While he had no details on some of the contracts Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis suggested were questionable, Opposition Leader Philip Brave Davis yesterday called on Bahamians not to be "suckered" into accepting such falsehoods from an administration merely seeking to portray members of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) as "crooks and thieves" in an attempt to cover its inability to govern.
"The FNM government under Dr. Minnis is acting like spoiled children in a candy store," said Davis at a press conference in the Minority Room of the House of Assembly that was called to address revelations made by the prime minister and various ministers during the recent budget debate about reported abuse of power and wastage of taxpayer dollars by the PLP while in office.
"The first thing our supporters and people of goodwill should ask when the allegations are made is, are they true? The facts show that their allegations are false.
"Secondly, I want to invite the prime minister to stop whining, complaining and blaming and start governing."
As he contributed to the budget debate on Tuesday, Minnis accused the Christie administration of ignoring request for proposals (RFP) procedures and instead awarding Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) contracts to handpicked political supporters.
Those individuals were identified as PLP Chairman Emeritus Errington 'Minky' Isaacs and Edward Fitzgerald, the father of former Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald.
However, in Parliament, Minnis only identified Fitzgerald by his last name.
The prime minister further criticized the former administration for opting out of its Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) policy, which resulted in the loss of relief payouts of more than $32 million following Hurricane Matthew.
He said he has asked the attorney general and the minister of legal affairs to review that decision with the "possibility of bringing legal action".

Produce the documents
Davis responded to each of the issues specifically, but said Minnis' efforts to intimidate the PLP will not work. He also challenged the Minnis administration to produce all of the facts.
"The Progressive Liberal Party has not and will never condone or encourage wrongdoing, so threats will not change this," he said.
"We do not seek to excuse, but rather, to share full facts. If you have cases of malfeasance then act and let the chips fall where they may.
"Be sure, however, that you are not wasting national resources in a political witch-hunt."
Davis yesterday accused Minnis of only presenting a portion of the story.
"The allegation that the PLP allowed the CCRIF payments to lapse, causing the forfeiture of up to $33 million in damages for Hurricane Matthew, is false," Davis said.
"...I'm advised that a committee had in fact been formed by the government following the rejection of the claim made in the aftermath of Hurricane Joaquin.
"That committee opined that it was ineffective to continue with the insurance with CCRIF and that it would be more cost-effective that the government self-insure.
"That same committee, following Hurricane Matthew, and after an intervention by CCRIF suggesting that The Bahamas may have benefitted if they had continued the insurance, reviewed that assertion by CCRIF and came back with the same conclusion that had the government remained in that insurance we would not have benefitted because of the terms of the insurance."
Davis called on Minnis to pull the technical file and publicly release the information.
"It's the government of transparency; pull the file, not just read the letter that he read in Parliament but look at all the antecedent documents that led to the decisions made by the government."
As it relates to the $1,853,829.56 per year contract awarded to Isaacs, Davis said Isaacs' association with the PLP does not disqualify him from bidding for work at state-owned enterprises and shot down suggestions of cronyism.
When asked how one could rationalize awarding a contract that calls for, among other things, the clean up of oil to Isaacs, who is a pilot, Davis said that question should be directed to the procurement team at BEC.
"But I don't think it's unknown to persons who would have an expertise to bid on the project and to hire the expertise that is necessary," Davis said.
In relation to the contract awarded to Fitzgerald, Davis said he had no information on the matter, but indicated that through his inquiries he has yet to uncover any wrongdoing.
"I wasn't able to get any information about that," Davis said.
"But insofar as I'm advised, the protocol for the procurement of these contracts were followed by the procurement committee."

STAR Academy
Davis also briefly addressed the matter of STAR Academy, an institution for students who do not function regularly in the traditional school system.
When he contributed to the budget debate on Monday, Minister of Public Works Desmond Bannister detailed how the project for the school that was the brainchild of former Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald and former Prime Minister Perry Christie for at-risk youth, "while perhaps well intentioned", is now "an example of the recklessness of the former administration".
He said the Ministry of Education advised the minister of works that it had leased the property on Wulff Road from the Adventist Church.
"The lease was not sent to the Ministry of Works so we are not aware of its term, nor whether it was prepared by the Office of the Attorney General," Bannister said.
Davis did not speak to the lease, but said, "The question again is whether the arrangement can be justified by the overall contribution to society and whether the state receives value for money. With that question, the answer is yes."

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian