The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A $183 million roadwork contract awarded to a company affiliated with Bahamas Striping was mistakenly published due to an “administrative error” after being paused by Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, according to the Office of the Prime Minister.

The contract, which the government reported was issued to Abaco Caribbean Holding on December 18 2024 for roadwork in West Grand Bahama, was the largest of 102 contracts published by the Ministry of Finance in December, accounting for nearly all of the $193 million in awards issued that month.

However, OPM said that the contract was never awarded.

Communications Director in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Latrae Rahming, could not confirm why officials initially tried to single-source the contract to the company.

In a statement, the OPM said the prime minister is satisfied that “no improper intent or malfeasance occurred” but acknowledged the error in the contract’s publication.

The statement added that an internal review is ongoing: “An international financial organisation had settled a prequalification amount with a particular vendor, and the matter proceeded from there toward a conclusion. Upon this being brought to the prime minister’s attention, he instructed that the matter be set aside for further review.

“Unfortunately, that instruction was not reflected in the list that was subsequently published, which has led to regrettable confusion. The model of the vendor in question is that of a project manager. As such, the allocated funding would not have gone to a single contractor but rather to several contractors operating in Grand Bahama.”

The OPM said it had reviewed the decision-making process and timeline behind the contract’s listing under the Public Procurement Act.

When pressed on who authorised the listing despite the prime minister’s intervention, Mr Rahming said he could not confirm who was responsible for the publication error.

He said the Public Procurement Act does allow for direct awards in certain cases. “Some contractors, depending on the value of the scale of work, can self mobilise, don’t rely on government funding right away. So in instances, that can be criteria for the decision-making process,” he said.

When asked if Abaco Caribbean Holding case met that standard, he said: “I cannot say, I don’t know. Obviously the prime minister has the matter under review; he’ll have to speak further to that issue.”

The Public Procurement Act outlines strict conditions for awarding contracts without competitive bidding. These relate to procurements under $100,000, the absence of suitable bids in a tender, exclusive supplier rights, or emergencies such as natural disasters, threats to life, or essential materials unavailable through timely competitive processes.