The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamian consortium that bid on the New Providence landfill management contract was yesterday “waiting with bated breath” to learn whether the new government will “pick up” the live tender exercise.

Ginny McKinney, principal of Wastenot, which is a member of the Waste Resources Development Group (WRDG), expressed hope that the Minnis-led administration would continue where its predecessor left off rather than launch a new process.

“We have not heard a peep,” Ms McKinney told Tribune Business, revealing that neither WRDG nor its members had been contacted by the Government since the bids were opened two weeks ago.

“I’m waiting, sitting with bated breath to see who the new [environment] Minister is. They’re aware of the fact there was a proposal, and I’m hoping there can’t be another call put out. I’m hoping they’ll at least call us in to discuss it before going that route.

“I do hope this administration picks it up and signs off on it [the landfill management contract] before we have another disaster. We will see.”

The offer from WRDG, which is 100 per cent Bahamian-owned, and its financial partner, Providence Advisors, was one of two bids received by the April 28 deadline, with the other proposal said to have come from a Florida-based group.

Following Wednesday’s general election, it now falls to the incoming FNM administration to assess the quality of the bids, gain answers to outstanding questions and then select/negotiate with a preferred bidder before, hopefully, concluding the outsourcing contract.

Dr Hubert Minnis, newly sworn in as Prime Minister, and his government are effectively ‘locked in’ to resolving the New Providence landfill’s woes swiftly by its predecessor’s commitment to Baha Mar’s new owner.

The Christie administration’s Heads of Agreement with Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE), signed on April 25, mandates that it solve the landfill’s woes by year-end.

Any failure to achieve thiswill be treated as “a force majeure” event, which would release CTFE and its Baha Mar-owning affiliate from performing their Heads of Agreement obligations for as long as it takes to remediate the landfill’s problems, while the Hong Kong-based conglomerate keeps its investment incentives.

The Heads of Agreement’s clause 15.2 states: “The Government acknowledges, and will undertake to ensure, that the environment for the guests of the resort is pleasant and enjoyable.

“The parties recognise that the Government shall commence and diligently purse remediation, and improve operation and management of the Harrold Road landfill.”

Year-end 2017 is given as the date by which the Government must “address the foregoing concerns”.

The landfill heads the Government’s ‘infrastructure improvements’ commitments to CTFE and Baha Mar, which probably explains the Christie administration’s haste to initiate the Request for Proposal (RFP) and give bidders just eight days to submit detailed management and remediation plans.

Tribune Business understands that the Government had been coming under pressure from not just CTFE and Baha Mar, but also the Albany developers, to address the landfill’s envrionmental and health hazards, which threaten to undermine the experience for their visitors and residents.

Ms McKinney, meanwhile, described the WRDG/Providence Advisors proposal as “a win-win” for all parties, and something that would relieve the financial burden on the Government if allowed to proceed.

“We did put in a very comprehensive proposal,” she told Tribune Business. “It was everything needed and more. There’s not much you can’t like about it. I’m hoping that with all the huge problems that they [the Government] have to tackle, this is something they can hand off.”

Ms McKinney added that WRDG’s proposal covered all aspects of landfill operations, including its remediatiin and the “closure of the cell that needs to be closed” at the Tonique Williams Highway site.

She pledged that waste conversion technology would be introduced once WRDG “get a better handle” on the volume and content of the waste streams going into the landfill, while methane extraction technology would be used to remove the gas “and reduce the risk of fire to the least possible degree”.

“We’re comfortable with the engineering group we’ve teamed with,” Ms McKinney said. “They did a month’s work in five days” to craft the bid and meet the Government’s deadline.

“It’s a good proposal,” she continued. “It’s comprehensive and gives the Government an accountability going forward with everything happening there, which is reassuring, and we will work closely with the Department of Environmental Health Services.”

Ms McKinney said WRDG’s engineering partners were very familiar with waste management issues in island nations, and the bid proposed sourcing all the equipment and resources required locally, plus the hiring and training of Bahamians.

Besides Providence Advisors, Ms McKinney said CFAL, an arm of the A. F. Holdings financial comglomerate, was also involved in providing WRDG with the necessary financial support, and capital raising and structuring expertise.

“It’s just a matter of getting a seat at the table,” she added.