The Tribune

Khrisna Virgil says the Bahamas must have a non-partisan Contractor General if contentious political issues over BAMSI, the toxic city landfill and Urban Renewal programmes are to be avoided in future . . .

This country needs a Contractor General.

This was never more evident than on February 15, 2016, when Agriculture and Marine Resources Minister V Alfred Gray declared without fear, shame or a concern that he saw nothing inherently wrong with the Christie administration awarding government contracts to its supporters.

Sure, it has been the worst kept secret in the Bahamas that both the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and the Free National Movement (FNM) have issued contracts to cronies and supporters for decades, but the MICAL MP’s admission was one of the most blatant in recent times.

Mr Gray went on to suggest that in doing so, the PLP was repaying these diehard supporters for their toil and labour, which solidified the party’s ascension to office.

The minister was attempting to justify why former PLP Cabinet minister Darrell Rolle was awarded a contract under the Christie administration to build the female dormitory at the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI).

It is an issue that has drawn fiery criticism from the Opposition, with FNM Chairman Michael Pintard questioning why Mr Rolle was reportedly allowed to borrow approximately $200,000 from the Bahamas Development Bank (BDB) when he, along with a business partner, should have been directed to a commercial bank.

During a television interview, Mr Gray said: “When the FNM gave contracts to their supporters, (Dr Andre) Rollins who just joined them and the FNM establishment, you don’t hear a word about it. The press don’t seem to care.”

He continued: “But as soon as some supporter of the government or some perceived supporter of the government, whether they be Darrell Rolle or any other person, there is a big to-do.” 

“It is nothing to do with money well spent or otherwise. What they do not want us to do is help people who support us. But that’s going to be a lie. We are going to do as much as we can for the people who support us because if it hadn’t been for them we wouldn’t be in power today.” 

Mr Gray added: “Both Darrell Rolle and Reverend Sam Greene are from Andros and so when we ran out of contractors in Andros at the time there were some people who lived here (who) needed to work and we gave them the opportunity to participate.

“If that’s wrong, then the whole Bahamas is wrong ...”

Mr Gray could only so boldly stand on his soapbox and utter such shameless words because the Bahamas lacks the legal framework to prevent contracts from being awarded to friends, family and lovers and, by extension, no penalty in place to deter impropriety.

While recently participating in the International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP), funded by the US State Department, I had the opportunity not only to exchange ideas with participants from Jamaica, Suriname and Guyana but gain valuable insight into how the American system of accountability and transparency operates.

The progamme, which took me to Washington, DC, Durham, New Hampshire, and Raleigh, North Carolina, focused on major pillars of America’s justice system and anti-corruption practices.

But something stuck out during my daily exchanges with Caribbean counterparts - that the Bahamas, although with the ability to boast a strong economy that sets us apart from most, has leaders who are not serious about making this country’s system intolerant to malpractice.

More specifically, political parties lack the will to rid the Bahamas of its chronic bad contract illness.

We need a Contractor General. 

Again, BAMSI is the perfect example of how government contracts, if not properly monitored, have the ability to mushroom into serious financial wastage.

In January 2015, a dormitory at BAMSI was set on fire and completely destroyed. 

The next month, controversy broke out when Works Minister Philip Davis revealed that the dormitory constructed by contractor Audley Hanna, of Paradigm Construction, was never insured.

He had previously said in the House of Assembly that at the time of the fire, the contractor’s all-risk insurance policy had lapsed due to non-payment.

In July, Mr Davis said the destroyed dormitory would not be repaired until all other BAMSI buildings had been completed.

The Christie administration allocated $21m to BAMSI, according to the government’s 2015/2016 budget draft estimates.

Of this amount, $14m has been set aside for capital development while the Ministry of Agriculture has set aside $7m in recurrent expenditure for the institution.

In view of contradictory statements by government officials, questions have been raised in the past about how much money has already been spent on BAMSI.

Last October, Prime Minister Perry Christie said no more than $23m had been spent on the project, contradicting an earlier statement Agriculture Minister V Alfred Gray made in September 2014 that the government doled out $50m on BAMSI.

Mr Davis has said it will cost $5.5m to rebuild the destroyed BAMSI dorm, which will be reconfigured from single occupancy to double.

Another debacle, which captured headlines and pinpoints our dire need for better contract management, is the Urban Renewal Small Homes Repair (SHR) Programme.

The issues were brought to light last year in a leaked report completed by Auditor General Terrance Bastian’s probe of the programme.

It found that 11 contractors were paid more than $170,000 for work that was not completed or done in the SHR programme. The government later commissioned an independent study, which contradicted Mr Bastian’s report and found that the programme did receive value for money.

A more recent example can be taken from the ongoing issues with the burning city landfill.

Fires at the dump have continued to spark or be be set, producing toxic smoke, and have continuously caused residents in nearby areas to evacuate their homes.

No doubt, the inabilities of Renew Bahamas to grasp the issue has caused social media to blaze with commentary on what exactly the company is contracted to do. 

Indeed a Contractor General in this instance would have several tasks, including ensuring that the contract is in the public domain and holding Renew Bahamas accountable when and in which cases they do not meet their contractual obligations.

Legislators need not look far for an example of how a contractor general functions and has the ability to not only monitor the issuance of contracts but minimise government loss by ensuring all clauses and criteria of state agreements are upheld and carried out.

According to the Jamaican Contractor General Act, the post is commissioned by Parliament and appointed by the Governor General after consultation between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

This ensures that the office remains non-partisan and its processes transparent.

Once appointed, the Contractor General is tasked, by law, with monitoring the award and implementation of government contracts with a view to ensuring that these agreements are awarded impartially and on merit.

The appointee also monitors the grant, issue, suspension or revocation of any prescribed licence, with a view to ensuring that the circumstances of such grant, issue, suspension or revocation do not involve impropriety or irregularity and, where appropriate, to examine whether such licence is used in accordance with the stipulated terms and conditions.

He or she, according to Jamaican law, has access to all books, records, documents, stores or other property belonging to government, whether in the possession of any officer of a public body or a contractor or any other person and can access any premises or location where work on a government contract has been, is being or is to be carried out.

Jamaican law also stresses that in the exercise of the powers conferred upon him by law, a Contractor General shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority.

There is also a fixed term by law, under which a Contractor General can serve.

Belize also has similar legislation with subtle differences.

Both countries have grasped a concept that, quite frankly, the Bahamas should have already caught on to, especially given our long rap sheet of contracts gone bad.

I suppose Bahamians and taxpayers at large have not grown tired of and disgusted by the perpetual loss of our hard-earned money when government contracts do not go as planned, are not honoured or are taken advantage of by less than qualified people over the qualified and in need of work citizens.

Had the office of Contractor General been a functioning part of Bahamian society the BAMSI fiasco could have very well been unheard of and issues with contract awards non existent. 

It is time for Bahamians to urge the government to draft legislation that institutes a Contractor General. We needed one since yesterday.

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