Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson speaks with reporter outside Cabinet yesterday. (Photo: Ahvia J. Campbell)

One year after Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson announced that a former Supreme Court judge will review the circumstances that led to the delay of a Rubis gasoline leak report, she has refused to respond to questions concerning the status of that review.

When asked several times by reporters outside Cabinet for an update yesterday, Maynard-Gibson said, "That's not a matter for me."

Maynard-Gibson was also asked who would be the appropriate person to question about the review. She said, "I can't answer questions about that report. It would be inappropriate for me to say anything about the report at all, anything."

In May 2015, Maynard-Gibson issued a press release announcing the government had appointed retired Justice Joseph Strachan to conduct the independent review into the cause of the delayed release of the report on the Rubis gasoline leak at the Robinson Road station.

In that release, Maynard-Gibson said the review was a fulfillment of the government's promise to take necessary measures to ensure that there are no future delays in the lawful release of important reports to Bahamians.

She also said, "The review is intended to ensure that the processes to support future investigations and enquiries conducted in the public interest are managed according to international best practices, as well as to ensure timely disclosure when these reports are going to be made public."

Amid public uproar over the failure to release the report sooner, the government eventually expressed  "sincere regret" for delaying the release of the report by consultants Black & Veatch. It said an initial analysis of the report's release revealed that "poor coordination and administration led to the delay".

The spill occurred in late 2012/early 2013, according to the consultants. The government received the report in February 2014. It was released to the public on April 17, 2015, a day after outraged residents expressed their disapproval at a town meeting.

Marathon MP Jerome Fitzgerald and Environment Minister Kenred Dorsett said the report came to Cabinet and was turned over to the attorney general, who was to determine when the report would be released.

At the town meeting, Bahamas Environment, Science and Technology Commission Director Philip Weech said the report had not been released because the attorney general had not given the go-ahead.

Black & Veatch concluded that the spill posed health risks to residents and people who work near the gas station.

During a press conference last year, Maynard-Gibson said the government has nothing to hide in relation to the spill. She apologized for not releasing the report sooner. The expression of regret came two weeks after she suggested the release of the report had not been delayed.

Rubis and government officials said last year the spill was contained, the contamination was removed from the groundwater and the spill had not expanded.

Jasmin Brown, Guardian Staff Reporter

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian