A leader of a major Junkanoo group told The Guardian on Sunday that a letter was being drafted and would be delivered to Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Neville Wisdom today.
If he fails to respond positively, the group leader warned, “You’ll could be looking down Bay Street and don’t see nobody, sitting in new bleachers with no show.”
The group leader said it is essential for all groups to put their competitiveness aside for the betterment of the Christmas festival, which means making a collective decision instead of individually.
Signatures from all group leaders, representing those from the ‘A,’ ‘B’ and ‘C’ categories will be on the letter, he said.
Mr. Wisdom came under heavy criticism for his handling of last year’s senior and junior parades, especially for the rental of bleachers for $1 million from a non-Bahamian company and paying $125,000 to Tropical Shipping in transportation fees. Members of the Opposition and public called for the minister’s immediate resignation.
Two weeks ago, he announced a contract was awarded to the “100 per cent Bahamian-owned” C3 Co. Ltd. to provide seating for an estimated 10,000 spectators and handle ticketing for the next five years and eventually the government would own the bleachers. It’s this deal that’s causing all the fuss.
“We had this same dispute last year. We put the suggestion that we have partial control over the profit of the seating. Why not let Junkanoo groups or the committee control 20 per cent of the profits the first year, 40 per cent the second, 60 the third, 80 the fourth year and 100 per cent the fifth year,” the group leader suggested.
The group leader said there is also the possibility of the bleachers being leased for other local events.
“Who has control over the seating? Can the government tell this company what they can and cannot do with the bleachers? I most believe they will be leasing and rentals outside the parades. And, we want 20 per cent of that, too, because technically, we own 20 per cent of that.”
He said money earned from the parades should be pumped back into the cultural event.
“He (Mr. Wisdom) says that these bleachers are free, but it is still leaving us broke. That money should be put into seed money, which he says is lacking and the ministry has to be scrapping for. The government is always crying about being broke, when they cry who will respond. Instead, that company is taking the money and putting into their pockets.”
The leader also questioned who would be responsible for maintenance of the bleachers during the five-year period to ensure that “they would be like brand new” when they become the government’s property.
A New York-based bleacher company had raised a lot of questions about the deal last week.
In an interview Friday, Scott Suprina, vice-president of Seating Solutions, said Crispin Cleare, a principal of the contract winner, called him 10 days ago asking the U.S. company to become a partner and provide the seats.
This, said Mr. Suprina, was “slap in the face,” after his company was scrutinised thoroughly by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture as a bidder for the contract himself.
“You have to understand in the seating business the risk of injury is very, very high. If you have an accident, it’s not like one person is going to get hurt. If you have an accident in the seating business and something falls down, it could probably hurt hundreds of people,” he said.
Three weeks ago, he said, the ministry, the Bahamian tenders board and the Ministry of Works unanimously recommended the purchase of 10,000 seats for $500,000 from Seating Solutions.
He said he received a call from Permanent Secretary Harrison Thompson asking whether the company could deliver and set up if they received the order.
He said a week later he received a call from Mr. Cleare, who informed him his Bahamian had been awarded the contract instead and wanted to know if the U.S. company could be its supplier.
Mr. Suprina said that during his negotiations with the ministry, Seating Solutions arranged to work with a local company to provide Bahamian labour and to teach their staff about their product.
“I understood that when the Canadians came in, they took a lot of money and didn’t leave anything. The way that I was offering it to the Bahamian government was to sell them 10,000 seats over five years, but after the first year, I’d give them 2,000 to use for sports and other events. I was trying to give them an advantage – not try to take all of their money and walk away.”
He said his company intended to set up rental for all the Family Islands, which would have resulted in a Bahamian installation team on all the islands.
“That was my goal because I realized that when the Canadian guys came down, they left a bad taste in everybody’s mouth. They took the money; they took the bleachers and they left The Bahamas with nothing. I am not greedy. I want to stay in business for many, many years.”
“Junkanoo will go on after I am dead,” said Mr. Suprina, noting that the seats his company manufactures and was offering has a warranty of 30-40 years.
“All of our equipment is code compliant and designed for maximum safety and durability. Our product was thoroughly evaluated by the Ministry of Works to insure spectator safety. The tenders board carefully verified our references and good competitive standing,” he said.
Mr. Suprina said that Seating Solutions was asked to price the ticketing portion of this project, but declined because he felt it poses a conflict of interest.
Mr. Suprina says that there are no sour grapes.
“If they called me to do the job next week, I’d come through,” said Mr. Suprina who said he’s an avid fan of The Bahamas.
By Khashan Poitier, The Nassau Guardian
