FNM Demands Full Accounting In Permit Matter:

By Tameka Lundy -
Nassau, Bahamas:

The Opposition Free National Movement is urging the government to release a thorough accounting of the process under which American celebrity Anna Nicole Smith received approval for permanent residency in The Bahamas, in the continuation of an ongoing saga.

The FNM made the call on Monday night apparently undeterred by the declarations of Prime Minister Perry Christie and Labour and Immigration Minister Shane Gibson that the latter did not act improperly in granting the approval to Ms. Smith.

The FNM released another statement on the matter following the Prime Minister’s vehement defence of the Immigration Minister and Mr. Gibson’s labeling of his opponents’ claims as a "vicious lie conceived in ignorance and spread in wickedness by the FNM."

"We are therefore calling on Prime Minister Perry Christie to give a full and complete accounting of this whole affair including the dates of the application, its consideration and approval, the rationale behind the approval, and to whom the cheque was delivered and where," the statement said.

"No one has accused the minister of anything illegal but we do accuse him of abusing his ministerial office in order to accommodate a personal friend who might not otherwise have been approved for this privilege and certainly not in such record time," it added.

The FNM last week claimed that Minister Gibson had personally collected a $10,000 cheque from Ms. Smith’s home to pay for her permanent residency approval and former FNM Cabinet minister Dr. Earl Deveaux claimed that she had been given preferential treatment. It was another angle to Ms. Smith’s highly publicized seclusion in The Bahamas following the tragic death of her son Daniel Wayne Smith two weeks ago, days after she had given birth to a baby girl.

Minister Gibson explained following the first round of allegations that he is simply working fast and furiously to put in place new strategies to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in dealing with immigration matters.

He admitted in a Bahama Journal interview that he knew the reality TV star and former Playboy playmate personally.

The FNM insisted in its latest statement that the minister has missed the point completely in the matter of the rushed approval of the application for permanent residence which the party insisted was granted in less than three weeks.

"That is utter nonsense and so is the Minister’s incredible assertion that it is impossible for him to interfere with the process relating to the application, consideration and granting of permanent residence," the FNM’s statement said.

"It is possible for him to interfere in this process and the FNM is saying that that is exactly what he did. What we now want to know is the full extent of that interference."

According to the Opposition, it is confident that the Bahamian people do not believe that this quick approval was as a result of improved efficiencies put in place by the Minister at the Department since Ms. Smith is his personal friend.

"That is why he facilitated her jumping the queue. And that is wrong," the party said.

"The more we hear about this affair the more convinced we are that there is more to it than meets the eye – and what meets the eye is worrying enough."

Minister Gibson continues to maintain that there is nothing illegal, immoral or unethical about the matter. He insisted that there has been proper accounting of the payment cheque which was made out to the Public Treasury and deposited on Friday past.

27 September 2006

bahamian politics