Dear Editor,

In The Tribune on April 4, 2017, a headline read: "PM: it is very easy to 'piss away funds'.
An excerpt from this article read: "While observers continue to criticize the Christie administration over the way it handles government revenue, Prime Minister Perry Christie admitted yesterday that it could be easy to 'piss away' public funds.
"Speaking to scores of people gathered at the University of The Bahamas using what he referred to as 'rich' language, Mr. Christie used the 'very graphic expression of annoyance' as he insisted that his government is not wasting tax dollars."
These were words of former prime minister Perry Christie as he expressed annoyance with the public as they continued to question the reasoning for the rise in the national debt and deficit, despite the 'exceeding successes' of value-added tax (VAT), which had collected over a billion dollars in tax revenue.
Shouldn't the deficit and debt have, at least, slowed in growth?
But it seems this was one of the times that you were able to take the former prime minister at his word - "it is easy to piss away funds" - because, it would seem, this is exactly what he and his administration did.
A glimpse into this wastage was revealed by Minister of Health Dr. Duane Sands during his contribution to the budget debate yesterday.
A headline in The Nassau Guardian read: "A picture of waste - 'distressing' discoveries on use of public funds".
An excerpt from this article read: "The Christie administration executed over $90 million worth of medical-related contracts - one of which was for the cleaning of an Abaco clinic that was closed - just two weeks before the 2017 general election, Minister of Heath Dr. Duane Sand revealed yesterday.
"Sand said the contracts were executed, despite a $16.4 million shortfall that prevented the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) from purchasing much-needed medication, vaccines and completing renovations at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH).
"Additionally, he said the former government left millions of dollars in unpaid debt, including about $2 million in National Health Insurance (NHI) related costs."
Indeed, the Christie administration's handling of the country's finances seem to be the blueprint on how to "piss away public funds", as we are continuing to find out each and every day, but the former administration seemed to be able to find funds for what it deemed as being important.
"In addition to funding carnival, incredibly, they made the time and found the money to award... $90 million in lucrative contracts to people, who some would call party faithfuls. The reason given was that the clinics had to be upgraded.
"So the Cabinet directed that $9,778,304.86 be paid as a down payment for new contracts throughout The Bahamas."
This was conveyed by the Permanent Secretary of the OPM (Office of the Prime Minister) Creswell Sturrup to the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health on April 27, 2017, the month before the general election.
While the former Christie administration laid out a blueprint on how to "piss away public funds", it is now incumbent on the Minnis administration to not only expose the dark dealings of the former government, but to actually prove to the people that they are better administrators of the peoples finances.
The Progressive Liberal Party failed for one reason: it is its nature.

- Adrian Ramsey

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian