Chairman of the Bahamas Development Bank Macgregor N. Robertson has resigned his position citing a “lack of communication” with key government officials who he said did not answer his inquiries regarding his future with the establishment.
Responding to Bahama Journal inquiries on the resignation, Prime Minister Perry Christie said that the chairman stepped down due to an “administrative error.” He said he still respects the integrity of Mr. Robertson and his ability and commitment to The Bahamas.
Mr. Robertson said that he resigned because he saw a draft Memorandum of Understanding to the Bank from the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation with the name of a new chairman listed.
“I don’t do business like that,” Mr. Robertson said.
He said for some time, he has been writing and calling to the Ministry of Finance, asking for clarification on whether the old board will be replaced. But Mr. Robertson said he never received a response.
The tenure of the Bank’s board does not end until December 31, but Mr. Robertson said reviewing the communication with the name of a new chairman, was a clear message that his resignation was in order.
The Bahama Journal has learnt that Prime Minister Perry Christie plans to appoint the Member of Parliament for Elizabeth Malcolm Adderley as the new chairman of the Bahamas Development Bank.
In fact, according to Mr. Robertson, it was Mr. Adderley’s name that appeared on the document he saw.
But Mr. Adderley told the Bahama Journal Thursday that while he had heard that he was the chosen for the position, he wished not to make any further comments as he has received no official word.
A source close to the Bank said that the situation was an example of “a certain level of confusion” that exists between some government agencies.
The position of chairman is not the only one in question at the Bank. The Bahama Journal reported last week that a number of projects before the Bank were threatened because the government had not renewed the contract of the bank’s Managing Director George Rodgers.
Mr. Rodgers reportedly had been pushing for months for the government to renew his contract, but the three-year old agreement expired the week before without any word on whether he will continue on at the Bank.
Mr. Robertson said this week that as far as he knew, Mr. Rodgers’ contract still had not been renewed.
Speaking Thursday to the Journal on the chairman’s resignation, Prime Minister Perry Christie said that when he learnt of Mr. Robertson’s resignation, he called him to find out the reasons surrounding the resignation.
Mr. Christie said Mr. Robertson said he resigned as a result of a communication he received from the Chairman of BAIC indicating that there was another Chairman of the Bahamas Development Bank.
But BAIC Executive Chairman Sidney Stubbs said that he was not aware of any such communication. Mr. Christie said that he could see how Mr. Robertson would make such a decision if indeed he received communication naming a new chairman.
The prime minister said, “The name of another member of parliament was called, in fact, Malcolm Adderley. [Mr. Robertson] thought that in the interest of the Bank he ought to step back and not have any discussion or debate revolving around whether or not he was the legitimate chairman. I now know, as I suspected, that his sensitivity to any such development is entirely due to the fact that he was appointed by the former administration and that since my administration came in, I have chosen to maintain the development board as appointed by the former administration because its term really runs into 2003.”
Mr. Christie also said he was disappointed that Mr. Robertson had severed ties with the Bank, but he said the former Chairman has agreed to offer service in another capacity.
“I thought that, nevertheless, Macgregor Robertson being one of the senior partners of note in our country of international accounting firms would provide the kind of leadership that I needed for this time at the Development Bank,” Mr. Christie said.
He added, “We are still on very cordial terms…The respect that I have for him, and I believe he for me and my administration, has not been diminished by his decision and, therefore, we must move on and I anticipate that we will move immediately to ensure that the continuity of the operations of the Development Bank continues by way of the appointment of a new chairman and in consequence thereof of a new board.
“I obviously thought we had the kind of relationship, notwithstanding the manner of his appointment and by whom he was appointed, that I would have been given foreknowledge of his intention to do so because an administrative error of that kind could have been easily corrected.”
But he added, “I just think it’s one of those matters where he also knew that I would have made changes to the Development Bank consistent with the fact that we are a new government.”
The prime minister said that there were indications that the board of the Bahamas Development Bank was experiencing some problems after his government came to office last May.
“I was informed that the board wasn’t functioning properly because a number of its members had refused to come out since we had won, in fact, the deputy chairman, Mr. [Harold] Watson, I believe the brother of the former deputy is one who had elected since the Progressive Liberal Party came to power, not to attend [meetings].”
Mr. Robertson said that he and his board and the team of employees at the Bahamas Development Bank were able to make substantial progress.
“We made quite a few good loans,” Mr. Robertson said. “We’ve been very strict in trying to collect on old bad loans.”
The prime minister revealed that Mr. Robertson will serve on a special committee to look into issues concerning the ownership of the Clifton Cay property.
The government has said that it plans to develop a national park at the property which was at the centre of controversy more than three years ago.
The Bahama Journal
