The Supreme Court has ordered the Progressive Liberal Party to pay the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas (BCB) nearly a quarter of a million dollars in outstanding debt.
In utter contempt for the legal process in The Bahamas, no PLP representative even showed up for the court case.
Legal experts say the failure to appear was merely an unethical legal ploy that will allow them to have the default judgement overturned. PLP Deputy leader Phillip ‘Brave’ Davis, known as a “drug dealer’s lawyer” has allegedly used this ploy many times in the past.
The judgment names PLP leader Perry Christie and party chairman Bradley Roberts as the second and third defendants.
The amount outstandsing by the PLP, $247,974.16, is the largest sum owed by any customer to the corporation. Interest is accruing at 14 percent per annum.
The Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, commonly known as ZNS, has been trying to collect money from the deadbeat political party for years.
In 2007, ZNS took the PLP to court to force payment of expenses incurred during the 2007 general election campaign. The paty paid ZNS $20,000 and promised to make installement patyments on the remiander of their balance.
Of course, they never made another payment. Legal experts say they only made the first payment to thwart further legal proceedings, a common bill-ducking technique.
PLP Chairman, Bradley Roberts, known for his belligerence, released a statement yesterday saying, “The PLP is aware that there has been a claim against the party by the Broadcasting Corporation arising from our last national convention.”
The PLP’s main branch apparently owes ZNS $207,824. Other amounts are owed by various branches of the party, which one U.S. official called a “criminal organization”, after the party treasurer, Sidney Cambridge, was indicted in the United States on money laundering charges i September, 2009.
Cambridge’s replacement, Craig Butler, quit the post and left the party earlier this year.
BCB Chairman Michael Moss said that ZNS has placed the PLP on a “cash-only” basis until the past due balance is paid. Having to pay up-front could seriously hamper the party’s political campaign leading up to the next general election.
The amount owed by the PLP is a substantial portion of the broadcasting company’s receivables as the corporation continues to depend on a government subsidy to help cover its operations.
In 2010, General Manager of the Broadcasting Corporation Edwin Lightbourn said he wrote letters to every PLP chairman since 2007 requesting payment of the past due balance. But highlighting the unprofessinal manner of the PLP, no chairman had ever even dignified his letters with a response.
In court documents, ZNS claims they sent 18 letters to PLP headquarters between August 22, 2007 and June 16, 2011, demanding payment, but the PLP failed to pay one red cent.
Last year, the Nassau Guardian reported on the outstanding debt and was told by party Chairman Roberts that the PLP simply didn’t have the money.
Roberts admitted the PLP was a deadbeat organization saying that, considering all the bills the PLP owes, the $236,000 owed to ZNS was a drop in the bucket.
“It isn’t the largest amount of money that the party owes,” Roberts said.
