School projects debate bitter

Heated debate in Finance Committee on Friday 24 June led to a call for a Commission of Enquiry to investigate the procurement of all contracts concerning the troubled John Gray and Clifton Hunter High School building projects. 

Premier McKeeva Bush raised the issue of two agreements between the People’s Progressive Movement Government and general contractor Tom Jones International that he said were “outside the contract” and he urged the governor to launch a Commission of Enquiry. 

Accusations flew in the Finance Committee debate when Leader of the Opposition Alden McLaughlin began questioning Education Minister Rolston Anglin about why the schools were not pressing ahead and being made a priority. He and other members of the Committee were told by the minister that the reason they had not been able to move ahead in a more timely manner was because the projects were troubled from the beginning. 

Mr. Anglin said from the time he took office, he tried “feverishly” to get an idea where things were; work done; and financing for the project. 

“There was clear animosity from that time,” he said, adding that the contractor was saying that what the ministry was telling him was untrue. Additionally, he said the project manager had walked off the job, leaving the new government with two very complex projects, and that shoddy work had been done on the site and went undetected because there was no oversight. 

“I had to take advice about what the contracts said versus what Tom Jones was asserting,” said Mr. Anglin. He said he began receiving e-mails from the former project manager about things happening outside the scope of the contract for the projects, including a bridge loan that was secured from ScotiaBank without going through Finance Committee. 

“I discovered that stop work notices were part of what was going on and the company at the time said they would have their needs met whatever the cost; promises were being made outside the contract, letters of credit and letters of comfort to the tune of $5 million,” added the minister. 

After hearing about the promises and the state of play regarding the school projects during the former administration, the Finance Committee took a break so the education minister could retrieve documents from his office that showed correspondence between the ministry at the time and Tom Jones. 

Upon returning, he produced an e-mail from the chief financial officer for Tom Jones to David Bodden, who was said to work for the Ministry of Education at that time of the PPM Government, which Mr. Anglin said he received from Tom Jones right after taking office. “They were trying to prove that the UDP should handle the transaction as they were proposing,” said Mr. Anglin.  

According to Mr. Anglin, the letter deals with the payment schedule on the projects, and in paragraph two asserted that the initial amount agreed upon for the projects was not enough and more payments were necessary in line with the promises that had been made.  

He added that no one had known about the stop-work notices and that agreements were being made outside of Finance Committee up until that point.  

“Theses projects were troubled.” 

Mr. Anglin said he decided not to bring the matter to the Public Accounts Committee or the press because the auditor general will be looking into the issue later this year. “However, given the line of questioning…. standby letters of credit for a government project? Do you call that transparent. No one would have had knowledge of this going on had the current government not exposed it. The entire deal was highly regrettable. 

“Now we are expected to make a case to the Foreign Common Wealth Office about these schools being a legitimate part of the budget.” 

The minister went on to state that a document in 2009 to the former government is telling the then ministry that there were not enough funds on schedule, though they were assured the funds would be made available. Mr. Anglin said Tom Jones International then asked Mr. McLaughlin in a letter if the matter of additional funding could be addressed in Finance Committe.  

“Mr. McLaughlin wrote back saying the then Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts said to get a letter of comfort from the bank instead, because going to the LA would have made it public,” asserted Mr. Anglin. 

“He was willing to commit this country to whatever he dreamt up,” said Mr. Anglin, who added that Scotia Bank was not an originating party to the contract. It was also revealed by the Finance Committee Chairman and Premier McKeeva Bush that it appeared that $10 million more was requested by Tom Jones and agreed to by the then minister. Mr. Bush told the members of the Committee that “This is an attempt to circumvent Finance Committee.” 

Mr. McLaughlin however, attempted to explain that the letter of comfort for the $5 million would only be paid if the work was done to standard. 

Beulah Smith High School 

The Finance Committee also heard that $3.4 million was spent on the proposed Beulah Smith High School by the former administration, of which $2.2 million was for soil that was used for fill and that the other $1.2 million was given to general contractor McAlpine Ltd. on the basis of a letter of intent. 

That school never proceeded and according to members the fill will need to be removed to protect the investment, as well as to stop flooding and drainage blocking created by the mound of dirt. 

“I suppose the $1.3 million was a gift to McAlpine,” said West Bay MLA Cline Glidden.  

The house also learnt that $2.1 million was spent on the abandoned George Town Primary School project. 

Mr. McLaughlin said the projects were about to go to tender, but could not go ahead because of the global economic crisis.  

Additionally, members of the committee were told that $2.8 million of “rework” has had to be done on the two new high schools because the work done had been so poor. 

According to Education Minister Rolston Anglin, the John Gray High School project should be complete by 2013.