By Bradley B. Roberts
National Chairman
Progressive Liberal Party
To answer the National Review, the threat leveled by Dr. Andre Rollins on the supposed investment of the Chinese in Baha Mar is very, very different from the position taken by Prime Minister Christie on the sale of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) by the FNM government; IN FACT, THE ANALOGY USED BY THE NATIONAL REVIEW IS A TERRIBLE ONE.
Rollins and the FNM are simply peddling a talking point based on lies, a fabricated scheme of citizenship for sale for which the FNM cannot produce one shred of evidence, deceit and racism. Their intent is to spread fear based on misinformation. The opposition of the FNM to the Chinese investing in Baha Mar is because they are Chinese; nothing more, nothing less. That is racism on the face of it.
The Progressive Liberal Party did no such thing in their opposition to the sale of BTC under the terms of the FNM.
The PLP never opposed the sale of BTC to CWC simply because it was a British company; that is racism. Another major difference is that Baha Mar is a private entity. BTC was a public corporation, the most profitable patrimony of the Bahamian people for many years and both the FNM and PLP agreed that they will never sell the majority shares in BTC to a foreign entity. As a matter of fact, the FNM government went further when then Prime Minister Hubert A. Ingraham said that he will never sell BTC to CWC. Well so much for a matter of trust – the FNM unceremoniously and secretly reneged on all of those promises to the Bahamian people and sold 51% of the shares to a foreign entity, Cable and Wireless in a fire sale. The PLP opposed this on the policy principle that the majority of the shares should remain under the ownership control of the Bahamian people. We never wavered from that position.
Additionally, the PLP never went around fabricating lies about the sale of BTC and intentionally misleading the Bahamian people on that sale. In stark contrast the leaders of the FNM took their cue from talk radio and social media and are accusing the PLP government of being in some secret negotiations with some unknown and invisible Chinese buyer and are selling Bahamian citizenships in exchange for the investment. The FNM still cannot identify the Chinese investor or who demanded the sale of the Bahamians citizenships. Never minding the facts on the matter – that the negotiations are between the China EXIM Bank, China Construction and interested investors and not the Bahamas government – the FNM never lets the facts get in the way of an evil and slimy FNM lie. Never mind that the entire process is under the supervision of the Bahamas Supreme Court and not the cabinet and all decisions must be approved by that court before being executed. That obvious fact will only get in the way of the FNM’s tissues of lies. The FNM is a stranger to the truth
SO THE NATIONAL REVIEW IS WAY OFF BASE IN ITS BTC ANALOGY. THE PLP TOOK A PRINCIPLED STAND IN 2011 AND 2016 THE FNM IS ENGAGED IN A CAMPAIGN OF FEAR MONGERING, RACISM, LIES AND DECEIT.
THE HISTORY OF THE FNM GOVERNMENT AND THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT IS WELL DOCUMENTED AND THEY HAVE AT ALL MATERIAL TIMES PORTRAYED THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT AS THE SAVIOR OF THE BAHAMAS. NOW THAT THE FNM IS IN OPPOSITION AND DESPERATE FOR POWER, LIKE A SNAKE THEY HAVE TURNED ON THE CHINESE – TELLING THE BAHAMIAN PEOPLE THAT THE CHINESE ARE OUR ENEMIES, THE NEW BOGEYMAN AND THAT THEIR INVESTMENT IN THE BAHAMAS ECONOMY IS HARMFUL TO THE BAHAMAS. THIS IS HYPOCRISY AND DISHONESTY IN ITS WORST FORM AND MUST BE REJECTED OUT OF HAND! THE BABY MUST BE THROWN OUT WITH THE BATH WATER ON THIS SCORE!
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