Mr. Key said Mr. Adderley should have done his homework before making the statements he made on the popular talk show.
Mr. Adderley suggested that Mr. Key had been competing with Senator Philip Galanis and his partners for governmen land in Abaco.
“I won’t say anything derogatory about Mr. Key,” Mr. Adderley said. “Mr. Key knows better than I know why he did and said what he did and said. Number two, I don’t agree with him [that the government lacks leadership and direction]. I have the right not to agree with him. But I’ve watched over the last week, the newspapers and the FNM turned him into a national icon of some kind or a national hero of some kind.”
He added, “It appears to me that Mr. Galanis and [Island Fresh Dairy President] Mr. Gary Sawyer and Mr. Key were in two camps after the same piece of land to do the same thing on it. Yet, they only worry about Mr. Galanis and conflict of interest and [not] Mr. Key and conflict of interest.”
He was responding to questions raised by the show’s host, Wendall Jones.
Mr. Key’s resignation was made public two weeks ago, but he said he resigned from January 10. The prime minister said he never received the original letter of resignation.
In his response to what Mr. Adderley had to say, Mr. Key said, “I re-iterate what I previously stated that my only interest with the other group was to introduce them to the government as they had expressed an interest in conducting a feasibility study on the viability of a dairy farm here in Abaco.”
He added, “I accompanied the group to Nassau and met with the Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, really as a courtesy, and if that is considered a conflict of interest, then yes, I am guilty.”
Mr. Key said, “If Mr. Adderley or anyone else has evidence to the contrary, then they should come forth and present it to the Bahamian people and let them decide.”
But Mr. Adderley said on the show he did not think that that Mr. Key or Mr. Galanis was involved in conflict of interest.
Last week, the Free National Movement sought to link Mr. Key’s resignation from the Senate to Mr. Galanis’ involvement in the dairy company, intimating that both Senators were fighting for approval for similar deals.
The FNM has also accused Mr. Galanis of using his influence in government to secure an approval for $30 million worth of government land for the project.
But Mr. Galanis has said that he is no longer a partner in Island Fresh Dairy.
The Bahama Journal
