The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Minnis administration will encourage investors to submit waste-to-energy proposals during its landfill reform process, Environment Minister Romauld Ferreira said yesterday.

Ahead of the May election, the Christie administration released a request for proposals (RFP), giving private sector groups only eight days to submit a bid to take over the landfill’s management and remediation.

The Free National Movement (FNM) criticised the move, saying it was rushed.

The new FNM administration decided not to support that process even though two companies had submitted proposals along with their non-refundable $10,000 deposit.

The Christie administration’s tender document, however, was kept secret as companies wishing to participate in the process were required to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

Although reforming the landfill is seen as a key issue any administration would face following years of disruptive fires at the site, the Minnis administration has not yet started the process of drafting its own RFP as the matter has not yet been addressed by Cabinet.

“It’s in the Office of the Prime Minister for consideration,” Mr Ferreira said. “The approval to go through the process will be done this month. The old RFP had lots of flaws. That’s why it had only two responses. What we don’t want to do is what the last one did. It excluded waste-to-energy so it had a restriction on the creative processes of private enterprises.

“The landfill makes money out of two ways. It can produce revenue from waste-to-energy or you can make money from tipping fees. To eliminate the waste to energy component is to restrict the possibilities of your solutions. You’re saying we know we can make up to 30 mega-watts from the landfill using methane but we’re not going to do that; you’re just going to concentrate on tipping fees, on recycling. If you’re in a private sector or potential investor, you’re not thinking you want to limit what you do. You want as many possible revenue streams as possible. If that happens then you can do offsets; maybe tipping fee don’t have to be as high.”

The Christie administration continually objected to waste-to-energy proposals. This was in part why it decided mid-term to give a contract to Renew Bahamas for remediation of the dump. Renew Bahamas ultimately pulled out.

Bahamian owned companies that had sought the contract were rejected at the time, with former Environment Minister Kenred Dorsett saying their proposal hinged on a waste-to-energy component.

A move that encourages waste-to-energy proposals could open the door for Stellar Waste to Energy, the company at the centre of a letter-of-intent controversy that erupted during the Christie administration, to become a part of the process.

Earlier this year, Jean-Paul Michielson, the chief executive of the company, told Tribune Business if the government had approved its project the woes of the landfill would have been solved.

The company was thrust into the spotlight three years ago when it was revealed that then Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Works Renward Wells signed a $650 million Letter of Intent with the company, reportedly without authorisation.

Mr Wells, after much wrangling over the issue, was fired by then Prime Minister Perry Christie over the matter. He subsequently left the PLP and joined the FNM.

He was appointed minister of agriculture and marine resources after the May election.