Facing a ghost from his past, outgoing Deputy Leader of the Free National Movement Dion Foulkes dealt head on with corruption charges levied against him while Minister of Education, as he delivered his address to delegates attending the party’s convention at the Wyndham Nassau Resort Thursday night.
Mr. Foulkes, who at times choked with emotion, said the accusations were nothing more than a diabolical brew of innuendoes, distortions and outright lies, as every single school repair contract was negotiated.
In 2001, the then opposition accused him of awarding school contracts in return for votes supporting his deputy leadership bid.
Although it has been nearly three years since the allegations surfaced, Mr. Foulkes felt the need to defend himself, particularly as the issue is still on the lips of some Bahamians, including former FNM Cabinet Ministers, Pierre Dupuch and Tennyson Wells.
“I remind this convention that up to this very hour, after inquiries and investigations, no evidence, no facts have been produced to support one single allegation of wrongdoing against me,” he said. “Not one.”
Mr. Foulkes pointed out that in 2001, the contract for school repairs were awarded in August, as they had been done in previous years, according to the established procedures of both the ministries of Education and the Public Works.
“Last year, these contracts were awarded around the same time, but this time, the bidding process was circumvented altogether, as every single contract was negotiated,” he pointed out. “In each case, payments to the contract were made after the required certification by two senior officers from the Ministry of Works and two senior officers from the Ministry of Education. And this process has nothing to do with the Minister of Education nor the Minister of Works.”
Mr. Foulkes took responsibility, however, for including a number of qualified FNM contractors to the Ministry of Public Works’ list of approved contractors.
Earlier this week, in an interview with the Bahama Journal, Mr. Dupuch said despite the party’s efforts to rebuild and reunite coming out of this week’s national convention, the FNM will perhaps remain disjointed.
Picking apart the party’s convention theme, “The Way Forward: United and Ignited,” Mr. Dupuch said while such words may sound good, the event is nothing more than a “farce.”
“It’s about time politicians started worrying about the needs of the country and things that make it tick, and get on with the job and stop all this flamboyant foolishness,” Mr. Dupuch said. “United and ignited sounds good, but I don’t think it will happen.”
While distancing himself from the party – Mr. Dupuch said he no longer considers himself a hardcore FNM member – he said he still shares many of the party’s principles.
“I still believe in the philosophies that were created by the FNM’s founders like Sir Cecil and Sir Kendal,” he said. “But, I do not go along with what the party is presently doing or any of their programmes.”
“When we were a part of the FNM, Mr. (Tennyson) Wells and I were not playing with people’s heads or playing for votes, but were very serious [about] certain contracts that disturbed us. We called for an investigation, which has yet to be done. I cannot support these people under such circumstances.”
Mr. Wells was doubtful that the party will emerge as a unified force coming out of the convention. Mr. Wells agreed that there are fundamental issues and allegations that key officials of the party have yet to address before they can move ahead.
He said the FNM continues on a “downward slide” by covering up wrongdoing and protecting its own to the detriment of both the party and the Bahamian people.”
“Until the broad leadership of the FNM is able to stand up and say that there were things that went wrong in the party that should be dealt with first, the FNM cannot grow,” he said. “But it is unfortunate that those persons who should take the lead in discipline, were the wrongdoers. And until they deal with this issue, they are only wasting their time.”
In an interview with the Bahama Journal Thursday, Montagu MP Brent Symonette said such issues were defeated on May 2, 2002. He said the party must now move on.
“If there were any serious, criminal or other issues,” he said, “the PLP’s silence over the past year goes to show that these were nothing more than political rhetoric. And that issue is now dead.”
Meanwhile, responding to detractors Wednesday night, party leader Tommy Turnquest told the Bahama Journal that he was confident that unity will be more than just another watchword of the convention.
Putting personal agendas aside, he said party officers are committed to charting a new course that would eventually lead to the FNM’s return to power.
At the convention Thursday night, Mr. Foulkes also took the opportunity to rebut allegations that his net worth had substantially increased during his term in office.
He added that to the contrary, his personal finances actually decreased from $1.4 million to $1.3 million.
Delivering the keynote address at the convention, Lucaya MP, Neko Grant, reminded delegates that although there lies some tough and challenging roads ahead, the FNM is well equipped and committed to going the distance.
However, he also highlighted, what he called the PLP government’s shortcomings.
“The economy of The Bahamas is in a bad state,” he said. “This is so because of a lack of performance by the government, which continues to make excuses.
“But the truth be told, when we came to office in August of 1992, we met far worse economical circumstances than they met in May of last year. But we realized that the people had elected us to perform, not make excuses and so instead of crying and complaining about the shambles we met the country in, we utilized our creative energy, set a course, developed a vision and made things happen.”
By Macushla Pinder, The Bahama Journal
