Amidst a “tangled web” of developments concerning 15 impounded Korean fishing vessels, Opposition parliamentarians yesterday charged that Bahamas Agricultural Industrial Corporation chairman Sidney Stubbs was embroiled in “conflict of interest,” and should be fired.
Led by Senator Tommy Turnquest, FNM party leaders held a press conference at Potter’s Cay dock on Tuesday demanding answers from the government on what exactly is happening with the Korean/Bahamian fishing venture.
Taking “the strongest possible exception to what’s going on in North Andros,” and noting the presence of 15 45-foot boats at Morgan’s Bluff, Andros, Mr Turnquest said, “We are aware of the 200 foot mothership called the Floating Factory on it’s way.”
Describing the ongoing situation as a “tangled web”, Mr Thompson urged the government to “come clean,” announcing, “We must ensure that Sidney Stubbs is fired because he has proven to be unworthy of public office.”
He questioned how the situation was arrived at where, “the boats are landed in Grand Bahama, (and) were able to be cleared and taken to North Andros with the mother ship on its way. How does a government corporation like BAIC get involved in that without the government knowing?”
Livelihoods ‘threatened’
Robert Sweeting Member of Parliament for South Abaco and Shadow Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, spoke out on behalf of Bahamian fishermen.
“From Abaco to Spanish Wells, to Andros to Bimini, from Deadman’s Cay to Potter’s Cay,” he said, “fishermen are asking whether or not they have been sold out by the PLP Government to foreign Korean interests.”
Fishermen throughout The Bahamas see what is being proposed “as a major threat to their livelihood,” Mr Sweeting said. “If this present administration were to allow these boats to fish in the Bahamas with cyanide, it would be a sad and tragic day not only for the fishermen, but for the Bahamian people across this Bahamas.”
‘Illegal’ arrangement
With the point raised that the question was not so much about competition, but about the sustainability of the environment, it was noted that, “The Pacific is now fished out and depleted; we don’t want that to happen in our fishing grounds which provide economic activity for a lot of our citizens.”
Mr. Sweeting said that the government agency charged with promoting Bahamian businesses “has facilitated an apparently illegal arrangement that will allow foreign fishing in The Bahamas.” He stressed that fishing has always been reserved for Bahamians with all previous governments adhering to that policy.
Cyanide danger
More to the issue at hand, he warned, the “method of fishing proposed by these Korean vessels is potentially more destructive than longline fishing. Cyanide will stun the fish, enabling live catch. The cyanide will destroy the coral reef systems and marine environment.”
The specified form of fishing with the use of cyanide will devastate the natural environment of The Bahamas, he said, and in the process, “killing reefs, sea beds, and the marine life that support the creation of our beautiful beaches, creeks and seas. Under no circumstances should it be permitted.”
It was news to the party, he said, that the fishing permit had been granted, “which will, if upheld, subject the already endangered fish stocks of the Bahamas to industrialized harvesting processes.”
Approval process violated?
“Under the Central Bank Act, it is illegal for any Bahamian, without Central Bank approval, to borrow foreign currency,” Mr Sweeting said, in addition to it being “unlawful for a non-Bahamian entity to invest in The Bahamas without government approvals.”
Bahamians do not know the “details of the shady transaction,” the South Abaco MP said, and “even if the Korean company had transferred foreign currency to its Bahamian subsidiary, Neneka (Bahamas) Ltd., for the purpose of ‘lending’ that money to the BAIC-associated company, Netsiwill Holdings Ltd., such an investment by the foreign company would, at least, require the approvals of the National Economic Council or Cabinet.”
The Bahamian people, he continued, demand to know “exactly which approvals were obtained by BAIC, Netsiwill, or Neneka (Bahamas) Ltd., before the magical appearance of 15 foreign fishing boats in Morgan’s Bluff, Andros, with the imminent arrival of a 200-foot long Mothership within the next few days.”
Why need to impound?
Mr Sweeting questioned why the boats were impounded if the lawful approvals were obtained beforehand.
The people, he said, “have a right to know all the circumstances surrounding the apparent flagrant disregard for the National Investment Policies, procedures and Laws of The Bahamas.”
He further questioned, “who said or wrote to which officials in the Department of Fisheries and the Department of Immigration, to mislead them, and to allow the surprising and shocking entry of these fishing boats in Bahamian waters, without any warning.”
In addition to the unanswered questions, Mr. Sweeting said, that “there are many others tending to point to the insidious practices of fronting, influence peddling, and corruption among paid employees of government agencies.”
Ubiquitous ‘consultant’
He questined the status of Erlin Williams, who was fired as a BAIC consultant, re-appeared on ‘secondment’ from Bahamas Information Services, and now is said to be the chief executive officer of Netsiwill Holdings, Ltd.
The South Abaco MP also noted that Mr. Williams was also a member of the BAIC delegation, “whose $52,000 junket to China had to be paid by Bahamian taxpayers. Now he has announced that he is a direct beneficiary of the investment ‘pinpointed’ by BAIC under the leadership of his close associate, Sidney Stubbs, the MP for Holy Cross.”
How could a paid consultant “ethically or lawfully have parlayed his government job to such direct personal advantage?” Mr Sweeting queried.
Call for public inquiry
The FNM leaders said that the Bahamian people demanded to know whether any inducements were directly or indirectly, promised, given or extended to any other paid officials, board members or public servants employed at BAIC or any other government agency.
Mr. Sweeting also called on Mr. Stubbs to state which minister had “victimized” him.
“There have simply been too much controversy, and too many backroom dealings, accusations, charges, serious suggestions, and allegations in connection with the operation of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation since the PLP government took office 18 months ago, and particularly since the present executive chairman has been in place at BAIC,” he said.
In light of all that was taking place, the MP said, the government should hold a public inquiry and prosecute “those in violation of the laws of The Bahamas , including the Central Bank Act, the Fisheries Regulations, and others, with the application of the strongest penalties of fines and imprisonment the law allows.”
Mr Sweeting called for a ban on such vessels and fishing operations.
“The Free National Movement government enacted legislation that outlawed long-line fishing, and implicitly outlawed all forms of industrialized harvesting of our native fish stocks,” he said.
By Jimenita Swain, The Nassau Guardian
