Minister of the Environment Kenred Dorsett has admitted that the government could have been more transparent in its handling of the Rubis fuel spill on Robinson Road. With the revelations contained in a report - withheld by the administration for over a year - sparking intense concern about the health and safety of families who live nearby, the minister called it a "teachable moment" for the government.

This vacuous expression was recently uttered by Prime Minister Perry Christie to describe another of the many controversies that have engulfed his government in its three years in office: the debacle over uninsured contracts under the $100 million Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) project. It is unclear why Christie and Dorsett think the use of the phrase is either beneficial or advisable in any circumstance.

Those who seek the privilege of leading us should not hide behind such meaningless phrases. They should know the fundamentals of governance from the outset - particularly those who ran on a slogan of "ready to govern on day one".
Certainly, political hopefuls should at the very least understand the basics of the law.

According to section 3(1) of the Environmental Health Services Act, which governs Dorsett's ministry: "The minister is charged with the responsibility of promoting and protecting the public health and providing for and ensuring the conservation and maintenance of the environment."

Section 3(2) says it is also the responsibility of the minister to "regulate, monitor and control the actual and likely contamination or pollution of the environment from any source, ensure compliance in all matters and activities relating thereto and establish minimum standards required for a clean, healthy and aesthetically pleasing environment".

Section 5 sets out the functions of the Department of Environmental Health Services, which include the responsibility to "(a) investigate problems and institute preventative and remedial measures in respect of environment pollution, the management and disposal of solid, liquid and gaseous wastes; (b) conduct research, studies and monitoring programs related to the matters in paragraph (a); and (c) gather, collate, analyze, publish and disseminate information relevant to the foregoing."

Clearly, there is nothing for the minister to learn from the Rubis fuel spill controversy that he should not have already known after three years in office. The matter is really quite simple: It was his responsibility to monitor and control the pollution; it was his job to protect the public's health; and it was his job to publish the relevant information.

Yet two years after a cocktail of dangerous chemicals contaminated the air and water supply of Marathon, and a year after the serious danger to residents was made crystal clear to the government, Dorsett was still not fully forthcoming. It took the outrage expressed by residents at last week's town meeting to force the government into releasing the report. The only thing Dorsett and his colleagues should be learning from this matter is how to admit their grievous errors over the last two years, and how to apologize to the Bahamian people for failing to live up to their legally mandated responsibilities.

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