Former Minister of Eduction Desmond Bannister has challenged the government to table in Parliament school repair contracts awarded last year and contracts awarded this year so there could be a comparison of what was approved and to whom when he was minister and what was approved under the new administration this summer.
Bannister asked 16 questions about school repair contracts in the Senate on Wednesday.
On the floor of the Senate, he questioned, in particular, the award of contracts to Carlos Lamm of JFK Construction. According to Minister of Education and Marathon MP Jerome Fitzgerald, the company received three contracts.
Bannister has questioned whether those contracts amount to almost $140,000.
The Nassau Guardian reported yesterday that a contractor who got several school repair contracts this summer acknowledged on Thursday that he campaigned for Fitzgerald, and that he also has a pending drug matter before the courts.
But Carlos Lamm of JFK Construction told The Nassau Guardian that he is an honest contractor who does good work, and never received any contracts under the previous administration.
“So if we are saying that we are for Bahamians and we are looking out for Bahamians and we give one person three contracts and we give other people two and three contracts, when we say that we’re out there looking out for Bahamians [what does that say?]”
Referring to the contracts awarded this summer, Bannister said, “Just from my perspective, when you have the kind of economy we have now and you have all of those people asking for summer jobs and you give three to one person and two to another and that sort of thing you leave out a lot of people.
“I think you have to cut out giving multiple contracts to people and try to spread it around a whole lot more.”
Source: Candia Dames
The Nassau Guardian
