Answering questions of public interest

Fri, Oct 17th 2014, 09:30 AM

Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Bradley Roberts has called on Free National Movement (FNM) Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis to provide answers about the alleged abuses at the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) when he served as minister of health.
Roberts criticized the FNM leader for demanding an investigation into the controversial letter of intent (LOI) which saw Bamboo Town MP Renward Wells fired from the post of parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Works. He said Minnis should be just as concerned with the irregularities that went on during his own time in office.
"I hope Dr. Minnis bit his tongue during his media comments about the prime minister's decision to enforce discipline regarding Renward Wells and the letter of intent," the PLP chairman said.
"Some advice for Dr. Minnis: When you call for an investigation into the letter of intent, also call for an investigation into the PHA inventory management and make yourself available to answer questions about what you knew, what you did and did not do during the time you served as minister of health."
Earlier, Minnis told the press that having read the forensic accounting report - which showed a $10 million difference between the physical count of pharmaceutical supplies at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) and the official inventory list - it became clear that the discrepancy was the result of two obvious clerical errors that any accountant should have picked up on.
The Nassau Guardian, which broke the story, reviewed the report and did not notice the so-called "errors" in question.
Be that as it may, Roberts should remember that the period examined by the forensic accounting report included not only the time that Minnis and the FNM were in charge of the public health system, but also two periods when the PLP was at the helm - July 2006 to May 2007, and May 2012 to June 2013. During both periods, final authority rested with the current prime minister, Perry Christie.
Minnis does have questions to answer regarding what he knew while he was minister of health. He cannot be allowed to hide and throw accusations at the governing PLP while questionable activity appears to have been occurring at the PHA while he had Cabinet responsibility for the area. The PLP, however, should tell the Bahamian people what it will do with the information provided in the PHA report. We think the full report should be tabled in the House of Assembly and the government should announce what reforms it intends to initiate at the PHA.
Roberts and his party also need to tell the public what happened with this LOI matter. Wells was fired but the prime minister gave no explanation with the statement announcing the termination.
Questions hover over both sides of the political divide when it comes to these matters. We need to hear more from the prime minister and the leader of the opposition.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian

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