The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A DAY after Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis dismissed calls for disclosure of the Pike energy agreement, his energy minister conceded the final contract is still not online and has never been tabled in Parliament.

Mrs Coleby-Davis, speaking yesterday on Guardian Radio’s Morning Blend programme, said the agreement was completed and approved by the Attorney General’s Office, but the ministry still needed to post the documents on the Energy Reform website.

She could not say when that would happen.

Her remarks followed the prime minister’s claim that all energy transformation contracts had been made public and formally laid in Parliament. He suggested that anyone saying they did not know the details was “lazy” and wanted to be “spoon-fed”.

However, no Pike agreement has been tabled to date.

Mrs Coleby-Davis said that while negotiations were ongoing, the government made available only a legal summary prepared by the Attorney General’s Office.

“What we have done while we were in the midst of negotiations, we did get a legal summary document prepared from the Attorney General's Office,” she said. “However, following the end of the negotiations, directives from the Prime Minister was to make sure that the concluded agreed documents were public for review, and for others to, I guess, have sight of what was agreed based on the energy transformation.”

She said the prime minister had already directed that the concluded documents be released and that the ministry now needed to upload them.

Pressed on whether the agreement still needed to be tabled in Parliament, she said: “It could be, or it could just be loaded onto the site. It's just the transparency of having that document available for viewing. I think that's the point the prime minister wants to say that he's already given that directive for it to become made available, and when it should have been done.”

Asked whether it was incorrect to say the agreement was tabled, she said: “ I wouldn't say it's incorrect because we got the directives, and from his point of view, it should have already been done.”

The Pike agreement transfers Bahamas Power and Light’s transmission and distribution network — the poles, substations and lines that deliver electricity — into a new majority-private company, Bahamas Grid Company, which will operate and upgrade the grid for roughly 25 years, meaning control over how power reaches homes and businesses, and a major share of the system’s revenues, shifts from the state to a private partner for a generation.

Yesterday, Free National Movement leader Michael Pintard said Mrs Coleby-Davis contradicted the prime minister by acknowledging the contract had not been laid and was still not available in full.

“The truth is simple. The Pike agreement has never been tabled in Parliament,” he said. “It has never been fully disclosed to the Bahamian people, and instead of correcting the record, the Prime Minister chose to insult anyone who asked for transparency. This episode fits a familiar pattern.”

He argued that while the public was told to “wait and see” on the Grand Lucayan despite missed deadlines, the government had similarly promised openness on energy reform while withholding what he called a key document.

He warned that the restructuring of the transmission and distribution network would affect the country for decades.

“Such an agreement cannot be shielded from scrutiny, and it cannot be misrepresented as already public when it is not,” he said, adding: “Transparency is not optional when public assets are involved. Accountability is not a favour granted by government; it is a duty owed to the people. It’s simple: the time for excuses is over. Philip, tell the truth.”