Peter Nygard on Stem Cell Research and Therapy in The Bahamas

‘No personal interest in stem cell bill’

By Taneka Thompson
Guardian Senior Reporter
taneka@nasguard.com

Canadian fashion designer Peter Nygard yesterday said he has no self-serving interests in the government passing a law to govern stem cell research and therapy in The Bahamas.

Nygard said any advice Prime Minister Perry Christie has sought from him on stem cell research is due to his knowledge of the science and well-placed contacts within the international medical community.

Nygard, who said he uses stem cell therapy to slow the aging process, told reporters that the prime minister should be congratulated for advancing such “historic” legislation.

The Lyford Cay resident said he has given advice to numerous world leaders and helped set up laws in St. Kitts, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Panama.

Nygard said Christie approached him two years ago and asked his advice on possible opportunities for medical tourism in the country.

He said he told Christie that a stem cell research and therapy industry would make The Bahamas a world leader in the science.

“I said this will be a big coup for you if you could do it,” Nygard told reporters at his compound shortly after announcing his financial support of the upcoming Acklins regatta.

“I don’t know why anybody would paint that as doing it for me. I think he is doing for [Bahamian] people, for The Bahamas. If I can help and I will then that’s a whole different issue. There is nothing in it for me. This is not a money venture for me at all.

“There’s no promise to me. The promise that I made to him (Christie) is that I will do everything that I can to spur and bring like-minded people like myself to invest in this place to be the leading edge, to be the catalyst [to bring investments] here.”

On Friday, Christie confirmed that Nygard promised to bring experts in stem cell therapy and research to The Bahamas if the government passes legislation to govern the sector.

Christie said that Nygard approached him two years ago, while he was then leader of the opposition, and told him of his problems trying to find reputable stem cell treatment for his sick mother.

That ordeal prompted Nygard to pledge to bring top doctors and researchers in stem cell therapy to the country once there were laws in place, the prime minister said.

Two weeks ago, during the House of Assembly’s debate on a stem cell bill, Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis accused the government of “rushing” the law to appease Nygard.

However, this claim angered several government MPs who denied it.

Minnis said on Sunday the prime minister’s comments validated his concerns on the stem cell legislation.

“I was very shocked,” he told The Nassau Guardian. “What he (Christie) said is open for interpretation.”

Debate on the legislation is expected to resume when the House meets on Wednesday.

July 16, 2013

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

Peter Nygard is having too much to say in the business of the Bahamian people in The Bahamas

Pastor Wants Government Answer On Nygard Land

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

AN INFLUENTIAL church pastor is urging the government to make its position known as to whether billionaire Peter Nygard’s request to lease acres of Crown land will be granted.

 

Rev C B Moss, who is also a part of the Coalition to Protect Clifton Bay, insisted that answers are needed over the application especially as hundreds of Bahamians have waited for years to receive such an approval.

 

He was speaking to The Tribune after a video of himself engaged in an argument with Mr Nygard outside Mount Olive Church was posted on the internet. In it, Mr Nygard is accompanied by an entourage to the Meeting Street church claiming that he was seeking to squash the bad blood that existed between them.

 

However, Rev Moss suggested that his only issue was that the undertakings at Nygard Cay were robbing Bahamians of that to which they are entitled.

 

“Mr Nygard,” he said, “is having too much to say in the business of the Bahamian people. If he made a request to lease the land, he should wait and see what the government will do, but it seems as though he is badgering the government.

 

“One thing is certain, the government of the Bahamas needs to state to Bahamians what they will do regarding what belongs to us. Do you know how many people have made requests for Crown land and years later, and hundreds of people later, they haven’t heard one thing?”

 

Mr Nygard also suggested in the video that Rev Moss and Lyford Cay billionaire Louis Bacon were friends, which was the reason for Rev Moss’ opposition to the continuing development at the Cay.

 

But Rev Moss assured The Tribune that he has never met Mr Bacon nor has he ever advocated anything on his behalf.

 

“Nygard is all about bad mouthing people and that is anyone who goes against him. They are vilified. People all over social media networks have been tearing into me.

 

“It is all a smoke screen with people representing the Coalition made criminal.”

 

On its website, the Coalition to Protect Clifton Bay have claimed that Simms Point, or Nygard Cay, had allegedly “almost doubled in size” from 3.25 acres in 1984 – when Mr Nygard bought it – to 6.1 acres by 2012.

 

“This accreted Crown land reputedly has a value of between $25 to $30 million,” the Coalition alleged, suggesting that the land reclamation had negatively damaged the surrounding marine habitat and environment.

 

July 12, 2014

 

Tribune 242

 

Caribbean Blog International