The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) ‘bribe’ case proves “no one political party has a monopoly on corruption”, a leading businessman calling for such practices to be “stamped out”.

Franklyn Wilson, the Arawak Homes and Sunshine Insurance chairman, told Tribune Business that the $325,000 ‘bribe’ dispelled the message promoted by one Bahamian political party that corruption was solely attached to its main rival.

Although he did not name the political parties, there is little doubt that Mr Wilson was suggesting that the Free National Movement (FNM) has always attempted to paint the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) as the only party to attract corruption-related allegations while in office.

But events surrounding the BEC ‘bribe’, exclusively revealed by Tribune Business, mostly took place between 1999-2001, when the first Ingraham administration was enjoying its second term in office.

This newspaper disclosed how, in its $772 million settlement and ‘plea bargain’ with the US Justice Department, French energy group, Alstom, admitted to paying an unnamed Bahamian, called ‘Official 8’, via intermediaries to ensure it won the contract to supply BEC with a slow speed diesel generator.

Describing the matter as “very unfortunate”, Mr Wilson told Tribune Business that there could be no doubting the truth of the bribery allegation, given that both the US government and Alstom had agreed it as a ‘statement of fact’.

“It’s not a question of if,” he said. “There’s nothing to say the US government is wrong, this company is wrong. You go on the premise that this happened.”

Mr Wilson said corruption-related allegations had frequently “surfaced in Bahamian politics for many years”, though relatively few cases had been proven when compared to the number of claims.

Then implying that one political party had always sought to tar its rival with such allegations, the well-known businessman told Tribune Business: “Here’s a case at least where there’s evidence that no one party has a monopoly on corrupt people.

“These things happen, and you have to try as best as you can to stamp it out, and not let it become a partisan political point.

“No one party has a monopoly on corrupt people. People sometimes enter politics for the wrong reasons. That’s the reality. Each party has to do the best they can to prevent it.

Mr Wilson then joined PLP chairman, Bradley Roberts, and the BEC chairman at the time the alleged bribe was paid, J Barrie Farrington, in calling for an investigation into the ‘bribe’ detailed by the Alstom plea bargain.

The Arawak Homes chief said it was essential to clear the names of those who were BEC Board members at that time, and root out “the rotten apple in the barrel”.

“The really sad part is that until it comes out as to who it is, all the directors have to live with this cloud,” Mr Wilson told Tribune Business.

He said that the late Vincent D’Aguilar, who resigned his BEC vice-chairmanship over the decision to award the contract to Alstom, was “clearly not the one” referred to as ‘Official 8’ in the US court documents.

“All the others are left with this cloud over their heads, and that can’t be good,” Mr Wilson added. “I join those saying get to the bottom of this, so all the good apples in the barrel do not have their names spoiled by the rotten apple in the barrel.”

The Alstom plea agreement described ‘Official 8’ as a BEC Board member with the ability to influence the awarding of the Corporation’s contracts.

Few other clues were provided as to their identity, other than the suggestion that ‘Official 8’ was chosen to oversee the tender for the slow speed diesel generator contract.

Several observers, though, have suggested that ‘Official 8’ is unlikely to have been a BEC Board member for several reasons.

First is the calibre of people on the Board at that time. Apart from Mr Farrington and Mr D’Aguilar, they included former FNM deputy leader, Loretta Butler-Turner; Brian Moree QC, now McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes senior partner; former Bahamas Financial Services Board chief executive, Wendy Warren; and ex-CIBC FirstCaribbean managing director, Sharon Brown

All are regarded as incorruptible, outstanding Bahamians. And, in turn, the then-Board unanimously voted to give the contract to Alstom’s rival, Hanjung, a strange act if one of them had been bribed.

Observers have also suggested that no single BEC Board director would have had the ability to influence the contract award by themselves, as it would ultimately have to be approved by Cabinet.

However, Board sources from the time suggested that the then-Ingraham Cabinet’s decision to award the contract to Alstom “didn’t seem quite right”, especially given that it overrode a unanimous Board recommendation.

Frank Watson, the former deputy prime minister who had responsibility for BEC at the time of the ‘bribery’ events detailed in the Alstom plea bargain, previously said he had no knowledge or suspicions that anything untoward might have been happening.

He told this newspaper that the bids were evaluated by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which was “satisfied” that the Government should go with Alstom/ABB.