Prime Minister Philip Davis yesterday dodged a question from the media on cost overruns by the Bahamas Public Parks and Beaches Authority, which in four years spent at least $141 million.
Since The Nassau Guardian reported the spending last week, the Davis administration has faced demands to account for the spending, particularly since a number of parks in New Providence remain in disrepair.
When asked by reporters for a comment on the controversial matter, Davis said, “No response.”
On Sunday, Director of Communications in the Office of the Prime Minister Latrae Rahming, speaking at a Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) press conference, defended the spending, claiming that the authority has been stimulating the economy and “subsidizing small and medium-sized businesses”.
Rahming said the PLP has continued what the Minnis administration did in that regard.
“The FNM’s response when they were asked why there were significant cost overruns with Beaches and Parks, they said that they were investing in small and medium-sized businesses, and the position of the government today is that we have continued that practice, ensuring that we stimulate the economy and show that those vendors get it,” Rahming said.
Criticizing the authority’s spending when the Free National Movement was in office, Davis said in 2022 it had operated as a slush fund.
But budget documents show a string of overspending under the PLP’s watch.
For the 2021/2022 fiscal year, the authority budgeted $15,200,000, but spent $24,697,497.
For the 2022/2023 fiscal year, $27,000,000 was budgeted, and the authority spent $27,499,087.
For the 2023/2024 fiscal year, $24,000,000 was initially budgeted, and the authority spent $33,236,200.
In 2024/2025, $24,000,000 was budgeted, and the authority had spent $31,044,898 by March 2025.
There is still no public information available on the authority’s expenditure for Q4 of the 2024/2025 fiscal year.
But according to the latest mid-year budget numbers, the authority had already spent $25,178,694 in the first half of the 2025/2026 fiscal year.
The government budgeted $29 million for the entire 2025/2026 fiscal year, meaning that there was less than $4 million left to spend for the second half of the year.
In comparison, the authority spent $84.3 million under the FNM during four years in office.
Executive Chairman Mckell Bonaby previously noted that audits of the authority were underway and promised a “fulsome conversation” and a “full account of everything which would have happened at parks and beaches.”
However, Bonaby has yet to provide any such report and on Nomination Day, he brushed off a question from reporters seeking answers about the authority’s increased spending.
