The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

FOCOL Holdings prevented Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) from suffering “disaster” on Inagua by stepping in to pay its fuel debts, its chairman revealed yesterday.

Sir Franklyn Wilson told Tribune Business that the BISX-listed petroleum products supplier stepped in to pay BPL’s debts to Morton Salt, so that the latter would provide fuel to operate the utility’s Inagua generation plant.

“FOCOL paid the bill to Morton Salt,” he disclosed, adding that neither the company nor its principals had sought any favours or ‘special treatment’ for doing so.

“How are you going to let this power plant in Inagua shut down because it has no fuel,” Sir Franklyn asked. “This is a core value of our corporate group; just do the right thing.

“We didn’t do it for publicity; we ain’t looking for this and that; and didn’t ask for any favours and all that stuff, or brownie points. Just do the right thing.

“That’s got to be an important mantra for rejuvenation of our country. Just do the right thing.”

Desmond Bannister, minister of works, and who has responsibility for BPL, said he was unable to confirm that FOCOL had paid Morton Salt on BPL’s behalf.

“I was told the funding had been provided,” he told Tribune Business, adding that he was unaware of the details because he did not get involved in BPL’s day-to-day operations.

“I don’t want to get into it in terms of what may have happened,” Mr Bannister added. “I just told them [BPL] I wanted it done, and I needed it done, so Inagua didn’t go without power that weekend. Fortunately, it didn’t.”

Mr Bannister told a Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting on Wednesday how he had been warned last Friday that the fuel for BPL’s Inagua-based generators was set to run out at the weekend.

“Upon inquiring, it appeared that management of BPL were unaware. The planned supply of fuel would not arrive sufficiently early to help,” the Minister said then.

“Moreover, I was advised that the back-up supplier, Morton Salt, would not supply the fuel since BPL owed them money. Fortunately, we were able to avoid disaster. However, it was clear to me that this type of ad-hoc managerial practices and poor financial decisions could not be permitted to continue.”

Sir Franklyn’s revelation that FOCOL stepped in to pay the bill on BPL’s behalf adds another twist to the ongoing controversy swirling around the utility monopoly, following disclosures of ‘do not disconnect’ lists, ‘no bid’ contract awards and the termination of PowerSecure’s management agreement.

Although he did not specifically mention it, Sir Franklyn will likely regard it as ironic that, days after rescuing BPL’s Inagua operations, his Sunshine Insurance Agents & Brokers business was slammed in the House of Assembly by Mr Bannister in relation to it obtaining the utility’s insurance brokerage contract.

The Minister said an Ernst & Young audit found Sunshine Insurance was awarded the contract, which twice saw it place BPL’s insurance business for a combined $14.183 million cost, despite BISX-listed J S Johnson being selected as the winning bidder.

Sunshine, in a statement responding to Mr Bannister, said that because its role was that of a broker/agent, it would have earned a fraction of that $14.183 million sum. It would only have received a commission, or small percentage of that amount, for placing the business with an underwriting carrier.

The company added that it first won BPL’s business in 2013, after participating in a ‘sealed tender’ bidding process. It won again four years later, obtaining a one-year renewal of its contract at a time when Mr Bannister was in office as Minister of Works.