I know that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) had been tabled and debated in the House of Assembly but I have no knowledge of it being made law; with that being said, I find it quite interesting that the Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), Mr. Bradley Roberts was able to freely reveal the personal financial information of Rickey Mackey, Free National Movement (FNM) candidate for North Eleuthera without repercussion or fear of any.  My main question being how did he [Mr. Roberts] come across the information and why would he feel ‘obligated’ to divulge such information at a political event in an attempt to question Mr. Mackey’s ‘suitability to hold public office’.

Let me first say that it I believe that if you are in debt to the government or anyone for that matter, you should be responsible enough to settle ones debts, circumstances permitting, especially if you are vying for public office.  So having Mr. Mackey settle his long overdue bill with customs is something that I feel that the Free National Movement (FNM) should have done their diligence in when vetting him as a candidate and made sure it was settled; but now we have reached a point where his private information has been made public by Mr. Roberts at a political event and we would like to know which ‘political garbage can’ he looked in for it or has the FOIA been made law when everyone was asleep to allow him access to these documents.

For me the warning signs began with Minister of Education, Jerome Fitzgerald making public the private correspondence of the Save the Bays organization without having to account for where he got the information from.  “My political garbage can”, is not an acceptable answer, well not to me, as it suggests that the “political garbage can” is the “waste land” that he calls his mind, but even with all these questions concerning the willful and unlawful dissemination of another person’s private information and the entire controversy surrounding the proposed “Spy Bill”, the Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party still sees fit to issue threats to further violate the constitutional right to privacy of a Bahamian citizen.

“Roberts: More to come for Mackey” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Following confirmation that Free National Movement (FNM) candidate for  North Eleuthera Rickey Mackey paid the $9,591 debt he owed to the Bahamas Customs Department in taxes dating back t 2002, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Bradley Roberts warned that there was ‘more to come’ for Mackey.

‘There is more to come’ Roberts told The Guardian.

‘When I start something that’s only the opening shot.’

‘There is more to come for Mr. Mackey’.

‘Tell him to tighten his seatbelt because it is coming.’

Roberts revealed the information at a rally in Eleuthera Friday night, calling into question Mackey’s suitability to hold public office.

Roberts released a letter written to comptroller of customs on April 18^th, 2013, stating. ‘I Rickey Mackey, of Harbour Island, Eleuthera, owe the Bahamas Customs Department $12,789.20 for Eleuthera Petroleum’.

Mackey then confirmed on Sunday that the difference was ‘some $9,000’.

Roberts said, ‘He should also pay interest for all those years he owes the government money as well.

‘When someone owe someone debt, they should pay it.”

It is remarkable that Mr. Roberts actually got a letter written to the comptroller, be it four years old, of Mr. Mackey acknowledging his debt and is now stating that there is more to come.  What  I do give Mr. Mackey wrong for here is not following up on the debt and seeing that it was settled.

I wonder is Mr. Roberts really wants to open this ‘pandora box’ as he seeks to apply for the job of official government tax collector and I actually encourage him to because there are many of us that would like to know the people that were bailed out by Resolve Bahamas and I personally really do not care which political organization that they are affiliated with.

I wonder if Mr. Big bad Brad is brave enough to reveal all the names of all persons that owes the government taxes at this very point in time?

Yes, go on ‘Big Bad Brad’, expose ALL the persons that owe the government taxes and make sure that they bring their bills current, because like you say “When someone owe someone debt, they should pay it.”  Or are you trying to convince the people of the Bahamas that everyone in the Progressive Liberal Party is debt free as it concerns the government to date?

The Progressive Liberal Party fails for one reason, it is their nature.

END