“Bad mouthing of our country shows that common sense is not common,” said Opposition and Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Philip Davis yesterday.
In a statement, Davis lambasted Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis on the heels of statements made by the nation’s leader, who addressed the Eighth Summit of the Americas meeting in Lima, Peru.
“He has been to South America and now in Europe and at each stop along the way, he told the world that The Bahamas is a corrupt place in which to do business,” Davis said.
“To support his unfounded allegations of a corrupt country, he claimed that $200M was lost to corruption. The prime minister cannot make such an assertion without saying on what empirical data he bases this statistic or statement.
“The prime minister’s conduct is inexcusable and inexplicable.”
To this end, Davis has asked Dr. Minnis to provide evidence for his allegations.
“I have said this to him before, The Bahamas is the least corrupt country in the region. The international community accepts that this is so,” he said.
“Instead of providing the world with a steady diet of negative news – in a forum where he is supposed to be promoting The Bahamas as a safe place in which to invest – the prime minister could very easily talk about Baha Mar, our pristine beaches and turquoise waters and our friendly people.
“I urge him to stop it.
“Say good things about The Bahamas not bad things. You are the country’s prime minister, not a foreign agent. You should be our chief promoter. I urge his colleagues to put a brake on his propensity to spread bad news and urge him to spread the good news about our country.”
The prime minister and a delegation of Bahamian officials attended the Eighth Summit of The Americas April 13 and 14.
The group landed in London late Monday night to attend the 25th session of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) April 16 through 20.
The delegation is expected to return home April 22.
