More Than $141M Spent by Beaches and Parks Authority Since 2022

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NASSAU , BAHAMAS – The Bahamas Public Parks and Beaches Authority is under scrutiny again.

Budget documents revealing that the Authority spent more than 141 million dollars under the watch of the Davis administration.

Now, an administration that was once critical of spending by Beaches and Parks while in opposition finds itself facing the same criticism.

A review of yearly budget figures revealed increased spending since the Davis administration came to office, of more than 141 million dollars, up to December 2025.

According to budget documents, the Authority budgeted 15.2 million dollars for the 2021/2022 fiscal year, but spent just over 24 thousand dollars.

In the 2022/2023 fiscal year, 27 million was budgeted, and the Authority spent over 27 million dollars.

In the 2023/2024 fiscal year, 24 million was initially budgeted, and the Authority spent more than 33 million dollars.

Then in 2024/2025, 24 million dollars was budgeted, and the Authority had spent just over 31 million by March 2025.

As for this fiscal year, according to the latest mid-year budget figures, the Authority had already spent 25 million dollars.

When coming to office, the Progressive Liberal Party accused the Free National Movement of using the Authority as a slush fund when they held office.

Beaches and Parks Authority Chairman McKell Bonaby said back in 2022, revealing what he called alarming details in contracts issued under the Minnis administration.

McKell Bonaby – Executive Chairman, Bahamas Public Beaches and Parks Authority

“Every contract has to bear four signatures: the contractor’s signature, the witness signature, the executive chairman’s signature, and the hard secretary’s signature. When those signatures are fixed and penned to a contract, it is valid and binds the authority. The sweep of contracts were only signed by the former chairman.”

That former chairman is the current FNM Deputy Leader, Shanendon Cartwright.

In 2021, the Davis administration launched an investigation into the Authority’s affairs. Cartwright maintained his innocence from the start that March.

Shanendon Cartwright – Former Chairman, Bahamas Public Beaches and Parks Authority

“Again, do you stand on the premise that you did nothing wrong? I stand on that promise. I would have made a statement in the House of Assembly a couple weeks ago, and that’s all I wish to say on the matter.”

By January 2025, Cartwright said a probe into the Authority had cleared his name.

Current chair, Bonaby, has been mostly silent.

Back in June, during the budget debate, he didn’t outline or account for the spending of the Authority or why it exceeded its budget in the 2024/2025 fiscal year, only telling reporters months later it may be a matter of semantics, and that the government decides what it wants to do in terms of reallocation at the mid-year budget.

That too has come and gone, and still nothing.