Legal action being considered, says authority chairman
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — An audit into the internal controls and operations of the Bahamas Public Parks and Beaches Authority revealed that hundreds of thousands of dollars were issued during the last administration without any real identifiable need.
The revelation comes amidst growing concern with contractors who claimed they have not been paid by the Davis government for work completed and their contracts have not been honored.
The report, which was conducted by K Christie & Co, was released by Press Secretary Clint Watson yesterday during the government’s weekly press conference.
Watson advised that the authority has decided to terminate all current contracts in a legal manner.
“There is no presumption of guilt or wrongdoing on the part of any contractor,” Watson said.
“Every contractor who has a valid legal contract will be paid. However, they will now be paid in a way that fully complies with all existing laws, regulations and best financial and accounting practice.”
The report concluded that the Bahamas Public Parks and Public Beaches Authority requested and received consistent supplemental funding beyond its annual budget in the last three fiscal years.
“We did not identify the exact need for extra-budgetary allocations and there is speculation that it was fueled more by the demand and requests for economic stimulation than by any real needs on the ground,” the executive summary noted.
The authority ran over budget in its award of contracts by $6.8 million between July 2019 and June 2020 and by $13.7 million between July 2020 and June 2021.
Up to October 31 of the current fiscal year — July 2021 to July 2022 — the authority spent nearly $9.3 million of its annual budget and would have overspent by $12.7 million if allowed to stay on that trajectory, the report outlined.
Among the observations outlined by auditors during the course of the analysis of contracts was that there were inconsistencies in the signature of the corporation’s former Executive Chairman Shanendon Cartwright; there were some contracts signed and dated ahead of the vendor/witness signature; and there were some missing contracts that have already been paid out.
The report also noted that multiple contracts were issued to individuals using different company names, with some individuals having up to 10 contracts simultaneously.
Additionally, more than 90 percent of those contractors were not required to produce know-your-customer (KYC) identification to be placed on file.
We are not looking at attacking the vendors; we are looking at providing solutions to the problem.
– Board Chairman McKell Bonaby
Newly instated chairman of the Public Parks and Beaches Board McKell Bonaby revealed that the authority currently pays out some $2.7 million monthly to 12,000 to 14,000 vendors.
Bonaby noted that officials are still investigating the matter and are considering legal action.
“We are not looking at attacking the vendors; we are looking at providing solutions to the problem.”
In order for their contracts to be honored, every vendor will have to provide the basic KYC documentation for the maintenance of proper internal records, including IDs (such as a passport, driver’s license or National Insurance Board card), bank details and be tax and NIB-compliant.
“It’s not a political process and this is why I made the case that we need to pay everyone.
“As long as they can prove that they have a valid contract and that the work was carried out, they will be paid.
“We cannot continue at $2.7 million a month. What I would like to do is align the authority with the original $15.2 million budget.”
Bonaby noted that some 300 general service workers have been put on notice that they will have to take on the role of those contractors.
“We believe that sometime mid-January, we should be able to rightsize the ship and we should be able to have our workers going back to our normal tasks of the contracted vendors doing the work.”
Loading ...
