By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business

Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

THE deputy prime minister yesterday argued that the speed with which the Health Travel Visa had to be put in place to re-open the tourism economy was “no excuse” for governance failures.

Chester Cooper, also minister of tourism, investments and aviation, told reporters ahead of the weekly Cabinet meeting that the former Minnis administration should have gone back and corrected the “lapses in judgment” that occurred with the processes involved with setting up the Health Travel Visa.

He said: “Let me first say that the Auditor General has reviewed the circumstances in relation to the Bahamas Health Travel Visa and there were many mistakes made, I would say lapses in judgment, from a governance administrative perspective.

“The technical advice is that they wanted to be expedient in terms of getting the Health Travel Visa in place. This, of course, does not excuse the need to follow the protocols of the public service, the protocols of good governance, and whilst there were time constraints, they ought to have gone back and ensured that all of the rules were complied with.”

Mr Cooper added: “I want to commend the Auditor General for the work that he did in terms of a very balanced report. The report will be taken seriously and, where there have not been corrections of some of these mistakes, those will be fixed post-haste.

“I want to emphasise that these matters relate to a period before August 2021 under the former administration. The ‘new day’ government has a low tolerance for these types of mistakes. And, therefore, we will ensure that they are corrected where they have not been in the shortest possible timeframe.”

Declining to commit to holding specific persons accountable for these mistakes, Mr Cooper stopped short by saying: “Let me just say that we are consistently following through on all of the points raised, and if we find that there was neglect, intentionally or unintentionally, then there will be consequences. Suffice to say the technical team is reviewing on an ongoing basis the tightening up of the areas that have been identified.”

The Auditor General’s report raised concerns over the lack of competitive tendering for Health Travel Visa contracts; the fact vendors were not being paid directly by the Government; the use of verbal as opposed to written contracts; and delays in transferring fee income to the Public Treasury.

“COVID necessitated some realities that are not reflected in the financial regulations,” the Auditor General’s Office said in its report. “The Ministry of Tourism failed to comply with the regulatory requirements for the procurement of goods and services. Seeking competitive bids is a mechanism intended to provide some assurance as to the reasonableness of costs of goods and services.

“Considering the cost of the travel insurance to CG Atlantic of $16.783m (net of VAT), representing 48.7 percent of total revenue, it would have been prudent to test the marketplace by seeking at least one other quote despite the pressing time limitations.”

The Government’s Financial Regulations 1975 require that all contracts for goods and services worth $250,000 and above be approved by Cabinet, but the Ministry of Tourism in its response to the Auditor General’s findings argued that the imperative of re-opening tourism and the wider Bahamian economy meant some corners had to be cut.

“The Ministry acknowledged the lack of competitive bidding, and the failure to execute contracts prior to the launch of the current version of the Bahamas Health Travel Visa,” it replied. “However, management strongly believed that there was simply insufficient time to develop a Request for Proposal, receive bids and negotiate contracts in the designated timeframe.

“In addition, given the newness of the health visa product and the lack of any examples of how much time would be necessary to launch and manage it, management felt it was more prudent to allow the contractors at the outset to develop the Bahamas Health Travel Visa on a ‘time spent’ basis and negotiate contracts three to four months after launch, once the scope of their work was better understood.”

The Ministry of Tourism also asserted that the Promotion of Tourism Act’s section 3 (e) gave the minister the ability to enter into any contact he/she deems necessary, while it has always operated accounts that have received and paid out money.

The Auditor General’s Office, meanwhile, noted that there was a $30,000 difference between Health Travel Visa spending recorded by the Ministry of Tourism in July 2021 and that noted by the Public Treasury’s systems. And the latter recorded some $23,955 less than the $10.784m that the Ministry of Tourism said had been sent to the Public Treasury in Health Travel Visa fees.

An overpayment to Ports International of $43,948 for rapid antigen test kits was also noted, although the Ministry of Tourism said this would be “netted out” by the contracts end. Concerns were also raised that the source code listings for the Health Travel Visa website were the property of the developer, Think Simple, and not the Government.