The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

CAT Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador MP Philip “Brave” Davis did not authorise controversial payments to Nassau Island Development (NID), the contractor for the multi-million dollar Gladstone Road Waste Water Treatment Plant (GRWWTP) that is unfinished despite a 91 percent cost overrun, Works Minister Desmond Bannister said in the House of Assembly yesterday. 

Auditor EY, in its report on the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) tabled in parliament almost two weeks ago, revealed two unusual payments were ordered for the company in 2014 and 2016 despite considerable objections from senior WSC officials.

The GRWWTP project was one of two that persisted after senior officials sought the cancellation of their contracts; the other project involved Treasure Coast Development and Construction (TCC) in Eleuthera which worked to create water storage tanks at the Eleuthera Naval Base.

Mr Bannister said yesterday: “No Bahamian should overlook the fact that so far we have spent $18.3m on a project that was budgeted for $9.6 million dollars and the project still remains unfinished. We’re all going to have to pay for that and the Bahamian people need to know who was it who brazenly authorised the payment of millions of dollars, money people were not entitled to.

“(The) Cat Island (MP) says it wasn’t him. I believe it wasn’t him. It was not Cat Island Mr Speaker. There were very few people with the power to do that. And every Bahamian, no matter what their political loyalty would be, should be interested in helping us find the answer to that question.”

It remains unclear who authorised the controversial payments to NID.

In 2016, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works, Colin Higgs, wrote to former State Minister for Finance Michael Halkitis and former Financial Secretary Simon Wilson about his concerns over a $1m payment ordered for NID.

Last week The Tribune asked Mr Halkitis about the matter. He said: “Everything should be in the files at the Ministry of Finance.” 

Afterwards, Acting Financial Secretary Marlon Johnson told The Tribune the matter is being internally reviewed within the ministry.

Yesterday, Mr Bannister defended other people who have been mentioned in connection with NID, including Merlene Poitier, a secretary in the law firm of Mr Davis who is a holder of a single share in NID. Ms Poitier’s association with Mr Davis was noted in EY’s report. In addition, Mr Bannister defended Ruth Bowe Darville, a lawyer connected to his former law firm who has represented NID over the years.

He said: “Much has been made of the name Merlene Poitier appearing in that report. I know Merlene and I know she would never purposely be a party to anything that is wrong. However, those who would have caused her to be in a vulnerable position need to come forward and say so. If that company is sued, she faces liability that someone so decent should never face.

“Additionally, during debate the member of Cat Island also touched on the fact that the company NID had its offices at Commonwealth Law Advocates and in the process he mentioned the name Ruth Bowe Darville. Commonwealth Law Advocates is a firm that I started after I walked away from a law firm that caused me great distress.

“In 2007 when I entered public life I left Commonwealth Law Advocates in the able hands of Ms Ruth Bowe Darville, an outstanding professional. That company first became a client of Commonwealth Law Advocates some five years after I left; I had nothing to do with it. However, I stand by the integrity of Mrs Ruth Bowe Darville. She would have had nothing to do whatsoever with the operations of that company, nor would she would have received any benefits other than her normal legal fees. I know Ruth and I could tell you that.”

Mr Bannister dismissed Mr Davis’ claim that auditor EY has participated in a witch-hunt against the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), but he distanced himself from the auditor’s inclusion of the obituary of Mr Davis’ mother in a section of the report that said someone with the same name as Ms Poitier was identified as a close family friend of Mr Davis’ mother. 

“I would never personally have inserted information with respect to the obituary of the mother of the member for Cat Island into this,” Mr Bannister said.

“However, it was not for me to interfere with the work of an international accounting firm and had I done otherwise I would now be accused of tampering so I left their work as it is. If there’s something wrong with it, if there is something they made a mistake with, it is there for all of us to see. By the same token, there is much in that report that we all have to look at and seriously take into consideration.”

He said: “The Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) is a national asset. It must perform efficiently and in the best interest of the Bahamian people. Anyone who alleges that an international accounting firm with the reputation, skill and experience of Ernst and Young is on a witch-hunt is seriously underestimating the intelligence of the Bahamian people.

“The real witch-hunt is shown in the report. How else can one explain the email from Audley Hanna to both the former prime minister and the deputy prime minister in which he said, and I quote, ‘In a previous email from me I said we need to deal with these FNM cronies at Water & Sewerage.’

“The fact is the audit was long overdue and politicians will have to appreciate that the Bahamian people in the future will demand that we operate these entities efficiently and in the best interest of the country. We will all have to be accountable and we will have to be transparent.”

Mr Bannister chastised former Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Bradley Roberts for instructing WSC’s board in 2012 not to disconnect services of Abaco residents because of the imminent by-election.

“No Bahamian would take lightly to a politician directing the corporation to discontinue a disconnection exercise until after an election is completed as was done at the Water and Sewerage corporation,” he said. “How can anyone be so arrogant to say auditors had no right to question politically led decision making. That statement and statements like it are why members opposite are where they are today. All of us, everyone of us in political life need to distance ourselves from that statement. Politically motivated interference can never again be tolerated in the Bahamas. We as politicians must appreciate that our actions must be directed toward uplifting our people through national development, not petty political tricks. We’re not elected for that and this new generation of Bahamians will not tolerate it.”

Mr Davis interrupted Mr Bannister to suggest Mr Roberts’ order has been misinterpreted.

He said: “The member spoke about a politically directed order with respect to disconnections in the middle of a campaign of a by-election. The complaint I was hearing is they were being disconnected because of politics and what the chairman was doing was ensuring there would be no blame for disconnecting water because of politics.” 

Parliamentarians laughed and mocked his comment afterward, however.