The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Opposition’s deputy leader has slammed the Government for failing to conduct proper due diligence on Renew Bahamas, after the New Providence landfill manager suspended its services in Hurricane Matthew’s wake.

K P Turnquest said: “It is obvious that the due diligence that was done with respect to Renew Bahamas was inadequate.

“Based on what I’m hearing they are saying that they do not have the financial resources to get this thing up and running in a manner that would lead them to whatever profitability they thought they could have achieved. It is an incomplete or poorly vetted business plan that was put forward.”

Renew Bahamas had earlier this year sought to engage the Government in negotiations over revisions to its five-year management contract, having argued that its business model was unsustainable and had produced “millions of dollars” in losses.

In response, the Christie administration appointed the Kikivarakis & Co accounting firm to analyse Renew Bahamas’ financials, and determine whether its request was justified.

The Government indicated last week that it believed Renew Bahamas was using Matthew as potential justification for getting out of its existing contract, hinting that the issues leading to its withdrawal had been building for many months.

Renew Bahamas exclusively revealed to Tribune Business last week that it had “suspended its services” as the New Providence landfill manager, after shootings, tyre slashings and widespread theft in Hurricane Matthew’s aftermath made operating conditions unsafe.

Michael Cox, Renew Bahamas chief executive, told Tribune Business that these incidents, combined with the loss of electrical power in the storm’s wake, had brought landfill operations - especially the revenue-generating recycling activities - to “a grinding halt” for the past three weeks.

Confirming that Renew Bahamas had exercised the ‘force majeure’ clause in its contract, Mr Cox said it was uncertain whether the company would return, potentially endangering around 50 Bahamian jobs.

With the Department of Environmental Health Services (DEHS) now back in charge at the landfill, Mr Cox also hit out at what he described as the Government’s “two-and-a-half year” failure to properly engage with Renew Bahamas.

Kenred Dorsett, minister of the environment and housing, told Tribune Business he was awaiting legal advice from the Attorney General’s Office before determining the Government’s “next step” on the landfill, admitting that it had been “surprised by Renew Bahamas’ decision to suspend its management of the New Providence landfill.

Yet Mr Turnquest said: “This was squarely on the backs of the Government and its technical team that did the assessment. It is unacceptable that the Bahamian people are being asked to bail these people out. That was not the intent.

“The intent was to make this a public-private partnership with no cost or liability to the Government. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t be a private entity then want to draw on the Government when you get in trouble.”