Prime Minister Perry Christie was silent yesterday amid questions surrounding the revelation that Nygard International Partnership made direct payments of US$5,000 per month into the Bank of America account of Golden Gates MP Shane Gibson prior to the general election in 2012 and into 2013.
After giving an address at an enrollment launch for National Health Insurance (NHI), Christie walked briskly past reporters, who peppered him with questions that went unanswered.
Gibson, the minister of labor and national insurance, said on Sunday the payments were made as contributions for constituency projects.
When asked to explain the contributions from Nygard, who has been at the center of numerous controversies this term, Gibson said, "Thanks to contributions from Mr. Nygard and others, I, as a member of Parliament, was able to continue many community initiatives like a scholarship program, awarding tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships to deserving students in my constituency whose parents could not afford to cover their full tuition."
He noted that his Bank of America account is disclosed in his annual disclosure.
He also said the account was closed more than two years ago.
The information appears to be from the Nygard entity, which kept a record of the payments to Gibson, who is listed as the "vendor".
Nygard's internal classification records the payments as "professional services" from Gibson.
The earliest payment appears to have been made in July 2011. The last payment shown in the leaked records was in early 2013.
This is the second Cabinet minister to be embroiled in controversy during the last week.
In emails dating back to 2013, which The Tribune revealed last week Thursday, Marathon MP Jerome Fitzgerald solicited then Baha Mar developer Sarkis Izmirlian for brokerage, trucking and limousine contracts with the resort.
He later admitted to "seeking his (Izmirlian) assistance" for "some work" on behalf of his father, the founder of Bahamas Cargo & Logistics.
Christie outright refused to address the matter involving Fitzgerald on Friday during Baha Mar's soft launch opening, insisting that he was "celebrating" and was not prepared to speak.
Yesterday, the prime minister was again asked for a response amid calls from the Free National Movement (FNM) for Fitzgerald to be fired, but continued walking.

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