Rick Lowe
When Mr. Brave Davis Deputy Leader of the PLP broke with the story of some secret deal hatched in the Cabinet Office between Brookfield and Atlantis, it seemed almost believable.
Then Mr. Perry Christie, Leader of the PLP and Mr. Branville McCartney, Leader of the DNA, followed up about how bad all this was.
Not too far behind were Mr. James Smith, former Minister of Finance for the PLP and former Governor of the Central Bank of The Bahamas and Mr. Franklyn Wilson, businessman confirming and or adding new twists to the story and the Brookfield Myth was being cemented in our minds as fact.
Then the so called deal was called off and the myth all unravelled when Mr. Hubert Ingraham, Prime Minister, said that when the arrangement fell through was the first communication between Brookfield and his office.
Mind you, I do not agree that it was wrong for Mr. Christie to allow the property as collateral to assist with Dubai product either. He was given a proposal at the time the world economy was booming, and nobody knew we would face a world recession in just a few months. And we must not forget we are dealing with private property here, not Crown Land.
This all leads me to the question that if the PLP and DNA would go to such great lengths to create the Brookfield Myth instead of debating the issue from a policy perspective, i.e. offer ideas and suggestions on what they would do if they were in the decision making seat, how can we take them seriously any longer?
What will it take for our politicos to debate issues with solutions in mind instead of myth making? Surely this is possible in a country approaching four decades of self rule?
