Bradley Roberts denies conspiring with former Water and Sewerage chairman
By MEGAN REYNOLDS
Tribune Staff Reporter
mreynolds@tribunemedia.net:
PLP chairman Bradley Roberts has denied claims he conspired with the former Water and Sewerage Corporation chairman to offer a lucrative contract to a PLP member as alleged during testimony in an industrial tribunal.
The former Minister of Works and Utilities was said by sacked Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) engineer Mario Bastian to have conspired with former Corporation chairman Don Demeritte to call off the bidding process for a reverse osmosis plant to start negotiations with BK Water Limited/Veolia, whose principal was Jerome Fitzgerald, now a PLP senator.
The deal, according to the testimony given before the Industrial Tribunal, was allegedly discussed before Mr Bastian's termination from the corporation in September, 2006. In his testimony, Mr Bastian claimed it would have cost Bahamians millions of dollars more to have gone with BK Water. However, the plan did not go ahead as the PLP government was voted out of office the following May, the tribunal was told.
Mr Roberts was unwilling to devote any time to the claims when asked by The Tribune yesterday, angrily shrugging off all allegations as false and of little cause for concern.
"It is utter BS," Mr Roberts said.
And when asked to comment in further detail, he added: "I was emphatic with you, that is utter BS!
"I never met the young man in my life, I never dealt with individuals at the corporation, the board of directors was it.
"There is nothing for me to defend myself about.
"This is like water off a duck's back for Bradley Roberts."
Mr Demeritte declined the opportunity to speak publicly on the matter as he is due to appear as a witness at the tribunal.
However the tribunal, presided over by Harrison Lockhart which met on Monday, has now been postponed indefinitely owing to the ill health of an attorney, a court official told The Tribune yesterday.
Mr Bastian claims he was wrongfully dismissed from WSC, and victimised because he refused to engage in unprofessional and unscrupulous management practices. He also alleges breach of contract and damage to his reputation.
However, Corporation officials maintain they terminated Mr Bastian's contract as he was simultaneously serving as a director of CBA Engineering Ltd, a company in direct competition with WSC.
Mr Bastian denied the conflict of interest allegation, but raised further allegations about a WSC conspiracy to waste millions of dollars paid by hardworking Bahamian taxpayers by engaging in an economically nonsensical contract with BK Water/Veolia.
He told the hearing on Monday how WSC general manager Abraham Butler gave a directive to end the bidding process and engage in negotiations with BK Water/Veolia.
Negotiations began but were stopped when the government changed in May 2007.
WSC counsel Thomas Evans, QC, said Mr Bastian was accusing Mr Roberts, Mr Demeritte, and other WSC senior officials of, "a dastardly conspiracy to rob Bahamian people of millions of dollars."
However, Mr Bastian alleged that WSC chairman Demeritte manipulated the corporation and intimidated him into providing information about Mr Butler that could lead to his dismissal as the chairman inferred that he (Bastian) would be sacked if he did not comply, and promoted if he did.
Mr Demeritte and Mr Butler reached an irreconcilable position when the general manager criticised the chairman's "unauthorised" promotion of minor staff to lucrative positions in February 2006.
The promotions soon prompted industrial action when employees learned 56 staff had been promoted twice within 12 months, while 45 were twice overlooked.
And as fights erupted between Mr Butler, Mr Demeritte and union members, Mr Butler was removed from the corporation under the PLP.
Mr Bastian wants the tribunal to decide if the corporation was justified in terminating his contract.
May 05, 2010
tribune242
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.
Showing posts with label Mario Bastian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mario Bastian. Show all posts
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Conspiracy claims against Bradley Roberts and Don Demeritte
Conspiracy claims against Roberts
By CANDIA DAMES ~ Guardian News Editor ~ candia@nasguard.com:
A former senior engineer at the Water and Sewerage Corporation, who was fired in 2006 for alleged conflict of interest, claimed yesterday that then PLP Minister Bradley Roberts and then Chairman Don Demeritte led a conspiracy that would have bilked Bahamians of millions of dollars.
Mario Bastian, who testified in the Industrial Tribunal, claimed that Roberts and Demeritte instructed the corporation's general manager at the time to annul the bidding process for a reverse osmosis plant at Arawak Cay, and ordered that the corporation negotiate with BK Water Limited/Veolia. BK Water's principal was Jerome Fitzgerald, now a PLP senator.
Bastian was testifying under oath before Industrial Tribunal President Harrison Lockhart.
He suggested that going with BK Water would have cost taxpayers many millions of unnecessary dollars.
Under cross-examination by the corporation's attorney, Thomas Evans QC, Bastian admitted that he had personally had no conversation with then Minister Roberts regarding the bidding process. Roberts had responsibility for the corporation.
Bastian was fired on September 4, 2006, nearly 20 years after he was hired, but he alleges he was victimized.
The corporation fired Bastian saying it had a lack of trust and confidence in him, according to the evidence. The allegation was that Bastian was an officer of a company that was in direct competition with the corporation, thus giving rise to a conflict of interest situation.
The engineer — who is represented by attorney Pericles Maillis — is claiming breach of contract, wrongful dismissal, and damage to his reputation among other things.
Bastian contends in his originating application that he was victimized by the corporation because he refused to engage in unprofessional and unscrupulous management practices.
He told the Tribunal that he received intimidating phone calls from W&SC Chairman Demeritte. The engineer claimed that at one point Demeritte called him at home and pressed him for information that could help the corporation get rid of General Manager Abraham Butler. Bastian said Demeritte told him that he had the power to promote him (Bastian) but he had to be a team player.
He also said he took the chairman's statements to mean, "If you don't work with me the highway would be your route, and so said so done."
Bastian said, "I felt intimidated in doing my job.
"If in the course of performing your job you made recommendations that were contrary to what persons in certain quarters of the corporation wanted... there was a distinct possibility that there will be repercussions."'
He claimed he told the chairman that he believed in getting promotions based on merit.
Evans submitted that there was no intimidation.
Asked by Evans why he never complained about the alleged actions of the chairman, Bastian said allegations had been made against the chairman in the past, but to no avail.
Questioned repeatedly yesterday by Evans, Bastian denied that he was involved in a conflict of interest. The engineer was a director in CBA Engineering Limited. Bastian told the Tribunal he resigned as a director after the corporation made the conflict of interest allegation.
"I elected to resign from the company (CBA). I did what any good citizen would have done under the circumstances," Bastian said. "I did nothing wrong and yet still I was penalized."
The engineer said he was angered by the allegations that had been lodged against his professional character.
He said, "Once the bullet is out the gun it's very difficult to control the damage."
But Evans suggested that the reason Bastian resigned from CBA is that he wanted to distance himself from a clear conflict of interest.
Bastian however, insisted that the corporation was unable to show any clear conflict of interest.
Evans said that Bastian was accusing the then minister, chairman and other senior officials at the corporation of "a dastardly conspiracy to rob Bahamian people of millions of dollars."
Asked to explain why he accused Roberts of conspiracy, Bastian said the instruction that came through the general manager was that the minister and chairman had given a directive to end the bidding process and engage in negotiations with BK Water/Veolia.
"This was not a standard process," he told the Tribunal.
Asked if he had relied on a hearsay statement from the general manager, Bastian repeated that he had received instructions from the GM and negotiations commenced with BK Water/Veolia.
He claimed that the chairman and other management personnel "manipulated" the corporation.
During his testimony, Bastian said BK Water never got a contract. He told the Tribunal it was because there was a change in government.
Evans said parts of Bastian's testimony were irrelevant.
What the Tribunal has to decide, he pointed out, is whether the corporation was justified in terminating Bastian.
Bastian told the Tribunal that there were clear instances of conflict of interest situations in the corporation, but he was the one singled out and his matter was not even a conflict of interest.
But Evans said whether or not other people who were guilty of conflict of interest were dealt with has no bearing on Bastian's matter before the Tribunal.
Maillis, however, insisted that Bastian was marked and that was part of the victimization.
Evans said he had a problem with Bastian going on a witch-hunt about others allegedly in conflict of interest situations.
President Lockhart then noted that there is a line of authority in industrial law that seems to suggest that the singling out of an individual who may be a part of a group of individuals seems to be unfair.
Pointing to what he suggested was a conflict of interest, Bastian said Simmons Manufacturing (which manufactures shoes) supplies boots to the corporation. The owner's wife is a manager at the corporation, he pointed out.
Evans submitted that the corporation had a relationship with Simmons Manufacturing long before Daphne Simmons was hired, but Bastian insisted this was not the case.
Bastian also claimed that he was blacklisted by the corporation after he was fired, in that the state-owned entity refused to add him to its list of approved engineers. He said he suffered severe mental and economic stress. Bastian told the Tribunal that he is currently unemployed.
Roberts and Demeritte do not have legal representation at the Tribunal. With Bastian repeatedly raising very serious allegations against them, it is unclear whether they will seek representation to defend themselves.
thenassauguardian
By CANDIA DAMES ~ Guardian News Editor ~ candia@nasguard.com:
A former senior engineer at the Water and Sewerage Corporation, who was fired in 2006 for alleged conflict of interest, claimed yesterday that then PLP Minister Bradley Roberts and then Chairman Don Demeritte led a conspiracy that would have bilked Bahamians of millions of dollars.
Mario Bastian, who testified in the Industrial Tribunal, claimed that Roberts and Demeritte instructed the corporation's general manager at the time to annul the bidding process for a reverse osmosis plant at Arawak Cay, and ordered that the corporation negotiate with BK Water Limited/Veolia. BK Water's principal was Jerome Fitzgerald, now a PLP senator.
Bastian was testifying under oath before Industrial Tribunal President Harrison Lockhart.
He suggested that going with BK Water would have cost taxpayers many millions of unnecessary dollars.
Under cross-examination by the corporation's attorney, Thomas Evans QC, Bastian admitted that he had personally had no conversation with then Minister Roberts regarding the bidding process. Roberts had responsibility for the corporation.
Bastian was fired on September 4, 2006, nearly 20 years after he was hired, but he alleges he was victimized.
The corporation fired Bastian saying it had a lack of trust and confidence in him, according to the evidence. The allegation was that Bastian was an officer of a company that was in direct competition with the corporation, thus giving rise to a conflict of interest situation.
The engineer — who is represented by attorney Pericles Maillis — is claiming breach of contract, wrongful dismissal, and damage to his reputation among other things.
Bastian contends in his originating application that he was victimized by the corporation because he refused to engage in unprofessional and unscrupulous management practices.
He told the Tribunal that he received intimidating phone calls from W&SC Chairman Demeritte. The engineer claimed that at one point Demeritte called him at home and pressed him for information that could help the corporation get rid of General Manager Abraham Butler. Bastian said Demeritte told him that he had the power to promote him (Bastian) but he had to be a team player.
He also said he took the chairman's statements to mean, "If you don't work with me the highway would be your route, and so said so done."
Bastian said, "I felt intimidated in doing my job.
"If in the course of performing your job you made recommendations that were contrary to what persons in certain quarters of the corporation wanted... there was a distinct possibility that there will be repercussions."'
He claimed he told the chairman that he believed in getting promotions based on merit.
Evans submitted that there was no intimidation.
Asked by Evans why he never complained about the alleged actions of the chairman, Bastian said allegations had been made against the chairman in the past, but to no avail.
Questioned repeatedly yesterday by Evans, Bastian denied that he was involved in a conflict of interest. The engineer was a director in CBA Engineering Limited. Bastian told the Tribunal he resigned as a director after the corporation made the conflict of interest allegation.
"I elected to resign from the company (CBA). I did what any good citizen would have done under the circumstances," Bastian said. "I did nothing wrong and yet still I was penalized."
The engineer said he was angered by the allegations that had been lodged against his professional character.
He said, "Once the bullet is out the gun it's very difficult to control the damage."
But Evans suggested that the reason Bastian resigned from CBA is that he wanted to distance himself from a clear conflict of interest.
Bastian however, insisted that the corporation was unable to show any clear conflict of interest.
Evans said that Bastian was accusing the then minister, chairman and other senior officials at the corporation of "a dastardly conspiracy to rob Bahamian people of millions of dollars."
Asked to explain why he accused Roberts of conspiracy, Bastian said the instruction that came through the general manager was that the minister and chairman had given a directive to end the bidding process and engage in negotiations with BK Water/Veolia.
"This was not a standard process," he told the Tribunal.
Asked if he had relied on a hearsay statement from the general manager, Bastian repeated that he had received instructions from the GM and negotiations commenced with BK Water/Veolia.
He claimed that the chairman and other management personnel "manipulated" the corporation.
During his testimony, Bastian said BK Water never got a contract. He told the Tribunal it was because there was a change in government.
Evans said parts of Bastian's testimony were irrelevant.
What the Tribunal has to decide, he pointed out, is whether the corporation was justified in terminating Bastian.
Bastian told the Tribunal that there were clear instances of conflict of interest situations in the corporation, but he was the one singled out and his matter was not even a conflict of interest.
But Evans said whether or not other people who were guilty of conflict of interest were dealt with has no bearing on Bastian's matter before the Tribunal.
Maillis, however, insisted that Bastian was marked and that was part of the victimization.
Evans said he had a problem with Bastian going on a witch-hunt about others allegedly in conflict of interest situations.
President Lockhart then noted that there is a line of authority in industrial law that seems to suggest that the singling out of an individual who may be a part of a group of individuals seems to be unfair.
Pointing to what he suggested was a conflict of interest, Bastian said Simmons Manufacturing (which manufactures shoes) supplies boots to the corporation. The owner's wife is a manager at the corporation, he pointed out.
Evans submitted that the corporation had a relationship with Simmons Manufacturing long before Daphne Simmons was hired, but Bastian insisted this was not the case.
Bastian also claimed that he was blacklisted by the corporation after he was fired, in that the state-owned entity refused to add him to its list of approved engineers. He said he suffered severe mental and economic stress. Bastian told the Tribunal that he is currently unemployed.
Roberts and Demeritte do not have legal representation at the Tribunal. With Bastian repeatedly raising very serious allegations against them, it is unclear whether they will seek representation to defend themselves.
thenassauguardian
Sunday, April 25, 2010
An estimated 85-90 per cent of the engineering work on major Bahamas-based development projects goes to foreign firms
85-90% export 'guts' engineers
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor:
An estimated 85-90 per cent of the engineering work on major Bahamas-based development projects goes to foreign firms, the Bahamas Society of Engineers' president telling Tribune Business yesterday that "the wholesale export" of such services "absolutely guts our entire industry".
Robert Reiss, who is also principal of Islands by Design/Reiss, said qualified Bahamian engineers were still being denied the opportunity to fully participate in their profession through the continuing tendency of both local and foreign developers, plus the Government, to look outside this nation on jobs that Bahamians can do.
"One of the key elements of my platform, a key tenet, is the fact that I want the Bahamas Society of Engineers to support the implementation of the Professional Engineers Act and Board and, beyond just the Act, supporting securing and keeping Bahamian engineering jobs for Bahamians," Mr Reiss told Tribune Business.
"For too long and too often, our engineering work in the Bahama goes to foreign firms. It's fine if there's a need for specialist expertise, but there's a wholesale export of our money, our opportunities. The dollars and the opportunities for Bahamian engineers, who have gone abroad to school to get qualified, to participate in our profession get exported. It absolutely guts our entire industry."
Emphasising that "this situation of having Bahamians do Bahamian engineering work is not insular or inward-looking", Mr Reiss said the drive to ensure qualified Bahamian engineers obtained work they were qualified to do would "improve our economic engine" by keeping dollars at home.
Mr Reiss, who has been heavily involved in water and wastewater treatment engineering work in the US and abroad, told Tribune Business: "Even though I'm Bahamian, I see the companies I compete against and beat in foreign locations very smoothly get work off the Government that I even have difficulty in getting shortlisted for.
"I would easily guess that 85-90 per cent of the engineering work on major development projects is done by foreign engineers."
Culprit
Mario Bastian, the Bahamas Society of Engineers' secretary, added that the Government was just as big a culprit as developers when it came to denying Bahamian engineers opportunities on projects they were perfectly qualified to perform.
Local expertise and knowledge would be harnessed on many projects by using Bahamian engineers, Mr Reiss argued, and the passage of the Act and set-up of the Professional Engineers Board, with its registration requirements, is viewed as a tool to aid this goal.
The Act requires foreign engineers to obtain a certificate of temporary registration from the Professional Engineers Board when working in this nation, and also joint venture with Bahamian engineers when working on major projects in this nation.
The Board, and the requirement that Bahamian engineers (and their foreign counterparts) be registered in all the disciplines they perform, will enhance consumer protection by letting Bahamians know exactly what an engineer is qualified to do, plus enable the sector to be self-regulating and put certification standards in place.
Mr Reiss praised developments such as Albany, the National Sports Stadium and the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) redevelopment for allowing Bahamian engineers to play a key role on those projects.
April 23, 2010
tribune242
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor:
An estimated 85-90 per cent of the engineering work on major Bahamas-based development projects goes to foreign firms, the Bahamas Society of Engineers' president telling Tribune Business yesterday that "the wholesale export" of such services "absolutely guts our entire industry".
Robert Reiss, who is also principal of Islands by Design/Reiss, said qualified Bahamian engineers were still being denied the opportunity to fully participate in their profession through the continuing tendency of both local and foreign developers, plus the Government, to look outside this nation on jobs that Bahamians can do.
"One of the key elements of my platform, a key tenet, is the fact that I want the Bahamas Society of Engineers to support the implementation of the Professional Engineers Act and Board and, beyond just the Act, supporting securing and keeping Bahamian engineering jobs for Bahamians," Mr Reiss told Tribune Business.
"For too long and too often, our engineering work in the Bahama goes to foreign firms. It's fine if there's a need for specialist expertise, but there's a wholesale export of our money, our opportunities. The dollars and the opportunities for Bahamian engineers, who have gone abroad to school to get qualified, to participate in our profession get exported. It absolutely guts our entire industry."
Emphasising that "this situation of having Bahamians do Bahamian engineering work is not insular or inward-looking", Mr Reiss said the drive to ensure qualified Bahamian engineers obtained work they were qualified to do would "improve our economic engine" by keeping dollars at home.
Mr Reiss, who has been heavily involved in water and wastewater treatment engineering work in the US and abroad, told Tribune Business: "Even though I'm Bahamian, I see the companies I compete against and beat in foreign locations very smoothly get work off the Government that I even have difficulty in getting shortlisted for.
"I would easily guess that 85-90 per cent of the engineering work on major development projects is done by foreign engineers."
Culprit
Mario Bastian, the Bahamas Society of Engineers' secretary, added that the Government was just as big a culprit as developers when it came to denying Bahamian engineers opportunities on projects they were perfectly qualified to perform.
Local expertise and knowledge would be harnessed on many projects by using Bahamian engineers, Mr Reiss argued, and the passage of the Act and set-up of the Professional Engineers Board, with its registration requirements, is viewed as a tool to aid this goal.
The Act requires foreign engineers to obtain a certificate of temporary registration from the Professional Engineers Board when working in this nation, and also joint venture with Bahamian engineers when working on major projects in this nation.
The Board, and the requirement that Bahamian engineers (and their foreign counterparts) be registered in all the disciplines they perform, will enhance consumer protection by letting Bahamians know exactly what an engineer is qualified to do, plus enable the sector to be self-regulating and put certification standards in place.
Mr Reiss praised developments such as Albany, the National Sports Stadium and the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) redevelopment for allowing Bahamian engineers to play a key role on those projects.
April 23, 2010
tribune242
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