By: Keile Campbell
Journal Staff Writer

With the recent release of the contract procurement report, Financial Secretary Simon Wilson
said Bahamians can expect more frequent disclosures of contracts awarded by the
government and explained that there were several reasons for the delays of the report’s
release.
One of the most frequently raised critiques by the opposition and its leader Michael Pintard is
the lack of transparent and consistent reporting concerning government-awarded contracts.
Mr. Wilson also addressed the question as to why the report does not report contract awards
since the start of the Davis administration, reporting from September 1, 2022 to June 30,
2023.
“The previous portal that was inherited didn’t capture information. So that requires a lot of
manpower to plug data in,” the financial secretary explained.
“The government decided to upgrade and enhance the Procurement Act, so the new act that
came in force July 1, 2023, in addition to that, prior to that, the government made some
investments on the procurement portal to capture information properly. Previously, we didn’t
have the ability to capture information properly. Now we have that ability, so now we are
now able to publish, and this will be the first of a regular series of publication.”
Mr. Wilson continued, “There’s a slight delay as we get ministries and departments and
agencies to be susceptible to the importance of putting information in the portal. I think
we’ve accomplished that greatly, and so you’ll be seeing more and more publications of
contracts over the period going forward.”
Since the report’s release, it has received criticism notably from the Official Opposition and
Free National Movement (FNM) Party leader Michael Pintard, but also Organization for
Responsible Governance (ORG) Executive Director Matt Aubry.
While ORG’s executive director commended the government for the report, it “encompasses
most of the components mandated by Section 57 of the [Public Procurement] Act” and
highlighted the lack of information as it concerns location of performance, addresses of the
businesses, as well as information on contracts funded by international funding agencies.
He also criticized the report for not being exhaustive, highlighting the lack of reporting for
contract categories, some being legal services, financial services, or property rentals and
acquisitions.