NASSAU, BAHAMAS- Opposition leader Michael Pintard has accused the Davis administration of “deliberately” hiding legally mandated monthly fiscal reports from the public.
Pintard said in a statement, “The Davis Administration has gotten to a point where it seems clear that they are deliberately hiding legally required reports from The Bahamian people. By the Public Finance Management Act – first enacted in 2021 with a revised version in 2023 – the government is to publish monthly and quarterly budget reports within four weeks of the end of the reporting period. This law was put in place to ensure that the government updates the Bahamian taxpayer regularly on how they are collecting and spending the people’s money.”
Pintard noted that the government is now six reports late, with their last published report being for May 2023.
“By now, we should have seen the June, July, August, and September monthly budget reports, as well as the fourth quarter report for last fiscal year and the first quarter report for this fiscal year. There are only two possibilities: Either the Ministry of Finance doesn’t have this information to produce the reports, or the Ministry of Finance has the information but the Prime Minister, as Minister of Finance, is refusing to ensure that the reports are published. Because June was four months ago, we are convinced that the Ministry of Finance by now has completed that report, as well as the reports for the ensuing months,” said Pintard.
He continued, “True to form, the Prime Minister is hiding this information from the Bahamian people because perhaps it does not suit his PR narratives. What is it that our Prime Minister and Minister of Finance want to hide from the Bahamian people? Is there something about the tax revenue levels, the excessive spending, the deficit, and debt levels that this PLP government does not want to reveal? By now the people of The Bahamas are on to this PLP. They are big on talk but are short on action. They have zero interest in accountability and transparency and will deliberately ignore the law and hide legally required information from the Bahamian people whenever it suits their purpose.”
