The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

DELAYS to transportation for public school students in Eleuthera this week were said to be the result of “blatant victimisation” as ousted operators hit out at a flawed tender process.

Some students in South Eleuthera were left stranded for the start of school on Wednesday, as Ministry of Education school bus contract holders were not prepared to service the routes.

Evan Gibson, of Eleuthera Busing, yesterday blasted the government after he lost out on a route that he claims had no competing bids. “It’s a complete mess, a disaster,” he said.

“How can a person who didn’t have a bus get the contract? I bid on two routes, which no one bid against me, and the actual contract (was) given to someone else who has no bus, nothing,” the 52-year-old said.

“They gave us a package with a whole list of requirements. The process opened on a certain date and closed on a certain date, and if you didn’t have a bid in then you would not be considered.”

The angry operator suggested that the Ministry of Education’s tender process had allegedly been unfairly prejudiced to favour supporters of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).

However, Central and South Eleuthera MP Damian Gomez brushed off allegations of political interference and pointed to the late confirmation of contracts as the reason for the service delays.

“What happened was the ministry only told them that they had won their bids last week,” Mr Gomez said, “so they weren’t able to bring in buses on time, but arrangements are being made to bring it in. Some of the buses are arriving today.”

He added: “It’s not victimisation. It went to tender and the people who have been issued contracts won the bid. I certainly had nothing to do with the process of selecting and neither did the (education) minister. So the question is, if you put in a bid other people may bid lower than you.”

However Mr Gibson countered that one of the bidding pre-requisites was that the company had to have a public service driver’s licence and proof of insurance for vehicles.

The instructions to bidders for school bus contracts from the Ministry of Education also says that bidders must have provided proof of ownership or show that he/she is in a position to acquire suitable vehicles prior to the start of service, along with proof from a reputable mechanic that the buses were in good working condition.

Mr Gibson added that there were no competing bids against the routes that he applied for at the time the public tender process was closed.

“It’s nothing to do with sour grapes,” Mr Gibson said. “It has to do with policies of the Bahamas government with regard to contracts and how they are awarded.”

“I’ve been doing this for years, we had to comply with all of these areas. How is it so that we had individuals that never bid on the contract, and don’t have any buses, get the contract?”

He added: “The bidding is public in a public forum, so I know who bid and who didn’t bid and for my contract, nobody bid on my contract. I have provided this service for years.”

Classes for the fall term began this week in public schools.