The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE Ministry of Housing and Land Reform said yesterday it found no record of murdered businessman Warren “Spy” Ellis or any company owned or controlled by him receiving a housing contract from the Davis administration.

The statement came after Opposition Leader Michael Pintard challenged Prime Minister Philip Davis to say whether his administration had awarded government contracts to Ellis, who was shot to death last week and had for years been linked to serious criminal allegations.

The ministry said it had completed a review of its contracting records following questions about whether Ellis had received contracts under the government’s housing programme.

“The Ministry has reviewed its contracting records covering the period since the Davis Administration first took office,” it said. “There is no record of any contract being awarded by the Ministry during that period to Mr Ellis. There is also no record of a contract being awarded to any company identified in the Ministry’s records as being owned or controlled by him.”

The statement did not address Mr Pintard’s separate question about whether Ellis or his team had been contracted to demolish domes in Abaco and enforce the final evictions of residents.

Well-placed sources have linked Ellis to housing construction in Central Pines, Abaco, in 2022. Several construction workers, speaking anonymously, confirmed they had worked for Ellis on the project but declined to speak further.

Housing Minister Keith Bell told The Tribune last week he would look into the matter and get back to the newspaper.

In a statement yesterday, Mr Pintard said: “Just answer the question, Prime Minister. Did you and your government give housing contracts to the recently slain Warren ‘Spy’ Ellis?”

When asked about the matter on Friday, the Prime Minister called the claim an allegation and asked reporters to provide the factual basis for the question.

“What is the factual basis to answer that question?” Mr Davis asked. “Tell me where you got that information, and I will deal with it.”

“I am tired of these allegations, man,” he said, expressing frustration with reporters.

“Why don’t y’all ask me about how Upskill Bahamas is impacting people, why don’t you ask me about how the Food Breakfast programme is assisting our people; why don’t you ask me about some initiatives that we have,” he said.

Mr Pintard questioned why the Prime Minister appeared sensitive about the issue and compared the allegations involving Ellis with the government’s previous decision to award housing contracts to Eric “Player” Gardiner, a convicted drug offender.

Gardiner was arrested in May and charged with cocaine and firearms conspiracy offences arising from what US prosecutors allege was a long-running operation to move large quantities of cocaine into the United States.

“These are serious matters, Prime Minister,” Mr Pintard said. “Bahamian taxpayer funds must never serve as a vehicle for potential money laundering or the enrichment of people involved in illegality.”

In his statement, Mr Pintard also asked whether the government had contracted Ellis and his team to demolish domes in Abaco and enforce the final evictions of residents.

“When the FNM team visited Abaco to protest the evictions, no government agency was present, except for those persons contracted to remove the remaining domes, which had the last group of families resisting the eviction,” he said.

“Tell the truth, and shame the devil,” Mr Pintard said.

In its statement yesterday, the Ministry of Housing said the Davis administration had expanded the housing programme since taking office, increasing private-sector participation and working with Bahamian contractors.

It said Bahamian families in Abaco, New Providence and the Family Islands had received keys to new homes, with additional homes and housing developments under construction or moving forward.