In a tense, rare face-to-face meeting with a political reporter on the eve of the Bahamas’ upcoming general election, sitting Mount Moriah MP McKell Bonaby has stonewalled all questions about the controversial Bahamas Public Parks and Beaches Authority, as growing public outrage builds over the agency’s repeated, unaccountable overspending of public funds.
Bonaby, who filed his official nomination papers to seek re-election at Nassau’s Government High School while surrounded by cheering supporters from his Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), deflected all attempts at questioning about the spending scandal. Framing the nomination day as a unifying, optimistic moment for his campaign, he declined to address any questions about the parks authority, cutting off the interview abruptly. After stating “no further questions”, Bonaby walked away from the reporter, raising his hand in the PLP’s iconic three-finger gesture and shouting the party’s slogan.
Scrutiny of the public parks agency intensified dramatically this week, after local outlet The Nassau Guardian published an investigation exposing consistent budget overruns with no clear documentation of how allocated public funds have been spent. According to the outlet’s analysis of official budget documents, the agency spent $24.6 million in the 2021/2022 fiscal year – nearly 62 percent over its original $15.2 million budget. For the 2023/2024 fiscal cycle, overspending grew even larger: the agency expended more than $33 million against a $24 million approved budget. Total public allocations to the authority through December 2025 exceed $141 million, according to official budget projections.
The Bahamas Public Parks and Beaches Authority is tasked with managing and maintaining more than 220 public parks across New Providence, alongside public beaches, roadside green spaces, and public verges. As far back as last year, local residents and officials already raised widespread concerns about the deteriorating condition of many of these public facilities, a gap that has drawn even more attention amid revelations of massive overspending.
This is not the first time Bonaby has been pressed for transparency on the agency. Previously, the MP pledged to deliver full public accountability, promising a complete public accounting of all financial activity at the parks and beaches authority. To date, that promise has never been fulfilled.
Additional reporting from The Tribune this week has also revealed that Bonaby, who routinely ignores calls and messages from press inquiries, ranks among the most absent sitting members of parliament since the Davis administration took power in 2021. Official records show he has missed 52 sittings of the House of Assembly, attending just 73.2 percent of all scheduled parliamentary sessions.
Marvin Dames, Bonaby’s opposition challenger for the Mount Moriah seat, slammed the sitting MP’s refusal to address the spending scandal, saying the complete lack of accountability raises grave red flags for voters and that the Bahamian public has been failed by Bonaby’s leadership.