The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

WITH the government yet to announce which company has been selected to manage the New Providence Landfill, there is growing concern from activists about the transparency of the process.

In late June, Environment and Housing Minister Romauld Ferreira said a new management firm for the city dump had been selected. At the time, he declined to reveal the selected firm or when this company would enter into a contractual agreement. He could not tell reporters how much the contract would be worth, saying the cost has yet to be determined.

He could only confirm the company was Bahamian operated and the new agreement, once entered into, would be good for more than five years.

He indicated that most of the details were dependent on Cabinet conclusions.

In a Facebook post last Wednesday, activist Heather Carey, of Raising Awareness about the Bahamas Landfill (RABL), raised questions over the long delay in the government's announcement.

"It's been a month past the deadline when Mr Ferreira was to announce the new management company for the dump," the post read.

"I have it on good authority that there is no reason why he should not have told the public by now.

"The longer this is kept a secret, it continues to raise suspicion about the process and the transparency of this administration."

"How does our general public feel about this," she asked. "Don't you want to know and don't you want the new company to take over sooner than later?"

Yesterday, Press Secretary Anthony Newbold said Mr Ferreira is out of the country attending to personal matters but is expected to make an announcement when he returns.

In June, Mr Ferreira said 17 bidders submitted expressions of interest for the New Providence Landfill, but just seven qualified for the request for proposals. Four out of the seven firms responded and paid the registration fee.

Those firms included Bahamas WTP Ltd; Bahamas Waste; Providence Advisors and the Waste Resources Development Group; and APAPA International (Nassau). Mr Ferreira said APAPA International's submission was received after the closing date of April 9, 2018, at 4pm, resulting in its bid being summarily rejected by the Tenders Board.

In a Tribune Insight article in June, an official at the Department of Environmental Health Services (DEHS), the department with immediate oversight for the landfill, confirmed that efforts to compact several sections of the landfill and develop a southern entrance were underway.

The official was responding to claims the site was expanding beyond its historical boundaries.

Some of those claims indicated the government was prepping the site for a soon to be named management company.

Renew Bahamas, the last firm to manage the landfill, withdrew services in October 2016 amid several disagreements with the former government.

DEHS subsequently took over operations.