The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian government officials “engaged in corrupt practices with impunity” as a result of inadequate enforcement, the US government has alleged.

The assertion in the US State Department’s 2016 Human Rights report is likely to enrage the Christie administration, especially since the claim is not backed up by any hard evidence or specific examples.

“The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials,” the US government report said of the Bahamas. “However, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and officials engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. There were frequent reports of government corruption during the year.”

Many public officials are likely to be unhappy that the US has categorise them all in such ‘broad brush’ terms, but there is a widespread perception in the private sector that ‘favours’ must be given in order to obtain the necessary permits and approvals.

The US also returned to the attack on the Bahamas’ government procurement processes, a frequent target in its annual Investment Climate report.

“The procurement process was particularly susceptible to corruption, as it is opaque, contains no requirement to engage in open public tenders, and does not allow review of award decisions,” the State Department’s Human Rights report said.

It also noted that last year’s prosecution, and conviction, of former BEC Board member, Freddie Solomon Ramsey, relating to bribes paid by a foreign company, Alstom, to win a generation contract represented the first such success in 27 years.

“In May, a former state energy company Board member was convicted under the Prevention of Bribery Act, the first significant case brought under the act since 1989,” the US report said.

“In July, he was sentenced to pay a fine of $14,000 and to make a payment of $221,000, equal to the amount of the bribe, within nine months to the electric company. The court determined that the non-custodial sentence was appropriate due to his ill health.”

When it came to working practices, the report said Haitian and other migrant workers were vulnerable to exploitation by employers who forced them to ‘work off’ the cost of their work permits.

“The government did not always effectively enforce applicable law,” the US said. “Although the Ministry of Labour and National Insurance received no reports of forced labour during the year, local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) noted that exploited workers often did not report their circumstances to government officials due to fear of deportation and lack of education about available resources. There was no information on the adequacy of resources, inspections and remediation.”

It added: “Undocumented migrants were vulnerable to forced labour, especially in domestic servitude and in the agriculture sector.

“There were reports that non-citizen labourers, often of Haitian origin, were vulnerable to forced labour and suffered abuses at the hands of their employers, who were responsible for endorsing their work permits on an annual basis.

“Specifically, local sources indicated that employers reportedly obtained $1,000 work permits for non-citizen employees and then required them to ‘work off’ the permit fee over the course of their employment or otherwise risk losing the permit and their ability to work legally within the country.”