By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamian Contractors Association's (BCA) president yesterday hailed the new pre-qualification process for removing the "cloak and dagger" secrecy around public project bidding.

Leonard Sands told Tribune Business that the new regime, unveiled by government yesterday, will address the previous lack of transparency as it gives registered companies the opportunity to obtain work on a competitive level playing field.

He said: "We certainly encourage that. We believe that the minister and the ministry are on the right path by ensuring that all contractors wishing to engage in bidding on government work pre-qualify and be a part of the system.

"We recognise that means the Ministry will definitely know who the contractors are ahead of time. What has been the challenge always is that sometimes contracts were awarded to persons who no-one knew beforehand. The questions would be: Well, where did the contact come from, and who was the contractor? I believe this process removes all of that cloak and dagger.

"Registered companies will have an opportunity to engage in work offered by the Government. There have been abuses of the process in the past, which has not only affected the Ministry but the country's finances, with contracts ending up short and the Government having to pay out more money to complete the work."

Desmond Bannister, minister of works, told Parliament yesterday that his ministry is in the process of updating its contractor database, and the tendering and payment certificate processes.

"To this end my ministry has developed a new pre-qualification process and documentation, which will enable all qualified contractors to be eligible to participate in development projects," he said. "Through the completion of the pre-qualification document, contractors will be granted the opportunity to pre-qualify to be placed in the Ministry of Public Works' database of contractors."

"This database will inform the ministry's project officers of which contractors are pre-qualified for various types of capital works. To ensure the quality of contractors, the valuation is done through a pre-qualification analysis of the submitted document.

"The pre-qualification document is designed to assist the contractor in providing information in support of their selection. The document allows them to demonstrate that they have suitable experience, capacity, financial standing and are aware of health and safety procedures, to properly execute the works."

Mr Bannister added that once contractors are pre-qualified in particular categories, they will have the opportunity to be invited to bid on a rotational basis. "Further, contractors may be deleted from the list if the quality of performance falls below acceptable levels. Conversely, they maybe elevated to higher categories, when ability to advance has been demonstrated," he said.

The Minister also revealed that Bahamas Power & Light's (BPL) voluntary separation packages will cost a total $70.403 million, with $56.009 million paid out to-date. He added that this will save the financially-stricken state-owned energy monopoly "an average of $13.6 million annually over the next five years", meaning that the upfront cost will be recovered in five to six years.

Mr Bannister said the separation packages were partially funded by BPL's pension fund administrator, likely referring to the payout of pension and other benefit obligations, with the balance coming from BPL's recently-completed $100 million financing.

Some 219 of the 314 voluntary separation applicants left BPL by end-June, with another eight set to depart this month. The remainder will exit between now and June 2020.

"It should be noted that 59 of the 95 employees who were retained beyond June 30, will be retained as employees with existing benefits, while 36 will be retained on contracts," Mr Bannister said.

"BPL made a determination that everyone who wanted to leave should have the opportunity to do so. Hence, many senior employees decided to accept the VSEP. It is, therefore, expected that 60 of the positions will need to be replaced as contracted and delayed applicants exit the organisation over the next two years."