The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has encountered “significant difficulties” with its loan portfolio in The Bahamas, with challenges such as a slow rate of project execution hampering the achievement of strategic objectives.
Some of the projects that were supposed to be completed by now, haven’t even begun… yet the money for the projects has disappeared.
Several complaints have been filed to the IDB’s Office of Institutional Integrity, complaining of corruption, bid-rigging and theft of funds.
One project, a website interface that was supposed to be developed to sell Bahamian crafts online, was suddenly halted after the IDB discovered that the bid for the project had not been executed in a proper manner. Winston Rolle, former head of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce was in charge of the bid, which was investigated by the Office of Institutional Integrity.
With The Bahamas accepting an average of $54 million annually in loans from the IDB since 2010 alone, the IDB’s comments were expressed in a new document which outlines the bank’s plans to finance programs that support sustainable development in The Bahamas in the period 2013 to 2017.
The IDB was polite in expressing their concerns, noting challenges such as a high cost of project preparation which has created a need to “improve performance” in The Bahamas. In other words corrupt government and private individuals here in The Bahamas have been getting rich stealing money that was supposed to go towards projects.
The bank indicated that it has been seeking to enhance the efficiency of project preparation, execution and supervision in this country since 2011, and wants to see greater attention paid to these areas going forward.
The soon to be released report focuses on challenges the bank has encountered in successfully executing IDB projects in The Bahamas to date, raising the question of how successful IDB-financed projects have been, and what value for money may have – or could have – been obtained by The Bahamas via these loans and partnerships.
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