The Tribune

YOUR SAY

By FNM Chairman

Michael Pintard

BAMSI was initially touted as the answer to the challenge of food security in The Bahamas. This $100m project was announced by the Christie administration with much fanfare and celebration. Since that time, the project has generated more uncertainty, unanswered questions and delays as opposed to confidence that we are on the way to achieving food security. The destruction of the male dormitory by fire revealed a number of fundamental deficiencies in the government’s handling of the BAMSI’s development.

Agriculture and Marine Resources Minister V Alfred Gray recently announced that the BAMSI male dormitory destroyed by fire in January 2015 will be demolished and construction of the new dormitory will commence by next month.

The minister also indicated that the fire threw the BAMSI project further behind, as it was already suffering from construction delays. He further stated that contractors have recently resumed constructing the 13 other buildings associated with BAMSI.

Nevertheless, the minister could not say who the new contractor for the male dormitory will be, nor could he indicate costs associated with the demolition and rebuilding of the dorm. As has previously been the case, the minister remains clueless on pertinent details relative to this project.

Subsequent to the dorm fire, Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis told the House of Assembly that the contractor for the male dormitory met all the requirements for securing government contracts. (Mr Davis later said in Parliament this was not the case).

Bahamians would remember, however, that the original contractor of the dormitory did not have the required all-risk insurance. Moreover, the government has yet to reveal who in the Ministry of Works was responsible for issuing the contract despite the fact that the contractor without the insurance was not qualified to receive such a contract.

Even the Prime Minister (Perry Christie) misspoke when he expressed his belief that all other contractors had met the necessary requirements. The Free National Movement is aware that well after the BAMSI fire and the claim that all is in order by the PLP leader and deputy, some contractors were still working on getting all-risk insurance. Despite all these costly blunders to date, no one has resigned, (been) fired or has accepted any responsibility for this obvious and seemingly intentional failure to abide by government regulations.

The egregious and scandalous mismanagement of the BAMSI project to date begs answers to the following questions from the PLP government. They are as follows:

1. At what point did other BAMSI contractors obtain the all-risk insurance and other required documents to secure a government contract?

2. Is it true that at least one company that has constructed one of the BAMSI buildings was substantially funded through a loan at a government institution and that loan is not presently being serviced?

3. What is the tender process that is going on to determine who will construct the new male dormitory?

4. What accounts for the substantial increase from $2.5m to $5.5m in the cost of constructing the new male dormitory?

5. Who breached the government regulations during the issuing of the initial contract for the construction of the male dormitory?

6. What remedial measures were put in place to ensure that best practices are being followed to the highest standards for compliance with the issuing and execution of future contracts?

7. What is the projected deadline for the completion of the BAMSI project?

8. When were the contracts between contractors and the government last signed?

9. At peak enrolment, how many students will the BAMSI project accommodate and how many students are enrolled at present?

10. Is BAMSI solely government owned or is it a public-private partnership? If BAMSI is a public-private partnership, who are the private partners?

Beyond these serious questions, the Free National Movement wishes to offer a few recommendations with respect to BAMSI.

1. The BAMSI project should come under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources and the various directors should have complete oversight of the project.

2. The College of The Bahamas, through the School of Agriculture, should be responsible for the School of Agriculture at BAMSI.

3. The extension services at the Ministry of Agriculture should be fully integrated with the operation of BAMSI, which can serve as the major hub for the organisation and distribution of extension services to educate and facilitate farmers and persons engaged in producing marine and agricultural products.

4. The Ministry of Works should have a transparent tender process and all contracts issued in the tender process should be tabled in the House of Assembly upon request by any member of Parliament so that any questions of irregularity or impropriety can be addressed directly.