By Ricardo Wells

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

WORKS Minister Desmond Bannister said yesterday the former administration issued $200m worth of contracts without going through bidding, as he announced that there will be changes to the tender and bidding processes at the Ministry of Works.

Mr Bannister said the key changes, once implemented, would mandate that all contracts being financed by the government go to a tender process.

The comments came in an interview with reporters before yesterday morning’s Cabinet meeting.

The Carmichael MP said the move would ensure transparency and value for the Bahamian people.

“We are working at changing (the process),” he said. “Under the former administration, they had $200m in negotiated contracts that were just negotiated out.”

Mr Bannister added: “There was no process whereby persons could come in and bid on contracts. They were simply negotiated to, I guess, the political supporters….. that’s over $200 million.

“We are seeking to change that process so that the process is more transparent and the process endures to the benefit of Bahamians.”

 When asked yesterday what guidelines he felt needed to be implemented as a part of the changes, Mr Bannister added: “I think when we change that process, you are going to see lots of things happening.

“So, for example, I was in Eleuthera the other day and we have to spend anywhere from $10m to almost $40m to replace a bridge which is critical for Eleuthera and which is critical for tourism.

“When we change the process for negotiating contracts, people would have to bid on them; the process.”

Mr Bannister continued: “You are going to see more value for the Bahamian people because nobody is going to be able to take their best buddy and say, ‘hey listen, you can have this contract and you can come in and pay us $30m and this is your contract.’

“The extent to which that was done, where for example someone could get a $22m contract by the negotiation process. That process is unheard of. Should never happen in the Bahamas again,” he said.