When he addressed an anti-corruption forum in the Cayman Islands early last year, Prime Minister Perry Christie told his audience that the media has continued to play an important role in holding both government and public officials accountable.

"It has done so over the years by exposing corruption through investigative journalism," said Christie, who also promised renewed focus on a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Nearing the final year of the current term, the Christie administration is still working on the FOIA. It said the bill passed under the Ingraham administration -- which was never enacted -- needed a critical overhaul. In the absence of such a law, there are steps the government ought to be taking to demonstrate that it is serious about transparency and accountability.

On this score, there has been a lot of talk. But when it has been called upon to demonstrate its commitment to a more open government, the current leadership has stonewalled and ignored such demands.

Christie's Cayman Islands address in March 2014 is quoted often by commentators when discussing issues of transparency and corruption. This is because much of what Christie said that day has failed to materialize.

The prime minister said his government was working on a national anti-corruption action plan which will include, among other elements, a renewed focus on quality leadership and inculcating a sustained political commitment to fight corruption. Christie also announced that his administration will provide citizens with the tools to keep public administration transparent and accountable. He also said The Bahamas will likely introduce before the end of 2014 specific legislation dealing with anti-corruption in the form of either a new Prevention of Corruption Act or Integrity in Public Life Act.

Additionally, he announced that his government will create an anti-corruption body. These are all vital to deepening our democracy and attacking corruption. If the prime minister's commitment on these matters had materialized, it would have been an important step in attacking a culture of secrecy in the public service.

Silence
Citizens today are being kept in the dark on a multitude of issues. As an example, a year and a half after the government signed an agreement with Cable and Wireless Communications to transfer roughly two percent of its shares in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) back to the government to be held in trust for the Bahamian people, the government still refuses to make this agreement public.

Christie committed on more than one occasion to making it public, but for some reason he refuses to do so. We still do not know with any certainty what our government committed to on our behalf. We covered the event, yes. We carried the story, but we have no access to the fine print, or the large print for that matter.

The government has not told us the status of the BTC Foundation, supposedly established as part of that agreement.
The message to Bahamians is that what the government does on our behalf is none of our business. The culture of secrecy is long-standing and deeply rooted. It stretches back deep into the Pindling era.

Senior public servants operate mostly in silence. They seldom speak publicly to the work of their ministries. They defer to their ministers, most of whom are far from open. Oftentimes, these ministers behave as if they are making decisions on their own behalf and see no obligation in keeping the citizenry informed. This point was demonstrated earlier this year when it was revealed that the government had delayed a critical report into the fuel leak at the Rubis gas station on Robinson Road for more than a year. That report concluded that the residents who live or work near the gas station were exposed to chemicals that could create health risks.

The government released the report amid demands from residents. The matter created a firestorm, with Marathon MP Jerome Fitzgerald saying publicly he could not inform his constituents of the contents of the report as he "would have been fired" as the matter was before Cabinet.

The suppression of the Rubis report was among many low moments for the government this term. Amid a public uproar over the matter, it eventually expressed regret that it did not make the report public sooner. But few people would agree that the Rubis matter was a turning point for the government as it relates to issues of accountability and transparency. The government has still not provided an explanation on why the release of the report was delayed. There are multiple other examples of the government shutting out its citizens.

Recently, the matter of a letter of intent (LOI) signed by then Parliamentary Secretary Renward Wells in July 2014 has been raised again, more than a year after the prime minister fired Wells over the issue. The document was signed with Stellar Waste to Energy for a waste-to-energy plant at the New Providence landfill. Christie had committed to explaining the matters connected to the LOI. Wells also claimed he would. But neither has let the public in on what had happened behind the scenes. We still do not know.

While claiming he knows what happened, Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis said last week he still wants answers to the questions on the House of Assembly's record, which he asked for more than a year ago. Wells is now playing ball with the FNM. Some in the party are afraid that something might come out relating to this matter that could prove embarrassing for the FNM. We might never know the real story.

We were also shunned when we demanded answers earlier this year on contracts the government signed to build the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI). In the midst of great public pressure, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works Philip Brave Davis made a report in the House of Assembly on the BAMSI male dorm that was destroyed by fire. He also confirmed that the contractor who built the dorm did not have insurance, although the ministry's policy dictates that no contracts be awarded without insurance.

We repeatedly questioned officials on whether the other BAMSI contracts had insurance at the time of their execution. But our questions were met with stony silence. To this day they have not been answered. The public also does not know the status of rebuilding of the dorm, which is projected to cost $5 million, substantially more than the cost of building the original dorm.

There are so many more examples of the government failing to demonstrate its so-called commitment to transparency.
When we did an investigative series a year and a half ago on aragonite, Environment Minister Kenred Dorsett said an investigation was taking place into the value of the sector to determine whether the government was getting a fair share of the money being made. The public is still waiting to hear from the minister.

These issues are not lost on the electorate, which rightly expects to be treated with a greater deal of respect by the people elected to office to handle our affairs. It is why we find it laughable when our prime minister speaks at international gatherings, and even local events, portraying his administration as one that believes in openness and accountability.

We know better, and so do the many Bahamians paying attention, and whose tolerance of their secret government has long worn thin.

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