Mitchell fires back at Lloyd

Mitchell fires back at Lloyd
From left: Minister of Education, Jeff Lloyd and Progressive Liberal Party Chairman, Senator Fred Mitchell.

Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Senator Fred Mitchell revealed Wednesday that he has hard evidence proving Minister of Education Jeff Lloyd misspoke, when he suggested that Mitchell lied to Bahamians concerning the government’s refusal to acknowledge and accept a proposal for infrastructural upgrades to an educational facility in Fox Hill.

“Lies, absolute pure lies, lies,” is how Lloyd described Mitchell’s assertions that the government has ignored a private donor’s proposal to execute infrastructural upgrades at Sandilands Primary School.

The proposed upgrades would, according to Mitchell, include building an administration block at Sandilands Primary School, while converting the current administration building into a pre-school.

“All the minister has to do is check the records,” Mitchell said in a press statement yesterday.

“I have an email trail relating to this matter in communication with the minister of education that goes back to October of last year. We will really see who is a liar.”

“The indecorous language that these new ministers use in public doesn’t frighten me. The minister of education should retract any statement that suggested that what I said was a lie.  He knows better.

“I wrote him a note this morning (Wednesday) and asked him if he had taken leave of his senses. They must not get too big for their britches or forget themselves, or there must be hell to pay.”

Lloyd went on record Tuesday to note that his ministry has never received any proposal for upgrades at Sandilands Primary School.

“Anybody who wants to make a donation to the Ministry of Education must come through the minister of education. If there is any approval for any building to be done, it must come across the minister’s desk and I haven’t seen any,” said Lloyd.

However, Mitchell retorted that Lloyd’s ministry “had previously agreed to assist in the costs of the proposal. They have reneged on the deal.

“No matter their issues with the messenger, they must build the new administration building and the pre-school. It is badly needed.”

Mitchell said he has checked with the private donor and confirmed that the offer “still stands”.

Eyewitness News attempted to contact Lloyd for a response to Mitchell’s assertions.

He was unavailable for comment up to the publishing of this article.

About Theo Sealy

Theo Sealy is an award-winning journalist who serves as senior broadcast reporter and weekend TV news anchor at Eyewitness News. He has achieved several career milestones, including his work as a field contributor with CNN, his coverage of four consecutive general elections, his production of several docuseries and his Bahamas Press Club Awards win for “Best Television News Story” in 2018.