The Tribune

• Sands: ‘Box is opened; let’s see what’s in it’

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Opposition’s chairman last night demanded “a full investigation” into the resignation of the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s executive chairman, asserting: “You’ve opened the box so let’s see what’s in it.”

Dr Duane Sands told Tribune Business that the Government should “let the chips fall where they may” over Sylvanus Petty’s departure as he hinted that other contract awards at the state-owned utility since the Davis administration took office should also come under scrutiny.

The Prime Minister’s Office, in confirming that Philip Davis KC had asked Mr Petty to resign from his post, gave no explanation of the circumstances or rationale for the request in its release. The resignation was accepted by acting prime minister Chester Cooper, and came after it was revealed last week that Mr Petty’s daughter had been given a contract with the Water & Sewerage Corporation.

Mr Petty thus becomes the second successive Water & Sewerage Corporation to be ensnared in controversy, with his predecessor, Long Island MP Adrian Gibson, currently on trial before the Supreme Court with five others on a combined 98 charges relating to allegations of conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, fraud, receiving and money laundering.

While avoiding commenting directly on his fellow FNMs court case, Dr Sands last night argued that “what is good for the goose should be good for the gander” in signalling that a probe similar to what Mr Gibson was subjected to is now required into Water & Sewerage Corporation affairs under the Davis administration.

The FNM chairman, who had previously called for Mr Petty’s resignation following his testimony during Mr Gibson’s trial last week, also queried whether the former executive chairman should retain his post as deputy speaker of the House of Assembly.

He said of yesterday’s developments: “I think that’s step one. I think that this thing speaks for itself. Clearly the Prime Minister felt strongly enough that this person should resign. We agree, and thank the Prime Minister for taking the recommendation.

“But on what basis does the Prime Minister feel this gentleman should resign? Nothing less than a full investigation and revelation of full information will do.” Questioning if more contracts have been awarded to persons with family or other ties to the Government, the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s Board or senior management, Dr Sands asked if Mr Petty will be subjected to the same sort of investigation as Mr Gibson.

Describing this as “the question that inquiring minds want to know”, he added: “Now you have opened this box, let’s find out what’s in it and let the chips fall where they may. Let’s have a full investigation. What’s good for the goose should be good for the gander.

“Bahamians want to know why a steward of the public purse is not against nepotism of any kind, not against patronage of any kind. Let’s find out who else had contracts awarded and what the dollar amount is. Let’s do what should have been done and generate all the contracts [as mandated by the Public Procurement Act] and let’s see what comes out of it.”

Dr Sands’ references to “nepotism” and “patronage” relate to Mr Petty’s court testimony last week as part of his predecessor’s trial. The contract award to his daughter and her company, Mainscape Maintenance and Management, was revealed when the now-former executive chairman was cross-examined by Mr Gibson’s attorney, Damian Gomez KC.

He said he did not frown upon nepotism, meaning favoritism based on kinship and the awarding of public sector contracts to family members, or granting awards to political supporters and cronies, so long as they are qualified and capable to do the work.

Mr Petty said he also did not discourage the Water & Sewerage Corporation from awarding contracts to persons known to its Board members because “everyone in The Bahamas was family”, although he added that he tried not to get too closely involved with the utility’s tendering processes.

When asked if he ever voted on a contract that a family member had an interest in, Mr Petty denied doing so. But, when asked about his daughter’s contract with the Corporation, he said it never came before the Board because it was “a small contract” worth less than $50,000. Mr Gomez suggested the total value of his daughter’s contract was around $26,000, but Mr Petty could not confirm this saying it never came to his desk.

The week started with the Prime Minister strongly suggesting that the contract award to Mr Petty’s daughter should be cancelled, as this was the action he took upon finding out his brother had obtained two contracts from Bahamas Power & Light (BPL), an entity that was in his portfolio when deputy prime minister in the last Christie administration.

However, it appears that his and the Government’s deepened to such an extent that he felt compelled to request Mr Petty’s resignation. The value of the contract awarded to the latter’s daughter also appears relatively minimal when set against the $1.2m worth of tank painting and maintenance contracts at the heart of Mr Gibson’s trial.

There are multiple plausible reasons why the resignation may have been requested. One is that Mr Petty’s trial testimony, and the contract revelation, are distracting public attention away from where the Government wants it to be placed - on Mr Gibson’s trial. And the matter is also not generating the desired media coverage with the West End and Bimini by-election fast approaching.

However, Dr Sands yesterday strongly suggested that other contract awards by the Water & Sewerage Corporation during the Davis administration’s tenure in office are also attracting scrutiny. In particular, he focused on the utility’s security contract, which was removed from ICS, the company headed by former FNM Garden Hills candidate in the 2017 general election, and awarded to a newly-formed entity last year.

“I think that information would be revealing,” the FNM chairman said. “This is a good start, but only the start. Let’s see whether the Prime Minister is prepared to come clean and let The Bahamas know exactly what has transpired at the Water & Sewerage Corporation. This administration’s been talking about a Commission of Inquiry. Let’s inquire into the business of Water & Sewerage since September 2021...

“Let’s see if this is about anything more than optics. I think what they hope is we’ll punish him with a slap on the wrist, and maybe that will satisfy the public’s appetite and they’ll go in another direction.

“What the public wants to know is what else is at the Water & Sewerage Corporation. Are there other contracts? How much are they for? When were they given? What relationship did they have with the executive chairman or anyone else? Did they act alone or were there others who were aware?” he added.

“It doesn’t stop there. Let’s look at BAIC and a few other quasi-government agencies. I think those findings will be instructive.”