The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest urged the government to fully disclose its agreement with American company PowerSecure and to publicly detail the $900,000 business plan it drafted amid fierce criticism sparked by Bahamas Power and Light’s failure to provide steady electricity supply.

Mr Turnquest told The Tribune yesterday that based on the company’s performance to date, its five-year agreement with the government would “definitely” have to be reviewed should the FNM be elected to office following the 2017 general election.

He said it has been abundantly clear that Bahamians have not got value for money more than one year since the government signed the transitional agreement with PowerSecure in July 2015.

In February, PowerSecure signed a five-year management services agreement with the Bahamas Electricity Corporation, which officials have said is worth as much as $25m.

Meanwhile, Senator Dr Duane Sands said it was curious that Prime Minister Perry Christie, Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis and BPL CEO Pamela Hill have each taken different positions on BPL’s issues.

He was speaking of Mr Christie’s comments on Monday when he said he was unofficially informed that “human error” was the cause of Sunday’s power cut.

Mrs Hill said she was unaware that “human error” was at the heart of the outage, while Mr Davis has said BPL is meeting its mandate.

Dr Sands also pointed to Mr Davis’ admission that the government had challenges raising capital to upgrade BPL’s equipment. Mrs Hill instead took a different tone during Monday’s press conference at BPL’s headquarters on Baillou Hill Road. At the time she asked consumers to be patient as the utility provider upgrades and makes investments in the existing system.

The differences in positions, Dr Sands said, warranted an explanation from the government.

“The details of the contract have not been made public nor have the details of the business plan been made public,” Mr Turnquest said yesterday when he was contacted.

“So the Bahamian people don’t know what was agreed and so here we are stuck with a very inadequate utility and inefficiency.

“(So if) the FNM is elected we would definitely have to look at the contract as to date they have not provided value for money and we have not seen any increase in efficiencies or viability in utility.”

He added: “I have said before we could do bad by ourselves. So there is no reason for us to be paying the kind of money we are paying to have the same inefficient system.

“We have to determine what did the $900,000 produce and why and if there was a business plan produced why is it not bringing us results and forward progress in turning this utility around.”

Responding to the situation, Dr Sands said Bahamians are owed an explanation or at the least an assurance that the energy sector in the country is set for an overhaul that will result in reliable service.

He said: “Maybe it’s time for the deputy prime minister to have some direct pointed questions put to him because he has gotten a pass on a number of these issues.

“What is the real deal? What is the plan for energy reform in the Bahamas? What is the real deal about the business plan of BPL? What is the contractual relationship? How much are we spending for it? What is the expectation? Are we paying millions purely so they can have a whipping boy to deflect the public ire from the government or is BPL really managing the electrical infrastructure generation and distribution of Nassau?”

Dr Sands further expressed doubt regarding the prime minister’s sincerity when he said on Monday that he was distressed along with every Bahamian over the constant power cuts.

Mr Christie said not only was he “distressed”, but that he ordered an investigation to uncover the root cause of Sunday’s outage.

At the time he said: ““I am as distressed about this as every Bahamian. I spent yesterday (Sunday) between church services and public functions talking to all of the persons that I could with respect to the cause of it. I have asked them, I know that they are troubleshooting now to determine. I have been advised that this could be human error and I have a view on that and I am asking them to investigate it to determine what happened and I am too concerned about a Sunday afternoon when people are home.”

He continued: “When internationally events are taking place at Fort Montagu. Where people of world prominence are in the Bahamas. When Bahamians are home watching sports as they do. But this happened for the second time in a week. That is too catastrophic, too unusual and is deserving of the highest investigation.

“I have been unofficially advised at this point that it’s human error. I want to see what that really means…human error because to me it is just too amazing to have happened twice in a week.”