A Ministry of Works investigation into the controversial letter of intent (LOI) that Ministry of Works Parliamentary Secretary Renward Wells signed with Stellar Waste to Energy (Bahamas) Limited last month has been completed.
However, Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis said that while the Office of the Prime Minister has been sent the ministry's report, informing the public of its contents is not at the top of the government's agenda.
When asked when the public can expect to learn the outcome of the investigation, Davis, who is also the minister of works and urban development, said once the government gets through some legislation it may turn its attention to the matter.
"We are doing some heavy lifting now in executing our legislative agenda, and as soon as we have a respite from this I'm sure it will be addressed," he said.
The LOI was for a $650 million waste-to-energy plant for the New Providence landfill. Wells reportedly did not have Cabinet approval to sign the document.
Following the revelation of the signing, Prime Minister Perry Christie asked Wells to resign, but the MP has not done so and Christie has not fired him.
The prime minister said on August 7 that he will make a final determination after he completes an investigation. It is unclear if this investigation differs from the Ministry of Works probe.
Meanwhile, the opposition has accused the government of stalling on the issue. Free National Movement (FNM) Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis said Christie is either afraid or unwilling to fire Wells.
Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn suggested that the government "rushed" the constitutional referendum bills - part of the "heavy lifting" to which Davis referred - in an effort to divert attention from the LOI controversy.
This came on the heels of Leslie Miller, a veteran MP for the governing Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) claiming Wells is no more than a scapegoat who was "coerced" into signing the document by "people who should know better, by seasoned men who have been around for a long time and they know why they would have gone to him to sign this so-called document and he signed it".
In the face of such a serious statement, we would have thought the governing party would be quick to inform the public of its investigation results and let the chips fall where they may.
After all, allowing the impression to take root that certain influential people may have had something to gain from the LOI, and that the government may have sought to divert attention from this fact, cannot bode well for the public image of the PLP.
This is, of course, entirely aside from the fact that Bahamian citizens have a right to know about what their elected officials do on their behalf.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian