Will Sands be held to Minnis’ ministerial codes of conduct? Or will he remain in a CORRUPTED CABINET!
NASSAU| Prime Minister Hubert Minnis got the shock of his life when Minister for Health Duane Sand told reporters that he approved the landing of a plane where two Americans brought test kits for the coronavirus.
Sands told the press he gave permission for the permanent residents to land in the country and later, after being tested, they were allowed to self-quarantine.
The Minister, in statements, said the couple was allowed to disembark as it was considered “a matter of urgency”. But at Thursday’s press conference Sands told the nation that his Ministry was no longer relying on any quick test kits for COVID19 as they have proven to be unreliable producing false negatives and positives.
The decision goes against Prime Minister Hubert Minnis, who announced a ban on international travel to the Bahamas that went into effect on March 24 under a wide-ranging emergency powers order issued to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
PM Minnis signed the order closing all airports including private airports and FBOs “to incoming international flights carrying any visitor.” The decree, which also applies to seaports and private boating, prohibits visitors from disembarking for any reason, including transiting through the Bahamas.
The incident raises serious concerns, particularly after more than 200 Bahamians stranded in the US were blocked entry into the country by the PM’s order. Some Bahamians are also stranded on several family islands after the order took effect.
The decision by Sands to commit what some noted attorneys suggest amounted to a bribe raises even more serious questions after Attorney General Carl Bethel told media that what was done was not in the authority of the Minister to do. He added that the director general of Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority (BCCA) is permitted to give authorization for someone to disembark an aircraft during this time.
Were the couple financial donors to Duane Sands?
Is the couple a part of any election/ leadership bid by Minister Sands?
Why did Sands find it urgent to break the law, overstepping the agencies empowered to police the country’s airspace set down by The Competent Authority in this time?
And why would Minister Sands accept items [test kits] that he later announced were no longer an approved form of testing by the Ministry of Health? What are we missing here?
Opposition leader Philip “Brave” Davis called for the resignation of the Health Minister on Friday – and claimed there were potentially other instances of people coming into the country while the borders are closed for Bahamians.
On May 15th, 2017, as he swore in members of his Cabinet, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis warned Cabinet Ministers that he expected them to uphold the highest ethical standards, adhering to the oaths they took.
He warned his Ministers that if they engage in unsavory or unethical requests to the Permanent Secretary and he discovers or finds out, they would immediately be fired.
“And, I say to the Permanent Secretary, should you not report such behaviour and allow it to fester, you too will be fired,” he said. “It’s now the ‘People’s Time’.”
We at BP ask the question: WHOSE TIME IS IT AGAIN? Remember, it was this same Duane Sands, who signed a PHA contract with Barbara Hanna for some $1.9 million days before she was to testify in the Frank Smith case. The PHA Board was broadsided by the decision of the Minister and get this: The Cabinet of the Bahamas was never informed or agreed to the contract in this case. And yet – The MASTER OF DISASTER Duane Sands – still sits in the Cabinet!
What in the hell is dis?
We report yinner decide!
Are we running a banana republic or a country.Are we a country of laws or a country of law breakers. The majority of Bahamians have adhered to the PM call to maintain social distances , refrain for larger crowds, keep self clean, wear mask when outdoors and obey the curfew/lock down laws. and that being said it is evident that the rules laid out by the PM is working as to the small number of cases and deaths. We want to believe that our elected officials will do what is right. When our officials fail us in the most basic of things then its time for them to do what is right and demit office. Doctor Sands comes into our daily lives weekly with clear and coherent accounts and updates as to what’s happening with this dreaded disease . If allegations are true, how can we believe anything that he says to us anymore. No apology is worth the life of any Bahamian or citizen. The difficulty i have in this saga is how could the Dr Sands decide upon himself to endanger the lives of others and how is it he can stand in front of cameras and not be honest and transparent with the very people he took an oath to serve and protect. Lastly how difficult was it for Dr. Sands to call the PM and advise him of this action..
“.when the laws have ceased to be executed, as this can only come from the corruption of the republic, the state is already lost”….. Montesquieu
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