by Adrian Gibson
First published in The Tribune on Monday, November 6, 2006.
AS the general election approaches, Prime Minister Perry Christie’s administration seems to be falling apart at the seams, as yet another member of his band appears to have been caught with his ‘pants down’.
Youth, Sports and Housing Minister Neville Wisdom, whose junkanoo bleachers botch-up should have ensured his demotion to the back-bench four years ago, has apparently been fortuitously recorded (by his own fault) making disparaging and belligerent remarks about The Tribune’s quest for information pertaining to the construction of government homes and sub-divisions.
On previous occasions, Mr Wisdom said he would provide the information requested of his ministry, claiming that he was concerned about being open when public funds were spent.
However, after more than six months and letters of request that were handed directly to Mr Wisdom and fellow ‘conversationalist’, permanent secretary Leila Greene, The Tribune was still in pursuit of the requested documents.
Further on, in a chat with Tribune reporter Paul Turnquest, Mr Wisdom stressed that he had nothing to hide. In the same conversation the minister told Mr Turnquest that he had contacted him to clarify anything he wanted to know due to “purity of his intentions.”
He told Paul that he prided himself on being “above board”, declaring that “this minister is not prepared to prostitute his character for politics or for money.”
After his conversation with the reporter, Mr Wisdom attempted to leave a voicemail for The Tribune, but botched switching off his conference call button, thereby leaving a most ‘interesting’ conversation on record.
During the Wisdom/Greene chat, Mr Wisdom apparently avowed that the “last thing” on his mind was to fulfil The Tribune’s request. He said that “they can write whatever they want to write”.
Mr Wisdom and Ms Greene went on to query the reporter’s smartness, degradingly referring to him as a “boy” and implying that the press was not worthy of their attention, except in instances where they can “do things for you”.
Ms Greene also claimed the reporter was “too junior” to question either herself or the minister. The minister concurred, insinuating that they should only have a reporter that they could manipulate — “let’s still have a reporter, who you know, let’s still have a reporter who could do things for you.”
Mrs Greene also said: “The minister trying to encourage (Paul), trying to be a mentor, give him a little play and he being rude. How you gonna call somebody and tell them you come to investigate them…. open up your books?”
Based upon the transcript of the conversation, not only should the minister and Mrs Greene purchase a grammar book, but it appears they may have both caught foot-in-mouth disease, having inadvertently indicated their intention to give reporters the ‘run around’.
With their recorded expressions of disdain, these highly paid public servants have shown their true colours – that is, that they believe they are far too superior to speak to any ‘small fry’ who they presume are beneath them.
No wonder certain permanent secretaries and ministers never return the media’s calls!
After the ‘conversationalists’ comments were initially disclosed, Mr Wisdom was reported as unreservedly saying that he was not prepared to allow any member of the press to access files at the Ministry of Housing.
Mr Wisdom said: “That is improper! If there is specific information that you want, then you request the information that you want.”
Firstly, the minister knows The Tribune has already formally requested the information it sought – yet nothing has been produced.
But, whatever happened to Mr Wisdom’s keenness that he had nothing to hide? Why is the minister flip-flopping, telling The Tribune that he will provide the information but behind their backs he is singing a different carol?
How is it that Mr Wisdom could tell a reporter that he supported being transparent and would not “prostitute his character for politics or money”, but then turns around and tells his permanent secretary that “he ain’t gonna get what he trying to get”?
How is it that Mr Wisdom could say that he would not jeopardise his character for politics, but then claim the reporter’s presence at a government-built sub-division covering a visit by FNM parliamentarians was “political”?
As it relates to the expenditure of public funds, why is Neville Wisdom attempting to “flam” reporters? I am always befuddled when a politician thinks that the public doesn’t deserve to know certain details, becoming too self-important and full of himself! Politicians, particularly in this government, have maintained a sickening code of secrecy, being two-faced and some portraying themselves as nothing more than ‘flam artists’ intent on looking good publicly.
Almost two weeks ago, the FNM accused the PLP of using its housing programme to “play politics”. Here, the FNM lambasted the PLP for giving house keys to prospective home owners in the newly-built Excellence Gardens sub-division, saying many of the homes had no electricity. After visiting one of the disgruntled home owners on October 20, the FNM claimed that huge cracks were in almost every wall and throughout most of the flooring of the home.
The FNM claimed: “Shockingly, several minutes after the tour of the home, Minister Wisdom travelled to the sub-division to scold the homeowner and to question her as to why she would give permission for the press and representatives of the opposition political party to enter her home.”
It was this visit to the sub-division that Paul Turnquest covered that had the minister on the defensive, even though Mr Turnquest was simply reporting on the complaints of residents who objected to their lack of utilities after months of occupation.
Due to his visit, Mr Turnquest was told by permanent secretary Leila Greene that he should have sought written permission before visiting residents of the sub-division.
Why does Mr Turnquest need permission from some bureaucrat to visit the PRIVATE home of a resident within the aforementioned sub-division? Who the heck does Mr Wisdom and his permanent secretary perceive themselves to be?
Now that Neville Wisdom is embroiled in another debacle, the public may need to be reminded that this same minister, who seems reluctant to give the press information on the expenditure of public funds, was at the helm of the ministry of culture when our cultural festival — junkanoo — was changed from a much anticipated affair to one engulfed in controversy.
How can we possibly forget the bleacher scandal and, as letter writer Kevin Harris noted in 2004, the contract with C3 that had supposedly gone out to tender but was never publicly signed.
As it relates to the unnecessary withholding of information concerning housing contracts and the lack of an open tendering system, the public will begin to question whether this is due to the government’s possible awarding of contracts along party lines or to other persons “padding” certain contracts to inflate them beyond the actual price of the job being done.
In the November 1, 2006, edition of The Bahama Journal, chairman of the public accounts committee Brent Symonette claimed that the government has been dragging its feet in producing important financial accounts, leaving the committee with documents dated in 2003.
“Some members of the media asked for accounts from the Ministry of Housing. You’ll find that the Opposition asked for those same accounts almost a year ago and still has not received them in Parliament, so there are delays all over the place,” he said.
And so, how is the government spending the public’s money and what are they hiding?
As for Neville Wisdom and his two-faced comments, it appears he has joined the line of PLP political grave-diggers and “self-assassins”. Last week, when I was notified of the minister’s apparent slip, it was astonishing to hear his disingenuous remarks.
Mr Wisdom’s attitude of entitlement and intolerance, shows that he has apparently become “too big for his britches”, seemingly in an attempt to deceive the press and the public.
With several of his ministers becoming embroiled in scandals and controversy, and falling like a row of rickety dominoes, PM Christie’s political survival may also be at stake. Mr Christie, it is my opinion that you must request Neville Wisdom’s resignation.
