Hanna Martin, Moultrie go head to head in House
When parliamentarians met for their usual sitting in the House of Assembly on Wednesday, the elephant in the room – the forged signing of the $5.5 billion OBAN Energies heads of agreement – was clear however, members of the governing side refused to address it.
As sitting members of the Minnis administration deflected any attempts by members of the opposition to address the controversy, opposition Member of Parliament for Englerston Glenys Hanna Martin tried hard to be heard on the issue.
Hanna Martin, who just three weeks ago was suspended from Parliament, got into another heated exchange of words with House Speaker Halson Moultrie, as she accused the government of misleading the House.
Despite having given the speaker prior notice of her intent, the speaker said that according to the rules, she would not be allowed to continue and said the topic was a completely different matter.
“In any event, it is the ruling of the chair that leave is not granted for matter to be raised at this time,” Moultrie said.
It was anticipated that the government would address the looming issue of the signed agreement for the $5.5 billion project however, parliamentary proceeding continued without any government official broaching the issue.
The OBAN quagmire stems from the February 19 signing of the agreement where the company’s non-executive Chairman Peter Krieger, allegedly signed OBAN President Satpal Dhunna’s name, instead of his own – ultimately committing fraud.
According to Press Secretary Anthony Newbold, the agreement signed was ‘ceremonial’.
The Opposition has since demanded the official agreement be produced.
