Senator to vote ‘yes’ on oil drilling referendum
By Travis Cartwright-Carroll
Guardian Staff Reporter
travis@nasguard.com
Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Senator Jerome Gomez said yesterday that he plans to vote yes when the government brings a referendum on whether or not the country should drill for oil.
Gomez said that on the January 28 gambling referendum he is not sure how he will vote, but he is more than certain how he will vote on the oil referendum.
Gomez said he is “convinced that oil is in The Bahamas, having worked for an oil company in the past”.
He made those remarks during his contribution to the debate on the Constitutional Referendum Amendment Bill. He voted in favor of the bill.
Before the May 7 general election then Opposition Leader Perry Christie drew headlines when he confirmed that he was a legal consultant for Davis & Co., the law firm that represented the Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC).
BPC wants government approval to drill an oil well in Bahamian waters by April 2013.
It was former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham who revealed Christie’s involvement with BPC.
Christie later said that his professional relationship with the law firm was severed “well before” the controversy erupted.
Gomez, who ran in Killarney during the election, was resident manager for BPC according to the company’s website. He has never publicly commented on that relationship since entering politics.
Dec 07, 2012
