The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

AFTER an auditor general’s report revealed that expensive weather equipment has gone uninsured, officials are said to be narrowing down vendors to ensure there is sufficient coverage to protect against loss and damage.

During a probe of operations at the Department of Meteorology, Auditor General Terrance Bastian found that the vulnerable equipment included five Doppler radars and several airport weather observing systems (AWOS) among other things.

The radar equipment has cost taxpayers $19,946,235, according to the report, which was tabled at Parliament last week.

Yesterday, director of communications in the Office of the Prime Minister Latrae Rahming said officials were looking for insurers to provide suitable coverage.

“The Met Department is moving ahead to insure the radar equipment and is down to the selection of identifying one of three vendors it’s currently in the process of choosing between,” Mr Rahming said.

In his report, Mr Bastian noted that of five radars, only three were operational.

To this, Mr Rahming said work was on going to get the remaining units at Ragged Island and Mayaguana on stream.

“(There were) minor (issues) in Ragged Island which will be resolved in about two weeks. Teams still need to do trenching in Mayaguana for power lines. Estimated time of completion is the first quarter of 2023.”

Numerous other uninsured equipment and instruments are also being housed at the department’s Upper Air Station at Windsor Field Road, the report also noted.

As of the auditors’ walk through of the property in July, the building needed extensive repairs, leading to an engineering team from the Ministry of Public Works determining that the building be “condemned”.

Regarding this finding, Mr Rahming did not respond to The Tribune’s inquiries.

“None of the department’s equipment and instruments are insured against loss or damage,” the report said.

The Tribune sought clarification from the Office of Auditor General on the report last week. It was confirmed that none of the department’s equipment, including the expensive radars and AWOS, had current insurance protection.

On October 27, 2016, the Ministry of Transport and Aviation, now the Ministry of Transport and Local Government, signed a contract with an international company to acquire several Doppler radars and airport weather observing systems, with a price tag of $19,136,110, which included value added tax.

The government moved to purchase the equipment in the aftermath of Hurricane Joaquin in 2015. The decision also came with the realisation that the existing Doppler radar was not sufficient to cover the southern islands of Long Island, San Salvador, Rum Cay and MICAL. These islands were outside of the sole Doppler radar’s effective range of 150 miles.

Initially, the contract’s deliverables were for the installation of four Doppler weather radars throughout The Bahamas and nine airport weather observing systems together with associated software and services.

On March 6, 2017, the contract was amended and signed on July 22, 2019.

According to the audit report, amendments were made to the contract including additional supply containers, updated project plans and additional costs and late payment interest of a 12 percent charge if balances remained unpaid.

A further breakdown of government spending relating to the radars and AWOS is that money was paid to a foreign company in the amount of $6,687,639 in the 2016/2017 fiscal year, $7,654,444 in 2017/2018, $2,880,417 in 2018/2019 and $$2,723,736 in 2019 to the same year December.