The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A leading businessman yesterday said the almost-$240,000 debt owed to the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) by executive chairman, Leslie Miller, “doesn’t look good” and raises questions over whether he should stay in the post.

Dionsio D’Aguilar, Superwash’s president and a BEC director under the former Ingraham administration, said BEC “should not be extending credit” to any customer, and called for it to move to a pre-paid billing system to combat its $130 million accounts receivables.

He told Tribune Business: “There is no doubt that it doesn’t look good. I think Mr Miller would agree that it doesn’t look good. They can put whatever spin they want on it, but it doesn’t look good.

“When you are the chairman of a Corporation that is so in the spotlight as BEC, it behooves you to be current.”

The Summerwinds Plaza building that is registered in Mr Miller’s name, and houses his Sunburst Paints business, was reported to owe BEC $46,373, while Mario’s Bowling and Family Entertainment Centre was said to be $193,159 in arrears.

The situation raises alleged conflict of interest concerns, and calls into question whether Mr Miller is suitable as BEC’s chairman, given that he owes the Corporation significant sums.

It could also lead to charges of hypocrisy when Mr Miller calls on other Bahamians and businesses to pay their BEC bills. And, given that rumours were swirling about his unpaid energy bills in 2012, the Christie administration’s decision to make him executive chairman from the start must also be subject to scrutiny.

Mr Miller, the Tall Pines MP, has been at odds with union leaders representing BEC workers on various issues, and has charged that BEC employees have allowed the Corporation’s delinquent accounts to mount by giving breaks to their friends.

The leak of his account information thus looks like union/employee retaliation.

“There  might be mitigating circumstances,” Mr D’Aguilar said of the unpaid electricity bills owed by Mr Miller’s family concerns.

“All businesses have their share of issues. If I owed the Corporation I would have turned down the position of chairman. I certainly don’t think Mr Miller is a bad person, but he should have thought about that before he took the position.”

Mr D’Aguilar suggested that BEC move to a pre-paid billing system. “BEC should not be in the business of extending credit.  They should move to a pre-paid position. Meters should all be pre-paid,” he argued.

“When you are in management or on the Board of BEC you should not have to be making difficult decisions on whether to disconnect a hotel that employs hundreds of people because they haven’t paid their bill. If they got out of the receivables business they would be in a better position.   

“People get get into financial difficulties all the time. The Government is the worst creditor with BEC. They never pay their bills. If BEC was run like a business and not like a government-owned charity, we wouldn’t have these situations,” Mr D’Aguilar said. 

“Mr Miller’s situation is a microcosm of a much larger problem.  BEC needs to consider a pre-paid position. People will probably ask how is that going to affect the poor people, but it’s not BEC’s job to extend credit to poor people; that’s the government’s job. They can do that through electricity vouchers if they so choose.”

FNM chairman Darron Cash said it was “not a sin” for Mr Miller’s businesses to owe BEC. “There is absolutely no sin in having a business that does not generate the cash flows that were projected,” he added.

“Mr Miller’s or his family’s businesses were not immune to the tough realities of the great recession, even though the Government he supports and serves seems to believe that many Bahamians and the businesses they work for were. In that regard it is not a sin for the BEC chairman’s businesses to owe BEC.”

Mr Cash added: “What we do hope is that Mr  Miller will understand and accept that as chairman of the Corporation he will be held to a higher level of accountability.

“The people he serves, and the other customers of the BEC, will want to know and, quite frankly, are entitled to know that the BEC chairman and other government big shots are not getting special breaks and favours that the general public are not able to get.

“Mr Miller and his family built a big and ambitious project. I think most Bahamians want him to succeed. My family has patronised the business often and have enjoyed ourselves every time. “