BPL Acts To Tighten Contract Process
BPL chairwoman Darnell Osborne said yesterday officials are in the process of “tightening” and “centralising” how contracts are awarded at the power company.
Her statement came on the heels of Ernst & Young’s (EY) audit into Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) which exposed instances where procurement decisions were allegedly influenced and processes circumvented under the previous administration,
Speaking to The Tribune yesterday, Ms Osborne said adhering to international best practices is also the aim of the improved procurement measures.
Her comments come two days after The Tribune published contents from EY’s audit into BEC now known as BPL, which accused former Executive Chairman Leslie Miller of allegedly “influencing” procurement decisions and sometimes “circumventing” the process altogether. Mr Miller has denied these allegations.
“We had put in place some stop gap measures where the bid process will now be changed,” said Ms Osborne.
“We have more individuals who must be present at the opening of the bids. We also have implemented more of a centralised procurement process and not each and every department and everyone accepting these bids and what not.
“We expect that the procurement process will be tightened and international best practices observed.”
She added: “In the meantime, we have just centralised the process. We have required that the CEO’s administrative assistant accepts and records the bids and there are more individuals who must be present.
“We are also moving towards having an email for tenders and this email being reviewed by whomever the CEO or COO has appointed. That would help to eliminate the biases that would exist where people are able to take out and look at bids and that sort of thing. So there are a number of things that are being done just to tighten it and improve the procurement process.”
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