Vouchers distributed not long before the May 12 general election were issued as part of the Davis administration’s ongoing Hurricane Dorian relief initiatives, according to Minister of Finance Michael Halkitis, but he did not explain why the ones given to Abaco residents carried the name of Bradley Fox, who was the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) candidate for Central and South Abaco, and is today the MP for the area.
The matter has remained controversial weeks after the general election. In April, The Tribune reported that the CEO of Premier Importers advised that the more than $200,000 in vouchers were paid for by the Ministry of Finance. The newspaper showed an image of one of the vouchers dated April 10, 2026, which stated it was from Fox.
Halkitis had promised to address the matter in the recent budget debate in the House of Assembly, but failed to do so.
On Friday, a reporter asked him about the issue on the sidelines of an event he attended.
He responded, “The point to make is that the issue was raised I think because the leader of the opposition says he saw a report in a newspaper, and so that speaks to the transparency of the process. The vouchers were obtained, they went through the procurement process, and it’s a part of a longstanding government program in Abaco, [and] in Grand Bahama.
“Individuals are still impacted or still feeling the impact of [Hurricane] Dorian, and so there’s a program to do small home repairs. It’s also here in New Providence where individuals may not have the wherewithal to repair their homes and throughout the islands. I know in Inagua and other islands these programs are ongoing.
“The fact of the matter is, the issue was raised, I think, because of the transparency of the process where if you look in the newspaper you see the March report, the monthly report of the Procurement Board printed in the newspaper showing that this issue went through the Procurement Board. I think they may have other issues as to the method of some of the distribution. I can’t speak to that.”
But the issue was raised weeks before the March procurement report was publicized in the official gazette at the end of May.
Further, the Premier Importers vouchers were not in the March report as Halkitis suggested in his response.
What was in the March report was $900,000 in additional vouchers under the heading “Voucher Building Materials”.
The report shows that the Ministry of Finance awarded a $150,000 contract to Cartwright Building Supplies on Skyline Drive.
It awarded a $150,000 contract to Pinder’s Enterprise on Mackey Street.
It awarded a $150,000 contract to Hanson Building Materials on East Street South.
It awarded a $200,000 contract to FYP LTD. on Wulff Road.
And it awarded a $250,000 contract to 21st Century Building and Hardware on Palm Beach Street.
It is unclear who received the more than $1 million in vouchers.
The voucher contracts in the March report all went to competitive bidding, that report shows. It is unclear how the Premier Importers voucher contract was awarded.
Even after he was asked repeatedly during the budget debate to address directly why taxpayer funded vouchers were issued in the name of a PLP candidate, Prime Minister Philip Davis declined to do so.
“There’s no way a government should be able to take $200,000 or $900,000 out of the Treasury and use it for political purposes to put in the hands of someone who is not a member of the government to distribute in order to get votes,” Opposition Leader Michael Pintard said.
“The prime minister has admitted on his feet, they engaged in $200,000, $900,000 misappropriation of funds, Madam Speaker. That’s what the facts are. He admitted it on his feet”.
