The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Opposition’s finance spokesman was yesterday less than impressed with the Government’s efforts at “transparency” over its flagship $20m housing initiative, asserting: “This should not be a secret deal.”

Kwasi Thompson, the east Grand Bahama MP, told Tribune Business that JoBeth Coleby-Davis, minister of transport and housing, had “left the situation more confused than ever” over the financing terms and other details surrounding the 365-lot Renaissance at Carmichael subdivision.

He especially zeroed in on the minister’s answers, both oral and written, which said the Department of Housing has “entered into a funding agreement with a Bahamian wealth management fund” to provide the $20m for Renaissance even though multiple media reports at the time said the facility had been arranged by Bahamian and Jamaican financial services providers.

These are Simplified Lending and Proven Wealth Ltd, respectively. However, Mrs Coleby-Davis in her written answers said: “There is no agreement with Simplified Lending and Proven Wealth Management.” Mr Thompson, too, queried this in the House of Assembly, giving the minister an opportunity to revise her answers, but she reaffirmed the position given.

Mrs Coleby-Davis also declined to lay a copy of the agreement with Simplified Lending and Proven Wealth in the House of Assembly on the basis of its “sensitive nature”. However, in the same breath, she added that “in the interest of transparency I commit to confirming to this House the interest, terms and repayment of the funding agreement” at a later date.

The minister’s written answers said the $20m loan proceeds have yet to be received and disbursed, with the monies set to finance the development and build-out of a 70-acre site set to feature 200 homes in its first phase. The arrangement with Simplified Lending and Proven Wealth was hailed with great fanfare at a press conference featuring both the Prime Minister and Mrs Coleby-Davis, who said it will set “a new standard” for housing public-private partnerships (PPPs).

Executives from both Simplified Lending and Proven Wealth were present at the press conference, with the Bahamian company appearing to have acted as a financial broker in securing the funding from its Jamaican counterpart. Johann Heaven, a Proven Management director, was among those present, and press releases issued on Renaissance described the two entities as having “partnered.... to provide funding”.

Voicing surprise at the minister’s assertion that there is “no agreement” with the two companies, Mr Thompson told Tribune Business: “The minister should have tabled the agreement and refuses. She also refuses to state the terms of interest and repayment terms of the so-called ‘funding agreement’. Where is the transparency? This should not be a secret deal.”

Robert Pantry, Simplified Lending’s principal, was yesterday said to be locked in meetings and negotiations and did not respond to this newspaper’s calls and messages seeking comment before press time last night. A former RBC FINCO managing director, he founded Simplified Lending in partnership with ex-Central Bank governor, Julian Francis, and the company describes itself as the “largest mortgage and money broker” in The Bahamas.

Reading between the lines of Mrs Coleby-Davis’ answers, it is likely that an investment fund or special purpose vehicle (SPV) has been created through which the funding will flow to Renaissance as the drawdown and development schedule requires. The deal will also likely have been structured to keep any debt off the Government’s balance sheet.

Proven Wealth has strong political connections in Jamaica. One of its co-founders and a current director, Mark Golding, is leader of Jamaica’s principal opposition party, the People’s National Party (PNP), while another co-founder, Peter Bunting, served alongside him in the last of Portia Simpson-Miller’s Cabinets. And another co-founder and Proven director, Garfield ‘Garry’ Sinclair, is former chief executive at the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC).

This newspaper has seen photos of Philip Davis QC, the Prime Minister, meeting Mr Golding in Jamaica while attending the CARIFTA track and field championships earlier this year. Mrs Coleby-Davis accompanied the Prime Minister on the trip, and visited Jamaican low-cost housing developments while there. It is likely that the Renaissance arrangements were discussed at that time.

Mrs Coleby-Davis yesterday said the financing structure was approved by the Ministry of Finance. It is unclear, though, whether any competitive tendering took place for Renaissance or any of the other government low-cost housing initiatives entered into since the Davis administration took office, such as the arrangement for Pinecrest with Arawak Homes.

The minister yesterday said “interest rates of other financial entities were reviewed to ensure value for money on behalf of the Bahamian people” with regard to Renaissance’s financing. She added that the Housing Act stipulates that the minister can act “as corporation sole” with respect to financing housing developments - a position challenged by Mr Thompson.

He asserted that the recently-passed Public Debt Management Act makes the minister of finance the “sole borrowing agent” for the Government, and this authority cannot be delegated. It also requires that borrowed monies go into the Consolidated Fund, Mr Thompson argued, with the Act superseding all existing legislation. As a result, he questioned whether the $20m funding for Renaissance can stand up in law.

“Can the Government confirm the legal authority to borrow $20m and not pay the funds into the Consolidated Fund?” Mr Thompson asked. His questions were raised following a House of Assembly row over transparency, with Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister, asserting that the Minnis administration left 269 unanswered written parliamentary questions when it was voted out of office in September 2021.

Michael Pintard, the Opposition’s leader, shot back by saying he had answered all such questions raised over areas under his ministerial control. He then countered by asking why the Government had not published any contracts it has entered into since taking office, and accused it of evading questions on why it is breaching laws including the Public Procurement Act, Public Financial Management Act and Fiscal Responsibility Act.