By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

THE Public Disclosures Committee chairman said office inaccessibility and facility issues, including mould, have slowed the processing of this year’s public disclosures of public officials.

“We’ve had some setbacks,” said Bishop Victor Cooper, four days after the deadline passed for public officials to declare their assets, liabilities and income.

“We’ve got a situation where the office is unable to operate as it should. That slows down the process because we don’t have access to our facility.”

He said he couldn’t say who failed to declare and was unsure when the office issues would be fixed.

The US Department of State, in its 2024 Investment Climate Statement on The Bahamas, highlighted the country’s failure to release public disclosure reports for over a decade. The report noted that the Public Disclosures Committee has not published required reports for 13 years, with the last one issued in 2011 covering financial declarations only up to 2008.

It also criticised delays in fully enacting anti-corruption laws and accused some Bahamian officials of showing a “complete disregard” for compliance with the Public Disclosure Act. The law requires senators, members of parliament and senior public officials to declare their assets, income, and liabilities annually.

Bishop Cooper has previously downplayed the committee’s role in publishing disclosures, stating that while it completes reports, it does not have the authority to publish them in the Gazette, suggesting that responsibility lies with the prime minister and the opposition. However, the Public Disclosure Act clearly states that the committee itself is required to publish a summary of declarations once reviewed.

The law also mandates that the committee report non-compliance to the prime minister and the opposition leader, who can escalate the matter to Parliament, the attorney general, or law enforcement.

While Bishop Cooper revealed last year that 90 percent of parliamentarians had met the March 1, 2024, disclosure deadline, he acknowledged that several senators and senior public officials had failed to comply. Officials never disclosed who had failed to declare.

Under the law, non-compliance can result in fines of up to $10,000 or two years in prison.