The relationship between the Minister of Trade and Industry Leslie Miller and Executive Chairman of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation Sidney Stubbs is so strained that the minister has told close associates that if the prime minister does not fire Stubbs he will resign from the Cabinet.
Mr. Stubbs has been operating in defiance of the Minister, angering Mr. Miller.
The Minister has reportedly presented the prime minister with several reasons why Mr. Stubbs should be fired. One of those reasons is that the Executive Chairman is spending money “like it is going out of style,” – money the corporation cannot afford to spend at this time.
Independent Member of Parliament Whitney Bastian charged this week that Mr. Stubbs has hired “numerous” employees in Nassau and Freeport when the prime minister has announced that there is a hiring freeze in the public service.
Prime Minister Perry Christie and Minister Miller are said to be “anxious” to bring this matter to a close.
But Mr. Christie has been dodging the BAIC issue. He promised many weeks ago to officially announce the board but has not yet done so, opting instead to announce other commissions.
The Bahama Journal has learnt that the prime minister is himself fed-up with and exhausted by the drawn out BAIC debacle to the point where he intends to relieve Mr. Stubbs of his duties as Executive Chairman.
Some people in the parliamentary group of the Progressive Liberal Party, however, have said that Mr. Christie owes an appointment to Mr. Stubbs and he is hard-pressed and reluctant to fire him, even though the Chairman and Minister are not getting along.
Mr. Stubbs is reported to have said he was appointed by the Governor General and so was the Minister, meaning that he is not answerable to Mr. Miller.
Public observers say that since BAIC falls within the portfolio of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Executive Chairman is duty-bound to report to the Minister.
Since he plunged into controversy a few weeks ago when he fired seven of the corporation’s employees, Mr. Stubbs has refused to answer any media inquiries into the criticisms he has been receiving.
But Mr. Stubbs continues to make public appearances, the most recent being at the Bahama Arts Festival on Arawak Cay. It is reported that he did not have approval to spend the corporation’s funds.
He is also reported to have said that he has widespread support as Executive Chairman.
The Minister has summonsed board members to at least two meetings. Mr. Stubbs didn’t attended one of those meetings and was reportedly very late for another.
The board, which made up of independent persons, has openly criticized the Executive Chairman and has reportedly told the Minister that they have difficulties in working with Mr. Stubbs who is making unilateral decisions without the board’s approval.
The Bahama Journal
