The leader of the Free National Movement Tommy Turnquest and Official Opposition leader Alvin Smith yesterday called for the resignation of Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Neville Wisdom hours after radio Love 97 revealed details of the long-delayed Junkanoo report that documented approximately $1.2 million in losses.
Senator Turnquest said that if Minister Wisdom does not resign the prime minister should fire him.
“We don’t know whether there were any improprieties, deals or who the middle men were and all of these are questions that in the end remain unanswered,” he said.
After weeks of watching, waiting and endless probing, Love 97 news and the Bahama Journal obtained a draft of the much-anticipated Junkanoo report that details the expenditure and revenue of the most recent parades and the previous season under the former administration.
According to the accounting firm Deloitte and Touche, Bahamian taxpayers lost $1,189,562 after the government spent some $2.4 million on the five Junkanoo parades of the 2002-2003 Junkanoo season.
In the House of Assembly last November, Minister Wisdom said he expected to gross $3 million from the parades.
Based on a letter to financial secretary Ruth Millar, the draft report also highlighted accounting deficiencies, among them the fact that the million-dollar bleacher contract apparently did not go out to tender. The contract was awarded to Canadian firm, Tower Scaffolding Limited. It is customary, for a government contract of that size to go out to tender, according to the accountants.
Mr. Turnquest, who blatantly described the Minister’s actions as ludicrous and ill-conceived, said Mr. Wisdom must be held accountable for what has happened.
“I think it is unfair for the Bahamian public to be abused the way we have been, particularly in these tight fiscal times,” he said. “We simply cannot allow a Cabinet minister to get away with such a hefty loss.”
The FNM leader went on to say that such a fiasco would never have occurred under his administration.
But Mr. Smith, who expected a far greater loss, said he was surprised the report was not revealed earlier, as the government knew of the Junkanoo losses even before sending it on to the accounting firm.
“This is a national calamity,” he said. “The Minister was advised not to do what he did, but he listened to no one – not his advisors, not the Opposition and not the Bahamian people. He simply has to resign. In fact, I thought the Prime Minister would have already asked him to do so, because this is irresponsible. You simply cannot do this.”
When asked if there were any positive aspects about Minister Wisdom’s effort to take Junkanoo to another level, Mr. Smith told the Bahama Journal that the government could not possibly explain the need to spend over $1 million on bleachers.
Mr. Smith added that he previously pointed out to parliamentarians in the House of Assembly that while the parade’s previous bleacher arrangement may not have been the most comfortable, it was far less costly. If the government had arranged to purchase the new bleachers, he said, at least the country would have had something in hand after it was all said and done, but there is nothing left. It is a situation, he said, that is absolutely ridiculous.
He further noted, however, that perhaps Minister’s Wisdom’s recent “blunder” could assist a “new” Youth, Sports and Culture Minister in what not to do in administering public funds.”If the Minister refuses to resign,” Mr. Smith said, “every day in Parliament he would be reminded of this disaster.”
The draft report also pointed out the improper use of the National Junkanoo Committee’s bank account, stretching back to 2001, when the FNM administration served as the government, also came under scrutiny.
One example cited was a payment of a cheque for more than $17,000, payable to a trucking company for the cleanup of Bozine Town Park in December 2001. Mr. Smith, however, said this is nothing irregular.
“This happens all the time where you’d find that if the department of sports does not have sufficient funds to carry out an undertaking, money might be wired perhaps from the department of culture to cover the cost,” he said.
But Sen. Turnquest and Mr. Smith were not the only ones slamming the Minister’s actions.
During Love 97’s “Issues of the Day” radio talk show yesterday, some callers phoned in to criticize the minister’s efforts to improve Junkanoo.
“Today should be called Black Tuesday, because the Bahamas was raped by this government,” one caller said. “The whole Junkanoo fiasco is just terrible.”
According to another caller, the past Junkanoo season was one of the worst the country has ever seen in 20 years.
“The Minister spent millions of dollars on an untested remedy which he said was going to put Junkanoo 100 percent ahead,” another caller pointed out. “He made the parade into a money-making scheme as opposed to a cultural event. The Minister made a mistake – though honest – and he has to pay the price.”
But there were others defending the Minister’s decision to “think outside the box.”
“It’s about time we tried something new and nothing beats a failure but a try,” said one caller, who described himself as a Junkanooer. “Everything is not guaranteed to work, but at least he had the nerve to try something different and something new. The last Junkanoo parade was one of the best in the history of the country.”
While another caller also agreed that the Minister’s effort to upgrade the Junkanoo parade was a good idea, he said that instead of paying just over a million dollars to rent the bleachers, “we might as well have bought them…at least some.”
According to one man, who admitted he and his family enjoyed the past Junkanoo parades, “the Minister tried his best.” He came with a lot of excitement, he said, and made an attempt to improve the overhaul atmosphere of the event, much more than any other minister attempted to do.
He added however that although he loved the bleachers, there were too many.
Minister Wisdom today tabled the Junkanoo report in the House of Assembly today.
By Macushla Pinder, The Bahama Journal
