The Tribune

THE revelations regarding a contract having been received at the Water and Sewerage Corporation by the daughter of its chairman have raised a number of concerns.

The manner in which the existence of the contract emerged is unusual, during a court case against the former chairman, Adrian Gibson, who is accused of corruption. We should be clear that one accusation – against current chairman Sylvanus Petty - must not impinge upon the other’s right to a fair trial.

It is notable then, given the delicacy of the situation, how quickly Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis has acted, saying yesterday that the contract should have been cancelled when the family relationship became known.

Mr Davis has previous form in this – in his own family. When it was revealed his own brother had a contract received contracts from BPL at a time when it fell under his remit as Minister of Works, he said he acted quickly to cancel the contract.

He said: “I made it clear that while it may be okay for a contract to be given from the government, it shouldn’t be given from an entity under my portfolio.”

Quite right. There should not be even the appearance of any impropriety – although questions will likely to be raised whether that standard is met when it comes to the case of Mr Davis emailing the founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, with a request to speak to Mr Davis’ son and give advice about a digital assets business.

What should be further noted here is that it is not Mr Petty calling for the contracts to be cancelled, but the Prime Minister.

Where that leaves Mr Petty is open to question. If the Prime Minister steps in to cancel contracts in your department with a family relative while you have not done so yourself, there is plenty of reason to suggest that Mr Petty’s own resignation should follow. The PM should not have to intervene in contracts in your department.

Mr Petty himself has remained quiet – but should speak to the subject.

Most worryingly of all, Mr Petty in his court testimony said he did not discourage awarding contracts to people known to the board, saying that “everyone in The Bahamas was family”.

This is exactly the kind of situation that leaves many to believe that contracts go to family, friends and lovers – leaving those without a connection out in the cold.

Mr Davis is to be applauded for so clearly indicating that such behaviour is inappropriate.

...but do more on Nygard

In contrast, Mr Davis has also spoken about the case of Peter Nygard – saying that he was close to the FNM as well as the PLP.

Despite the video celebrating the PLP victory called “Peter Nygard takes back The Bahamas” and the video of Mr Nygard entertaining PLP ministers at his home, Mr Davis has pointed the finger across the aisle at the FNM.

If the limit of the response to Nygard’s guilty verdict over four sex assaults is political finger-pointing, it will be a failure of our country as a whole.

In this column, we have called on several occasions for a commission of inquiry into everything related to Nygard. As we said in yesterday’s column, those who enabled his crimes ought to be held to account just the same as he has.

We do not care what political allegiance someone has who may have played a part in allowing this predator to carry out his crimes. It only matters that his victims receive justice.

Call a full commission of inquiry – and let all those responsible for allowing Nygard’s criminal actions be called to account, no matter what the colour of their shirts.