The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE company at the centre of a heated parliamentary row last week is suing the government for non-payment.

Documents concerning the engagement of Priton Bahamas Limited to do work in a Carmichael Road subdivision were tabled by Housing Minister Romauld Ferreira last week following a heated back and forth with former Works Minister Philip Davis.

Priton Bahamas submitted an invoice for completed work in the amount of $2,192,019.84; however, a valuation undertaken by the Ministry of Public Works purports that only $367,288.61 worth of work could be proven.

The ministry recommended the bill be heavily reduced.

An invoice for $4,744,359.41 from Priton was also tabled in Parliament. It was dated December 31, 2018 and notes this money was owed as of January 1, 2019.

Yesterday, Priton Bahamas President Ralph Hanna told The Tribune his lawyers served the government with a writ last month, and declined further comment.

“We have served the government with a writ related to non-payment,” Mr Hanna said.

“They are protected by parliamentary privilege when they debate in there,” he added, “I am not.”

Mr Hanna said his company has no affiliation with Turks and Caicos-based construction company Priton Development, which constructs pre-fab homes; however, he noted they did use their base building systems after perfecting “the problems that they had”.

Responding to the documents last Wednesday, Mr Davis said the manner in which they were table imputed to him, some level of dishonourable conduct in his capacity as former works minister.

Mr Davis went on to say that he was unaware of any such transaction when he held the post, insisting that Mr Ferreira had, in a sense, breached his privilege and misled the House of Assembly.

The matter was referred to the House of Assembly’s Committee of Privilege for review.