Mr. Wisdom on Friday night dismissed such claims οΎ– but not totally.
“No, that is not true, not to my knowledge,” Mr. Wisdom said.
A government source told The Guardian that after Friday’s meeting, Prime Minister Christie said he would respond directly to Junkanoo leaders and would take direct responsibility for all negotiations regarding the parades. “So, Wisdom have no hand in this at all,” the source said.
When asked whether he knew of the prime minister taking over all negotiations or decisions regarding the parades, Mr. Wisdom said Mr. Christie functions from a position of “consultation.” He said that if the prime minister intended to take over Junkanoo, it would be announced publicly.
“I am saying that he has not informed me of that yet if it is the case, and to the best of my knowledge, the prime minister would probably advise me of this before he would have told whoever your source is.”
Mr. Wisdom said he does not have an ego and is a “team player.” He said “collective responsibility” exists and therefore decisions being made regarding Junkanoo are decided by Cabinet, of which he is a member.
“Whatever decisions the prime minister makes, I respect, no question about it. Not only am I a member of the prime minister’s Cabinet, but if you check you will find that I am also a very close friend of his and I respect him and love him as a brother.”
“Whatever he does, I have the kind of confidence in him, that whatever he does is well done. At this point, he has said nothing to me, but if that is his conclusion, I certainly respect that and I have no problem.”
If the rumours are true, it would be the second time this week that the prime minister had taken on responsibilities from senior parliamentarians. On Wednesday, Mr. Christie assumed responsibility for The Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corp., in addition to his responsibilities as prime minister and minister of finance.
Junkanoo groups have been increasingly upset that Mr. Wisdom did not include them in negotiations for a five-year contract to Bahamian-owned C3 to provide seating and ticketing for the parades. The groups are proposing to implement an administrative structure to control 20 per cent of the profits the first year, 40 per cent the second, 60 the third, 80 the fourth and 100 per cent the last year.
Mr. Wisdom said that no amendments could be made because the contract with C3 was final, but the government source said that was untrue.
The source said Prime Minister Christie on Friday promised Junkanoo leaders their discussions would not be leaked to the media, until Saturday when he meets with principals from C3 to further negotiate the contract.
“He (Mr. Christie) told them that they couldn’t go to the press, because once the contract is final it would be public knowledge, anyway, (because) it’s the public’s money. They (leaders) also put a gag order on Wisdom and told him that he couldn’t go to the press either,” the source said.
The source said group leaders agreed the meeting with Mr. Christie brought them closer to a resolution on the issue than they had been with Mr. Wisdom during meetings on Wednesday and Thursday.
Prime Minister Christie is again expected to attend the fourth meeting scheduled for this afternoon, followed by a press conference on Monday.
Mr. Wisdom said after meeting with NJC leaders on Friday some “resolutions” were met, but it was agreed no one would speak to the press until Monday.
“We will meet again during a meeting at 12 noon (today) and after this meeting, we will be in a better position to give you some clarification to the resolution on all of the concerns, but suffice it to say, we are all on one accord and we are going to have a wonderful parade come Christmas and New Year’s Day,” he said.
A Junkanoo group leader told The Guardian Wednesday that it seemed as if Mr. Wisdom was pushing for a resolution in order to satisfy his Cabinet colleagues.
“What he wanted from us was to be able to go to Cabinet (on Thursday) to say that the matter was resolved,” but that did not happen, the group leader said.
As he was last year, Mr. Wisdom is again being criticized for his handling of the Junkanoo parades, about two weeks before youngsters hit Bay Street for the Junior Junkanoo parade.
And again, the Opposition and Junkanooers are demanding that Mr. Wisdom resign.
In a statement, Free National Movement leader Senator Tommy Turnquest said:
“Before he cost the taxpayers more unnecessary spending of our scarce resources, and, particularly, before the minister, through his arrogance, misjudgments and poor decisions completely destroys the national culture of Junkanoo… the prime minister must do the decent thing expected by the Bahamian people and fire Wisdom.”
Three other contracts are currently under negotiation, including tenders to provide portable toilets, perimeter fencing and tents.
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
