The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Government has quietly outsourced another part of the New Providence landfill’s operations, contracting the Baker Tilly Gomez accounting firm to bill and collect its multi-million annual tipping fees.

Multiple sources familiar with the situation have confirmed to Tribune Business that the accounting firm took over oversight, and control, of the landfill’s tipping fees with effect from March 1.

Yet this newspaper understands that no formal announcement of the ‘change in control’ from the Department of Environmental Health Services (DEHS) has been made, with major waste companies and users of the landfill ‘in the dark’ and discovering the development on their own accord.

Tribune Business, though, understands that Baker Tilly Gomez was selected following a conventional bidding process and Request for Proposal (RFP) document being sent out last year.

That is more than can be said for the process involving how Renew Bahamas, a 60 per cent foreign-owned company, came to be selected as the Tonique Williams Highway landfill’s new manager and the builder/operator of a $5 million waste materials recycling facility.

Still, the Government’s decision to continue with outsourcing/privatising functions that can be done by the private sector is likely to be viewed positively by many observers, especially given its current fiscal predicament.

Tribune Business understands that the Government was seeking a private sector accounting firm to manage/collect tipping fees amid suspicions that it was not collecting all due revenue from this particular source.

“My understanding is that Renew is responsible for running and providing quality data [on the waste streams being deposited at the landfill], and they will have access to them,” one source told Tribune Business.

“Baker Tilly, I understand, is only responsible for the compilation of the bills and collection of the funds.”

Another source added: “Baker Tilly represents the Government over the weigh bridge. They will be its eyes and ears. It felt it couldn’t rely on the accounting.

“Trucks go in, get on the weigh bridge scales, go into the dump, drop their load, and then they’re weighed again on the way out. They are then given a bill for the tipping fee.”

Tribune Business understands that Baker Tilly is looking to extend the landfill’s opening hours from 6pm to 9pm, while large customers, such as Bahamas Waste and United Sanitation, will be allowed to maintain existing credit accounts.

Problems with the landfill’s tipping fees and weigh bridge were highlighted by the Auditor-General’s report for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

It found that the tipping fees failed to cover even one-sixth of the landfill’s $6.491 million operating costs during that fiscal year.

Just $1.002 million in tipping fees were collected at the landfill for that period - a sum equivalent to just 15.4 per cent of its projected operating costs.

Fees are based on the weight/tonnage of the weight brought for disposal, with 300 pounds or less incurring no charge. Loads between 300 to 999 pounds are charged $5; those between 1,000 and 1,999 pounds are charged $10 per load; and 2,000 pounds or more $10 per tonne,

Noting that there had been “no revision of fees” since they were introduced in 2004, the Auditor General’s Office said: “We recommend that a review of the fee structure be undertaken in an effort to increase the revenue potential in light of the increased costs associated with maintaining the landfill.”

The report added that the landfill’s financial situation could improve if the Department of Environmental Health Services (DEHS) was to collect on delinquent accounts.

The Auditor-General said an analysis of tipping fees paid by ‘credit customers’ between August 2010 to April 2011 showed that just 39 per cent of the sum due was paid.

Out of the total $1.408 million owed, just $548,613 was received, and the Auditor-General called on the DEHS to “aggressively pursue customers in an effort to collect outstanding revenue”.

The report also raised questions over whether the DEHS was charging the correct fees at the landfill, given the Auditor-General’s investigation into numerous repair and maintenance contracts for its ‘weigh bridge’.

This determines how heavy waste loads are, and hence the payment due from those disposing of it.

“While conducting a site visit on May 29, 2012, we observed that the ‘out’ section of the weighbridge was inoperable,” the report found.

“We were advised that the ‘out’ section has not worked for approximately two years, and the ‘in’ section has functioned sporadically for the same period. We therefore could not determine whether the Government received adequate value for the money spent.”

Kenred Dorsett, minister of the environment and housing, whose Ministry has responsibility for the New Providence landfill, has not responded to several Tribune Business phone messages and e-mails seeking comment.

And Craig A. ‘Tony’ Gomez, the Baker Tilly Gomez accountant and partner, could not be reached for comment despite several attempts.

Tribune Business was told that Baker Tilly’s remuneration will be a percentage of the gross revenues it will collect in tipping fees.

And there has been some suggestion that certain fees might be changed or increased. One source told Tribune Business they understood that the fee for disposing of construction and demolition waste was set to change from $10 per load to $10 per tonne with effect from April 2015.