By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

DIRECTOR of Communications Latrae Rahming has accused Free National Movement leader Michael Pintard of making a “desperate” and “extremely reckless” allegation after the opposition chief claimed a bag of passports was found on a Bahamasair flight and triggered an internal probe.

Mr Rahming said that if Mr Pintard truly believes a crime occurred, he should take his evidence to the Commissioner of Police rather than airing it at a political rally on the eve of the Golden Isles by-election.

Mr Pintard told supporters on Thursday night that Bahamasair recently investigated “unaccompanied passports,” claiming he was advised the probe was completed and people were fired. “Somebody else tell the story this way, that the bag burst and the passports fell on the ground and an investigation had to happen,” he claimed, adding that the flight was heading south and had a package of passports on board.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Mr Rahming rejected the claim outright. He said officials spoke with the Commissioner of Police, the Chief Passport Officer, the National Security Minister, and other authorities, and none had heard of any such incident. He called the allegation “extremely reckless” and said anyone with knowledge of wrongdoing has an obligation to report it. “If he's confident in the claims, he should refer the matter to the commissioner of police,” Mr Rahming said.

Mr Rahming acknowledged “fear” heading into the election season about false narratives circulating in the public and said that is why the Office of the Prime Minister responded quickly on Thursday night.

During the same rally, Mr Pintard questioned why the minister responsible for Bahamasair, the National Security Minister, the Foreign Affairs Minister, and the Chief Passport Officer had not publicly addressed the alleged investigation. “Now let me be honest, when I heard the story, I refused to say anything about it because it’s too ridiculous to be true. There couldn’t have been an investigation. It could not have been completed,” he said, pressing the government to respond. “Is there a racket going on that you’ve discovered?” he asked. “We haven’t said yet that you are responsible, but your silence makes us wonder.”

In a statement, the Office of the Prime Minister said no authorities — including the Managing Director of Bahamasair and the airline’s chairman — confirmed any such incident occurred, and called on Mr Pintard to withdraw the allegation and apologise.

This is not the first time the Davis administration has faced politically charged claims about passports. Coalition of Independents chairman Charlotte Greene previously alleged the government was “selling passports like candy.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred that matter to the police, and Ms Greene was questioned in September.

Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell, speaking at an event on Friday, urged calm and sought to reassure the public. “It's important to say, since there's a lot of stuff in the air about our own documents, to reassure the Bahamian public that Bahamian documents are secure.” He said “the release of those documents are done to very, very strict guidelines.”

“When loose attacks are made in public for what seems to be reasons other than common sense and evidence, it undermines the authenticity of our documents, and no Bahamian, regardless of their standard, should be engaged in undermining the authenticity of our documents,” he said.

"So I want to take this opportunity to reassure the public about the security of the documents and the fact that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs takes its job seriously with regard to the issue of documents.”

Mr Pintard did not respond to questions about the veracity of his claims before press time.