Wednesday, February 9, 2022
By KHRISNA RUSSELL
Tribune Chief Reporter
krussell@tribunemedia.net
CENTRAL and South Abaco MP John Pinder says it is “shameful” there remain duties unfulfilled in storm ravaged Abaco while the former managing director of the Disaster Reconstruction Authority took home an “extravagant” salary.
Details of former DRA Managing Director Katherine Forbes-Smith’s salary came to light this week after she filed a lawsuit against the government for allegedly breaching her contract after her termination from the role last year.
According to a writ filed in the Supreme Court in December, Mrs Forbes-Smith is suing the DRA for $408,333.16 for that contract breach along with other allowances.
Yesterday, Mr Pinder, who is also Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation, said people continue to suffer in Abaco and Grand Bahama despite the disaster of Hurricane Dorian occurring more than two years ago.
Meanwhile, Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister Myles Laroda said in his view the matter was “sub judice” and he did not want to go into specifics about the case.
However, he said since the termination of the former Senate president, the salary of her replacement was reduced to less than half of that amount.
“My take on Kay Forbes-Smith’s salary and the lack of duties fulfilled is, it’s shameful,” Mr Pinder said. “To then sue the government for the extent of her contract when there’s still Abaconians and Grand Bahamians in dire need and could really use the help for almost half a million dollars.
“So, the salary was extravagant and it shows the lack of compassion for the Bahamian people really,” he claimed.
The contract’s terms were that the DRA agreed to pay Mrs Forbes-Smith an annual salary of $110,000 in monthly installments of $9,166.66 and an annual housing allowance of $30,000 in monthly instalments of $2,500.
The contract also stipulated an annual duty allowance of $15,000 in monthly installments of $1,250 and a monthly fuel allowance of $250.
At the end of that contract, Mrs Forbes-Smith was entitled to receive a gratuity of 15 percent of the sum received under the contract.
Mrs Forbes-Smith had a four-year, fixed-term contract that would have expired on November 30, 2023. Under the contract, she was required to provide six months’ notice of her intention to terminate the agreement before the expiration date, but it had no provision allowing the DRA to terminate it before its end.
Mr Pinder was also critical of the temporary housing for some Abaconians in the form of domes and said mainland Abaco was far from where it should be after the monster storm of 2019.
“Currently they (the domes) are still inhabited. As MP, I’m working on housing initiatives to move those people out of there. They were never installed properly meaning the cesspit was never hooked up and needs to be regularly pumped out. These are the same areas that kids play around. Some of them don’t have electricity. Some of them are mould infested, which is causing respiratory problems and on the whole, it was not only a bad decision, it was the wrong decision. It was something that is detrimental now to the health of Abaconians and the money we spent on that could have been utilised to put them in micro homes that would have been more suitable for a longer time frame.”
He added: “We are still in the rebuild and recovery stage. The cays - Hope Town, Man-O-War, Guana Cay, Green Turtle - are further along. However, mainland Abaco still needs a lot of work. We have many, many challenges. I recently accompanied the DRA board on an assessment tour of Abaco and found that one of the debris management sites in North Abaco was not being tended to and the amount of money that was being spent on that monthly, I think it was just extravagant.”
Given the current realities in Abaco, Mr Pinder said he would sum up the DRA’s work on the island as dismal.
“Dismal, absolutely dismal,” he told The Tribune.
The DRA said in a post on its Facebook page yesterday that its new board of directors had viewed debris management sites in Elbow, Green Turtle and Treasure Cays as well as Spring City.
They also toured the temporary dome housing project also located in Spring City and were not pleased with the current state. Directors visited the Central Pines construction site consisting of five new homes, which is near completion and the Abaco Centre Hurricane Shelter and Community Centre whose construction status was disappointing to all board members.
The statement said all DRA board directors were in agreement that visiting “Abaco was a real eye-opener. There is much disappointment with the mismanagement of several key projects aimed at assisting Abaconians. The work that needs to be done by the DRA is quite clear.”
This week the delegation will also tour the disaster zones in Grand Bahama as the new board completes their full assessments to develop a new vision and direction for a resilient Bahamas.
Comments
SP says...
Meanwhile, Haitians are running amuck and building new shanty towns and unregulated buildings all over the place and Mr. Pinder refuses to acknowledge it!
Posted 9 February 2022, 8:41 a.m. Suggest removal
moncurcool says...
Because he is duplicitous. He does not get political brownie points for it so he ignores the real issues. Typical unproductive politician.
Posted 9 February 2022, 8:45 a.m. Suggest removal
tribanon says...
But he's at least willing to readily acknowledge the worthlessness of the greedy ruby red lip-sticked pig whom corrupt Minnis had saddled us taxpayers with.
Posted 9 February 2022, 9:48 a.m. Suggest removal
TalRussell says...
Well – yes, **$408,333.16 and annual housing allowance of $30,000 in monthly installments of $2,500.an annual duty allowance of $15,000 in monthly installments of $1,250 and a monthly fuel allowance of $250** for that contract breach, demands lots more of a reaction than that of a former red minister when he claimed, **BPL goin' go broke after another board's head Sister had incurred mere $350 for makeover.**
This Sister is out puttin' some real hurtin' on de PopoulacesPurse,. not just looking be financially compensated for basic living necessities'.
Her claim, seems indicate de Sister is out to buy a whole house full of new and expensive designer furnitures'...And them rouged lips application, had have required a traveling about wit de Sister, rouge paid assistant?
Well, no, you just don't walk around be makin' this stuff up, ― Yes?
Posted 9 February 2022, 12:39 p.m. Suggest removal
birdiestrachan says...
What is so bad about all of this is that the former PM, who created the DRA
does not know what is in her contract.??
If that is not bad enough he seems to want to fight in the house of assembly
They should make sure that brother of his is not close
Posted 9 February 2022, 2 p.m. Suggest removal
SP says...
Don't be naive, he knew. But as long as the PM claims he has no knowledge of the contract he has less questions to answer.
Posted 9 February 2022, 8:57 p.m. Suggest removal
Dawes says...
and nothing will happen. And now the PLP will reward their people and in 5 years we will all find out how much and be outraged, and then nothing will happen. Both parties must laugh at the Bahamian People and how easily lead we are.
Posted 9 February 2022, 4:38 p.m. Suggest removal
DWW says...
And yet the DRA is still composed entirely of people who have little to no ties to the island. I bet there are persons who live and work on the island of Abaco who would be willing to assist with little to no compensation but then how would we get that money out of the public purse would we.
Posted 9 February 2022, 4:42 p.m. Suggest removal
Baha10 says...
… you got that right!
Posted 10 February 2022, 7:24 a.m. Suggest removal
TigerB says...
Well let's hope with all these negative remarks by the abaco Jr. Minister they dont have to pay her. IF they do, nothing else matter. For all indications her contract was broken... they will have to prove otherwise, nothing else matters. I remember the PLP paying Sir Baltron Bethel a hefty salary in Tourism at the age of 80.. gov't does stuff like this.
Posted 9 February 2022, 4:46 p.m. Suggest removal
John says...
Reveal the contracts for New Providence. They veered just as lucrative and continued on months after the island was cleared of storm debris
Posted 9 February 2022, 4:48 p.m. Suggest removal
The_Oracle says...
There are a number of problems here, all of which are endemic:
1) as with every administration that presides over a hurricane event, they are learning from scratch. There is no continuity on processes, policy, structure, nada.
2) if she was asked to do the job, and the government agreed to the terms, who is stupid?
Not her. Would be the Dumb ass in government that agreed and signed the contract.
3) There is still no procedural manual. So the next Government will have no prior experience to draw on. Not that they would if it did exist. That plus all the senior civil servants who gain the experience either get politically retired or retire naturally by the time the next one hits. The NEMA act is garbage without experienced people to administer it. Very Dangerously it gives Government the power to confiscate YOUR Goods and ASSETS to administer themselves as they see fit. Don't believe me? Look it up. Thank God none thus far have been stupid enough to try it.
4) Government response after Dorian took 6 weeks. For 6 weeks Civil servants stand back, un-instructed. Private sector efforts happen within hours. The blessing in that is Customs/Immigration/Police don't get in the way in that 6 weeks. (4 weeks post Matthew, 6 weeks post Dorian)
Posted 9 February 2022, 6:23 p.m. Suggest removal
sheeprunner12 says...
How much of Government/Ministry and SOE budgets are eaten up by these types of hollow positions?
Check BPL, WSC, BAir and all of these Boards, Commissions and Authorities ...... It's sick
The PLP will be no different
Posted 9 February 2022, 7:04 p.m. Suggest removal
ThisIsOurs says...
These people appear to get these jobs based on nothing but name recognition, meaning in many cases they're incapable of executing.
A lawyer doesnt necessarily make a good plumber. An engineer doesnt necessarily make a good minister of disaster. We "sometimes" have a workable structure in place and we just blow it up appointing friends and family ill fitted to the role. I note the recent media appointments
Also The speed at which this ministry of disaster materialized and the lack of evidence of any idea of what it would cost was a red flag that plenty people in suits saw a big opportunity to profit handsomely off other people's disaster. This rash charging bull at a red flag behaviour seems to have characterized Minnis whenever millions were on the line. It was uncanny. Almost as if his ability to make money was on the line. Oban, Prospect Ridge, BPL, Antiquities and monuments, Lighthouse Point
Posted 10 February 2022, 12:58 a.m. Suggest removal
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