By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Contractors Association President Leonard Sands slammed the government’s continued failure to publish contract awards under the Public Procurement Act.

A revised version of the law requires the government to disclose the name and address of winning bidders, the procuring entity, the procurement selection method and the award amount within 60 days of the contract award.

Mr Sands said the Davis administration is choosing not to comply with the requirement.

“The government and the minister of public works by choice are deciding to break the law,” he said. “The law says what should happen and they do not do what the act and the law says.”

 Mr Sands said the law is flawed because it imposes no penalty for non-disclosure.

 “That’s why the Public Procurement Act didn’t go far enough,” he said. “They already foresaw that they could abuse it, because if you don’t have a penalty, what’s the purpose of me adhering to a law? If someone tells you you could only drive 50mph, but if you drive 60mph nothing happens, you gon’ drive 60mph.”

 “Many times the government itself is the one that abuses situations in the country. They should ensure the public is aware who is awarded contracts so they could be seen to be fair.”

 Davis administration officials did not answer questions about the matter before press time yesterday.

 Financial Secretary Simon Wilson said in April that the government would publish contract awards when the reporting capacity of its procurement system is improved. The government launched the Go Bonfire Platform procurement portal last year. Mr Wilson said officials were back filing information on the new system. The status of those efforts is unclear. 

 Mr Sands, however, said notifying the public of contract awards should not be complicated.

 “Somebody,” he said, “had to sign a document. You know exactly who that person was who signed it, okay? All of the things they tell you are garbage responses to their intention to willfully hide information from the public.”

 Concern about the lack of transparency over procurement processes has persisted for years, a problem the law was designed to cure.

 “The law has no effect,” Mr Sands claimed. “The Public Procurement Act and its improvements have no effect. The same things that were going on prior to the act being in place continues.”

 He said contractors do not expect much from the government.

 “Contractors know that, at the end of the day, the persons who the government and or the minister and or whoever wants to have that contract, will have that contract. There’s nothing to do with whether they follow all the protocols of the Public Procurement Act. That’s the sentiment across the board.”

 In its 2022 Investment Climate Statement report on The Bahamas, the US Bureau of Economic and Affairs highlighted procurement issues.

 “The government passed a Public Procurement Act and launched an e-procurement and suppliers registry system in 2021. While the registry system is in place, the Public Procurement Act has yet to be fully implemented. Companies complain that the tender process for public contracts is inconsistent and allege it is difficult to obtain information on the status of bids,” the US agency said.