The Tribune

BY NEIL HARTNELL

TRIBUNE Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

PARLIAMENT’S spending watchdog will today probe whether $1.5m worth of building vouchers were used to influence voters in the May 12 general election as the Opposition’s leader voiced suspicions the National Investment Fund’s $265m may have been used for similar purposes.

Michael Pintard told Tribune Business he did not accept the Government’s explanation that the drawdown of the Fund’s $265.3m, leaving a remaining balance of jiust $200,000 at end-March 2026, was to finance multiple Family Island airport upgrades. Besides the short three-month window in which this was done, he again accused the Davis administration of a lack of transparency by failing to identify the specific airports where the funds were invested and the respective “scope of works”.

And, when asked whether he believed some of the $265m may have been used to finance pre-election spending, given that the draw down took place just months before the May 12 vote, the Opposition leader replied: “Without question. Definitely.”

Mr Pintard told this newspaper that the National Investment Fund drawdown, and what the Bahamian people’s $265.1m has been used for, are now “a priority” and “urgent matter” for Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which he heads and is the only committee on which the Opposition holds a majority with three members as opposed to the governing Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) two.

However, the Free National Movement (FNM) leader yesterday confirmed there are multiple issues competing for the Public Accounts Committee’s attention as it today resumes its inquiry into the Government’s purchase of $1.5m worth of vouchers from various building materials suppliers in New Providence, Grand Bahama and Abaco during March and April immediately prior to the general election.

“We are dealing with the voucher issue; the ones that were bought from Premier Importers, that were also used in Grand Bahama and the others that were purchased,” Mr Pintard said. “We are dealing with the issue of vouchers to incentivise voters tomorrow [today].”

Tribune Business previously reported that the Government’s own procurement records showed the Ministry of Finance collectively purchased more than $1.5m worth of building vouchers during March and April 2026 in the general election run-up. Some $663,437 worth were acquired in April, including $413,437 from Freeport-based Contractors Direct, with the $250,000 balance obtained from Premier Importers.

Both purchases were made by the ‘direct award’ method, meaning there was no competitive bidding, and took place on April 13, 2026 - less than one month before the general election.The vouchers were acquired for the purpose of obtaining “building materials in Grand Bahama and Abaco” - seemingly to assist still-struggling residents with rebuilding and repairing their homes more than six-and-a-half years after Hurricane Dorian devastated both islands.

Controversy, though, had already arisen after Premier Importers revealed they had been purchased by the Ministry of Finance. But the vouchers, which were issued in “amounts of $200, $300 and $500”, carried the names and signatures of Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) election candidates and officials, raising concerns - vehemently denied and disputed by the governing party - that taxpayer monies were being employed to finance its campaign.

The April 2026 purchases also added to the $900,000 worth of building materials vouchers purchased by the Ministry of Finance in March. Some $250,000 was sourced from 21st Century Building & Hardware, located on Palm Beach Street, along with a further $200,000 from Wulff Road-based FYP. Some $150,000 was obtained from each of Cartwright’s Building Supplies, Pinder’s Enterprise and Hanson Building Materials to bring the total to $900,000 for that month.

Mr Pintard, meanwhile, argued that the vouchers controversy and National Investment Fund drawdown are part of “a pattern of behaviour” by the Davis administration, citing various financial moves - such as the $110m loan made to Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) in its first term, plus the borrowing of $232m in IMF special drawing rights (SDRs) from the Central Bank - as transactions that were undertaking without the necessary Parliament approvals and authorisations.

Turning to the $265m National Investment Fund situation, which was exclusively revealed by Tribune Business, the Opposition leader said of the Public Accounts Committee’s stance: “That is an urgent matter for us and will definitely be a priority. We have a duty to continue to sound the alarm when we see violations. It’s a blatant abuse of public funds, and we don’t know where the money is and what it was used for.

“We will again seek to have agreement tomorrow over the funds’ transfer to have the matter raised and investigated by the Public Accounts Committee.” Mr Pintard voiced scepticism that the entire $265m was directed to the Grand Bahama and Family Island airport upgrades, as the Davis administration has said, noting that this sum was rapidly drawn down in three months given that it was shown as still there on the Government’s books at year-end 2025.

“It’s not possible for them to have spent the money for the purpose they said within that time,” he argued. “They did not provide any details on the airports or the scope of works.”

The Opposition leader also questioned who approved the $265m drawdown, and whether the National Investment Fund even has its own bank account, because the Board required to oversee and authorise such actions appears not to have been appointed.

Mr Pintard, in his letter to Michael Halkitis, minister of finance, setting out 20 questions relating to the draw down and National Investment Fund’s governance, asked whether a Board of Governors was ever appointed for the National Investment Fund and, if so, their identities. He also challenged whether a custodian has been named, and if the governance mandate and operational guidelines have been completed or are operational.

The Opposition leader also queried whether regulations governing deposits, allocations and withdrawals from the National Investment Fund have been enacted, and under what legal authority the $265m draw down occurred. Questions were also asked over whether an independent audit has ever been done.

Meanwhile, Mr Pintard yesterday said Grand Cay residents, whose unpaid bill arrears owed to Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) from Hurricane Dorian’s aftermath were wiped out by Prime Minister Philip Davis KC ahead of the May 12 general election, were now enduring their seventh day without any electricity supply.

The generator sent from Moore’s Island, he added, was said to have failed resulting in one Grand Cay resident spending $90 per day for fuel to fill-up his portable generator. And the power interruption has also disrupted water and Internet services, Mr Pintard said, adding that he only learned of the situation when residents were able to contact him via Starlink.

The Opposition leader said BPL workers are now due to visit Grand Cay on August 20 to collect bill payments despite the island’s power outage and loss woes.