The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

AS the country geared up for the May general election, the government's payroll increased by $2.5m that month as new people were hired in the public service under the Christie administration, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis revealed in Parliament yesterday.

The month before, in April, the government's payroll increased by $1.9m as 119 people were hired.

Overall, 648 people were hired between December 2016 to May 2017.

The former administration "overloaded the public service with contract workers with little regard for where salaries would come from," Dr Minnis said.

"No single agency was aware of this wild hiring spree and no one applied the brakes on this hiring madness. One individual was hired on the 10th of May, the same day of the election."

Dr Minnis said these numbers don't include the 151 people the former government hired as trainees by the Department of Immigration at a cost of $2.7m or the 620 people it hired through its job empowerment programme "at a potential cost" of $3.6m.

"Persons were hired outside the public service by letters, and when these are added in, the wage bill rises to $14m," he said. "We continue to learn daily of people who were hired outside of the mainstream process."

The revelations are among many that have been detailed by the Minnis administration as it shed light on possible examples of fiscal mismanagement by its predecessor. The details have painted a picture of an administration where the usual processes for controlling expenditure and protecting the public purse were sometimes upended and questionable decisions were made with respect to hiring and awarding of contracts.

In some cases, according to Works Minister Desmond Bannister, the advice of technical experts at his ministry were cast aside and decisions were made to grant contracts to those not recommended by professionals. In fact, money was given to subcontractors who worked on dormitories for the Bahamas Agricultural & Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) where the general contractors for those dorms got into problems. In some instances, the government offered money to subcontractors who did not submit a claim.

On Monday night, Mr Bannister said it is up to Attorney General Carl Bethel to decide if some ministers in the former Christie administration should face court for their "misfeasance", which cost the Bahamian people millions.