“FNM Operatives Stealing”

In fact, he cited countless examples to back claims of the Ingraham administration "raiding the cookie jar."

Contributing to debate on the mid-term budget in the House of Assembly on Monday, Mr. Smith came armed with what he deemed direct and hard evidence of the wastage of scarce public resources to the benefit of FNM supporters.

Mr. Smith said that "cookie jar raiding" is taking place in the Department of Environment, which he alleges spent over $18 million on a clean-up program with no clearly stated guideline.

"There are no consistent practices of newspaper ads inviting bidders and this is to allow FNM operatives only to gain access and they are having a field day," Mr. Smith said.

Mr. Smith listed two contractors who were hired to do the same roadside cleaning job in the Kennedy constituency last December, claiming that one was paid $6,000; the other, $4,600.

According to the PLP MP, one contractor was paid more money because he is a FNM operative.

The St. Thomas More MP continued to name several other FNM supporters who were awarded bids and paid large sums for what he said the government described as special projects.

"The cookie jar raiders have gotten $1.29 million, all with no public bidding process. The common trend is that all [bids were given] as a reward for supporting the powers that be in the red shirts," Mr. Smith alleged.

But Minister of the Environment Dr. Earl Deveaux denied the allegations of abuse and questioned the validity of Mr. Smith’s information.

Mr. Deveaux said that he had a record of every cheque that was issued to every contractor and the amount was not adding up to Mr. Smith’s numbers.

"The budget for the Department of Environmental Health is approximately $39 million. The member claims that $18 million was spent on special projects. I am very concerned about that. He must corroborate these claims," said Mr. Deveaux.

The PLP has also questioned the government’s recent decision to hire a new accounting firm headed by a former Free National Movement (FNM) candidate to perform works at the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation (BMC).

The Opposition believes the government is awarding bids unfairly and said as much during a press conference at its Farrington Road headquarters on Sunday.

At the time PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts called the government’s decision to award the bid to Catsan and Chipman Limited – headed by former St. Thomas More constituency candidate, Reece Chipman – "scandalous."

He accused the government of awarding the bid to benefit a FNM supporter without considering the effects the cost will have on the BMC and The Bahamas as a whole.

"A government is supposed to be for and on behalf of all the people, not only certain interests in the country," Mr. Roberts said.

A letter of invitation dated October 20, 2009 was sent out to several accounting firms to take part in an open bid process for the "Operational Audit and a full assessment of a Mortgage Processing Software Solution" of the BMC.

According to Mr. Roberts the following bids were received: Catsan & Chipman Limited $152,000; Ernst & Young $130,000; KPMG $87,000; Accounting Outsource Services $74,000 to $84,000; Deloitte and Touche, $80,000; FT Consultants $60,000 to $70,000 and Baker Tilly Gomez, $57,500.

Mr. Roberts alleged that a letter was sent to six firms on February 22 advising them that their proposals were unsuccessful and that the bid was awarded to Catsan and Chipman Limited.

While the details of the award sum were not disclosed in the letter, the PLP chairman said it is safe to logically assume that the contract sum remained at $152,000.

He questioned why the bids of other "well established and reputed accounting firms" were rejected even though the bids they submitted were substantially lower than the submission of Catsan and Chipman, "a relatively new firm."

"The award of this contract is a scandalous abuse of the public purse. Further, it is a slap in the face of and an insult to the principle of meritocracy; it is also a clear case of political patronage, cronyism, and a grave injustice against persons and institutions not connected to the FNM elite," the PLP chairman said.

Mr. Roberts also said due to the country’s current economic situation the government should be interested in cutting cost where possible, instead of being "reckless with scarce public funds" by choosing the most expensive bidder.

"Additionally, it comes at a time when the Mortgage Corporation of The Bahamas is severely fiscally challenged, the budgetary deficit continues to grow, the national debt is just under a record $4 billion, and the government is struggling to deliver the necessary and requisite public goods and services that provide for the basic essentials items of food and water for Bahamians," he said.

An FNM source, who responded to Mr. Roberts’ claims said, "Mr. Chipman is a fully qualified accountant and has the same right as anyone to be chosen and to be treated fairly unlike when the PLP was in office and all of the people they hired turned out to be PLPs."

In a press release to the media, the BMC confirmed that it had invited proposals from nine auditing firms.

The BMC said it held a meeting with the auditors and all but one of the firms attended. However, that firm’s proposal was opened along with the others.

"At a subsequent meeting to review the proposals in detail, it was the view of the review committee that Catsan & Chipman provided a complete and plenary proposal that best met the needs of the corporation," the BMC said.

"The chosen firm, Catsan & Chipman, has also agreed that the price offered was a cap and would not be increased no matter how long the project took. All in all the corporation felt that the amount of work being offered, in the timeframe for which it was offered, at the capped price which was offered, was the best value for money."