever concessions have been given. It is not enough for the Government to think that an announcement alone will sustain hope from Grand Bahamians.

“As important as the announcement is, it is the details that will determine the transformational aspect of this venture.”