The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has no interest in a back-and-forth argument with Progressive Liberal Party Chairman Emeritus Errington “Minky” Isaacs over his nearly $2m government contract, but is instead focused on running the country, according to Press Secretary Anthony “Ace” Newbold yesterday.

This comes amid backlash over comments Mr Isaacs made to The Nassau Guardian saying he was disgusted by the prime minister’s statements about his lucrative contract with Bahamas Power and Light Ltd for oil remediation. He challenged Dr Minnis to make the comments outside of Parliament so he could “strike him in his mouth.”

However, when The Tribune contacted him yesterday, Mr Isaacs said he had no further comment on the situation and would not say if he regretted the inflammatory remark.

Facebook was ablaze yesterday with commentary over Mr Isaacs’ apparent threat to the prime minister, with many calls for action from authorities.

In response to this, Assistant Commissioner of Police Stephen Dean told The Tribune the police would only act if the prime minister decided to take action.

Mr Newbold said Dr Minnis was not of the mind to do so.

He said: “The prime minister is not minded to make a comment. The prime minister as he said is busy running the country. He is focused and that is really his primary concern at the moment.

“He has no interest getting into a back-and-forth with ‘Minky’ Isaacs, but he will let whomever else there is deal with him, but he is focused on running the country.”

On Wednesday, Mr Isaacs told The Tribune that his political affiliation had nothing to do with the contract he was awarded for remediation at the former Bahamas Electricity Corporation, as he labelled Dr Minnis’ criticism of the situation a “witch hunt.”

Mr Isaacs said Bahamians got “plenty” value for money for the contract, adding that his client had not expressed any issues with his work.

Asked to define the parametres of his work, Mr Isaacs did not respond, but said PLP leader Philip Davis was expected to address the matter during a press conference yesterday.

During the afternoon session of Parliament on Tuesday, Dr Minnis said Mr Isaacs knew as much about oil remediation as he, the prime minister, knows about flying a space shuttle.

While speaking of his discovery of questionable contracts relating to the utility provider, Dr Minnis said there were two separate agreements of concern: one of them for customs brokerage worth $923,707.75 a year to a Fitzgerald—whose first name he did not call—and another to Mr Isaacs worth $1,853,829.56, who was a director of Penta Industrial Services Co Ltd. These contracts were for services to Bahamas Power and Light Ltd, formerly BEC.

For Mr Isaacs’ contract, Dr Minnis said the commencement date was March 27, 2013 and the expiration date for the contract was March 27, 2017. He said while contracts over $100,000 require bids or requests for proposals (RFPs), no bids were sought for the contracts in question.

Dr Minnis further explained that requests for proposals were sent out and companies sent in their documents but were ignored. He said individuals were subsequently contacted and asked to bring their contract in and they were granted the deals.

On Wednesday, Mr Isaacs said he did not know when the contract began. He also insisted that he did bid to be awarded the contract.

The contract was for “the provision of labour and cleaning services for BEC’s premises located at Blue Hills Power Station and Clifton Pier Power Station.”

Remedial work of this kind requires specialised knowledge, Dr Minnis said on Tuesday.

It has been suggested that the customs brokerage contract was awarded to a company owned by Edward Fitzgerald, the father of former Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald.

The former Marathon MP could not be reached for comment yesterday.