Investigations into WSC continue
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) General Manager Elwood Donaldson has been placed on leave amidst ongoing investigations at the corporation, confirmed Loretta Butler-Turner, the government’s newly appointed consultant.
Police officers were reportedly on site yesterday to oversee Donaldson’s exit from the property.
The corporation is expected to have a press conference today to address the matter.
In an interview with Eyewitness News, Butler-Turner, who is handling communications for the corporation, said the WSC board recommended that Donaldson be placed on leave while there are ongoing investigations at the corporation.
Asked about the presence of officers at the corporation on Sunday, she explained that all government offices and corporations keep “a lot of stuff” on various computers and it was important to ensure that everything belonging to the corporation is left intact so the investigators will not be hampered in any way.
Upon coming to office, the Davis administration advised that all government agencies and corporations were undergoing investigations.
Allegations against former WSC Executive Chairman Adrian Gibson suggested that Elite Maintenance Incorporated Ltd — a company purportedly co-owned by his former fiancée — received a series of payments from WSC totaling over $500,000 between November 2018 and January 2021.
In October, Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis indicated there is enough information in the public domain to “warrant an investigation” into contracts issued at corporation.
Minister of Public Works and Utilities Alfred Sears officially named the new board earlier this month, which includes corporation chairman Sylvanus Petty; Kele Isaacs, who currently serves as the chief financial officer at the Island School in Cape Eleuthera; and Alvin Sargent, a sports business consultant.
When asked about the contracts awarded under the previous board during the naming ceremony, Sears said: “With respect to the conduct of the Water and Sewerage Corporation, the legal process is that the board is now fully constituted,
“The board will review the affairs historically and also currently and will determine, as the law requires, the conduct of the corporation.
“As the responsible minister, certainly reports will be made to us and we will weigh in.
“It will be premature without the board having the facts to reach a conclusion about this allegation or the other allegation.”
