The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Water and Sewerage Corporation's chairman yesterday reiterated "futuristic" plans to recommend that the utility be privatised or sold to Bahamian investors via an initial public offering (IPO).

Emphasising that such ideas were for the long-term, Adrian Gibson told Tribune Business: "It is my intention to recommend to the government that we, at some time in the future, divest ourselves of ownership in whole or at least in part, similar to the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC).

"Or maybe we issue an IPO or something where persons buy-in. It assists the Corporation with fund-raising and takes some load off the government by divesting a state-owned corporation. These are futuristic ideas."

The then-Ingraham administration sold a majority 51 percent equity stake in BTC to Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) in a $206m deal in 2011. CWC has remained BTC's controlling shareholder despite the Christie administration adjusting the agreement's commercial terms, and its own takeover by Liberty Global and split-off into the latter's Latin American business.

No further privatisations of state-owned assets have taken place, though, and the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) is likely some way off from being attractive to potential purchasers/investors as a result of its multi-million dollar annual losses and $25 million taxpayer subsidies.

Mr Gibson, meanwhile, said the WSC has already initiated policies to curb many of the irregularities outlined in the Ernst & Young audit report.

"We have already put in place policies with respect to procurement and tendering," he said. "We have put in place policies with respect to vendors and knowing who these vendors are. We are implementing those things.

"With respect to overtime I have seen in the past some abuse of overtime, but rather than them submitting overtime every month they must submit it every week now, and if you don't that's lost."

The EY audit found that the Corporation had breached global "best practice" through the former Board's constant meddling and overturning of management decisions. With respect to the cost of that audit, Mr Gibson added: "We are still resolving the cost with Ernst & Young. We have made two interim payments already."

He said that in coming weeks the Corporation will begin an aggressive campaign to recover its $45 million in accounts receivables owed by customers."You will find that in the coming weeks as we roll out a collections team, that our team will be going from island to island, throughout New Providence to collect on the $45 million in receivables," Mr Gibson said.

He added that the corporation expects to initiate its VSEP exercise within the next few months. "We anticipate this happening in the next few months. We have been looking at possible packages and, once we put them together, we will speak to the minister and follow the process. We anticipate that happening in the quickest possible time.

"In terms of the VSEP packages we are not going to force anyone out, but we want to encourage folks that if they want to leave we are willing to sweeten the pot because we recognise that in order for the Corporation to succeed it has to be streamlined, it has to get younger and obviously to recruit persons who are more qualified.

"We want to attract some of the best and brightest minds to the Corporation, and that is not saying we don't currently have great people here. I'm a business-minded persons and we need to run the Corporation like a business. We have to dispense with the Corporation mindset and have a corporate business-oriented mindset."