The Tribune

• Top official’s lawsuit spotlights multi-million deals

• Execution ‘irregular’, violated public service rules

• ‘No funding’ for contracts attacked by Pintard

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A senior civil servant is alleging that two controversial multi-million dollar maritime contracts were executed “negligently, unlawfully and maliciously” in contravention of public service rules.

Antoinette Thompson, the top civil servant in the then-Ministry of Transport and Housing until she was placed on “unrecorded leave” in April 2023, is claiming in legal documents that the two “large contracts” were signed and executed by junior officials “without the knowledge or authority” of herself even though - as permanent secretary - she was the one required to sign-off.

And she alleged that one of the contracts, which committed the Government to pay $3.355m for the development of an online portal to capture private boat and yacht charter fees, was signed by Gaynell Rolle, the Ministry of Transport and Housing’s under-secretary, prior to all the necessary documents arriving at the ministry’s offices.

That contract, handed to DigieSoft Technologies, as well as the annual $3.57m award to Adolpha Maritime Group for the maintenance of navigational aids in Nassau and other harbours across The Bahamas, were both cited for procedural irregularities in Ms Thompson’s October 27, 2023, action naming both Prime Minister Philip Davis KC and her then-minister, Jobeth Coleby-Davis as defendants.

The allegations will draw further scrutiny, and likely reignite the controversy surrounding the Digiesoft and Adolpha Maritime Group contracts, which erupted during the 2023-2024 Budget debate after Michael Pintard, the Opposition’s leader, challenged the Government over whether the awards breached public procurement laws then in existence.

Both Mr Davis and Mrs Coleby-Davis defended the Digiesoft Technologies contract award against Mr Pintard’s claims, but Ms Thompson’s legal claim asserts that there was a failure “to follow civil service procedure” in the presentation and handling of both that and the Adolpha Maritime Group deal.

And documents attached to her filings revealed “that no funding is available” in the ministry’s 2022-2023 Budget for either project. Ms Thompson, as the then-permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Housing, said she only became aware of the two contracts when the Port Department requested the release of funds so that both winning bidders could “mobilise” to perform their obligations.

“Some time in February 2023, shortly after the claimant’s return from vacation, a request from the acting port controller for mobilisation funding for two large contracts was placed on the claimant’s desk for her attention,” Ms Thompson’s fixed claim alleged.

The mobilisation request, sent on Lieutenant Commander Berne Wright’s behalf on February 7, 2023, requested that Adolpha Maritime Group be paid $1.192m - a sum equivalent to a four-month payment on its annual $3.576m contract - to kickstart “the maintenance and upkeep of aids to navigation throughout the territorial waters of The Bahamas”.

As for Digiesoft, the sum requested was $1.678m or 50 percent “of the total cost for the Port Department Software Development Project”. The Port Department added: “This payment is required to ensure the necessary resources, materials and equipment for the initiation of this project. Grateful for your assistance in seeking release of funds to expedite these requests.”

A notation to the Port Department’s memorandum, dated February 9 and seemingly written by Ms Thompson, passed the financing request on to another Ministry of Transport and Housing official “for your attention and further necessary action”.

Pamela Rutherford, a financial officer and account supervisor, replied to Ms Thompson the same day, and said: “I am acknowledging receipt of documents for Adolpha Maritime Group and Digiesoft. After review of capital budget, and consultation with budget analyst (Hall), it was concluded that no funding is available in budget for these projects.”

However, Ms Thompson’s claim alleged: “Subsequent to the procurement process, the claimant, upon further inquiry discovered the fifth defendant [Ms Rolle] executed one of the agreements (DigieSoft) in January 2023 as ‘permanent secretary(acting).

“Additionally, the fifth defendant appeared to have executed the DigieSoft LLC agreement in January 2023 prior to the contract being received in office and therefore pre-dated the document prior to its official receipt in the Ministry of Transport and Housing.

“Both the Digiesoft LLC and the Adolpha Maritime Group contracts were executed by [Ms Rolle] as acting permanent secretary without the knowledge or authority of the claimant who was in office at the time of execution of the contract,” Ms Thompson continued.

“Unaware of the executed agreements, the claimant formally referred the request for mobilisation to the Ministry of Finance. The claimant also questioned [Ms Rolle[ regarding her execution of the documents and her authority to execute them. The fifth defendant’s response was dismissive and unconcerned.”

The February 9, 2023, minute paper from Ms Rutherford has two hand-written notations on it. One appears to be from Ms Thompson to Ms Rolle, saying: “You would wish to be aware, Kindly advise accordingly.”

The second, which appears to be a reply from Ms Rolle to Ms Thompson dated one day later on February 10, 2023, is harder to decipher but seems to say that the financing for both the DigieSoft and Adolpha Maritime Group contracts “should have been requested as per the ministry’s capital allocation as previously requested of the” Ministry of Finance.

Still, Ms Thompson’s fixed claim alleged of Ms Rolle: “The fifth defendant negligently, unlawfully and maliciously executed the DigieSoft LLC and Adolpha Maritime Group contracts as the principal finance officer in the Ministry of Transport and Housing, which gave the impression that the claimant was complicit in having the fifth defendant incorrectly and negligently executing contracts on behalf of the Ministry of Transport and Housing that, if in fact were not properly vetted, would make the Government liable to breach of contract and suffer significant and avoidable loss.”

Public service sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the chain of events detailed by Ms Thompson’s legal filings as highly irregular if accurate. “Only the permanent secretary, the principal accounting officer, can sign off,” one said. “The minister cannot sign, and nobody junior can sign. Only the head of department.”

Ms Thompson is alleging negligence, including “failing to follow civil service procedure” in the presentation of the DigieSoft Technologies and Adolpha Maritime Group contracts, and effectively cutting her out of the process and “usurping [her] authority”.

Tribune Business previously reported that Mr Davis, in concluding the 2023-2024 Budget debate, asserted that proper processes were followed in awarding the $3.355m contract to DigieSoft Technologies even though the Government’s own procurement site listed another company as the winner.

The Government’s procurement portal lists Infrasoft Technologies as the bid winner but, when the ‘view award’ link is clicked, the pop-up states: “The Ministry of Transport and Housing has awarded the contract for the creation of the online portal for the Port Department to DigieSoft Technologies.”

This was picked up by Mr Pintard, who blasted: “We attempted to research DigieSoft Technologies, the company that supposedly won the bid, but we found no company website, LinkedIn page or any information whatsoever about its track record in technology projects.

“These circumstances raise numerous questions that the Government must address. Why was the contract not awarded to the winning bidder? A project of this magnitude would have required scrutiny by the Tenders Board. What decision did the Tenders Board reach? Did DigieSoft submit a bid during the formal bidding process? Why did the Government award a substantial $3m contract to a company with no apparent track record in delivering such a solution?

“How did the Government determine the capabilities of this seemingly new company to handle a project of this size and scope? How many technical staff does DigieSoft have? How many similar projects have the company undertaken? Is DigieSoft merely outsourcing the work to another firm, thus providing no real value to the initiative?”

Mr Davis described Mr Pintard’s assertions as “incorrect”. He added that the Infrasoft bid was never approved by Cabinet and, instead, DigieSoft went through the necessary vetting and approval by his Cabinet.

“We are happy and proud of the young Bahamian men behind DigieSoft who are creative, talented and extremely bright. It is high time young Bahamians were given equal opportunity to compete for Government contracts,” he said, without identifying DigieSoft’s principals.

“These young men have educated themselves, returned home and are making a positive contribution to the Bahamas. They have earned whatever reward they receive, and deserve our support and respect.”

However, Kwasi Thompson, the Opposition’s finance spokesman, subsequently challenged why the Government was committing $3.5m of taxpayer monies to the DigieSoft contract when the private sector - via the Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) - had provided exactly the same online fee collection solution via SeaZ Pass at no cost to the Public Treasury.

The Government and Ministry of Finance ordered that the SeaZ Pass portal close in October 2022 amid a dispute over whether its digital payments provider, Omni Financial Services, had passed on all funds due to the Public Treasury. This was vehemently denied and disputed by Omni.

Mr Thompson argued that if the Government had concerns over whether it was receiving the fees due, it could simply have ordered the ABM to drop Omni and switch to another digital payments provider to perform the same function.

And Mr Pintard, his party leader, also voiced concern over the $3.57m harbour navigational aids contract awarded to Adolpha Maritime Group on the basis that no competitive bidding process could be found on the Government’s procurement portal. Adolpha’s website lists its address as Mackey Street with a contact number that appears to be a cell phone. Its founder is named as Kyle Larune Russell.