Opposition Leader Bishop Joseph Atherley wants to see an end to lawyers being paid exorbitant fees for services to governments and political parties.
Making it clear that he was not making a charge against the current administration, Atherley said in Parliament on Tuesday, as he made his contribution to the Public Procurement Bill, 2021, that there are many stories of legal persons in Barbados benefitting substantially from the “giftings of governments”.
He charged that there are some legal professionals who are closely affiliated with political parties, and while they have no interest in entering politics, they benefit from hefty legal contracts.
“There are lawyers in Barbados who have made their lives and the lives of others out of this. In recent years… — I am talking about the last 20 years or so — we have heard the many stories of lawyers, my goodness, and the fees that they have been paid for services rendered to respective political parties, administrations and governments in this country,” he said.
The Opposition Leader explained that he was highlighting the issue at this time since Clause 39 of the Bill speaks to legal officers being utilized as contract administrators for each procurement contract, through monitoring the performance of suppliers on behalf of the Government to ensure that all delivery of performance obligations is met.
Clause 39 also states that legal officers will be required to prepare any required amendments to the procurement contract and refer the amendments for the approval of the Solicitor General as a government functionary or a legal officer nominated by the Solicitor General.
“I believe that provisions like this one to which I just referred, on Page 47 under Clause 39 that talks about contract administrators and legal officials who do certain functions on behalf of government with respect to the procurement process, open the window for the generosity of the public purse to find a resting place in the hands of legal professionals who are affiliated with those parties, primarily for that purpose.
“This is a serious thing, and it is one of the things that you do not hear mentioned in any detail in any public space and we continue to talk about transparency and accountability while there are lawyers who benefit substantially from the generosity of government today. That’s where we are and it is something that we have to have addressed,” Atherley said.
The Opposition Leader further noted that information regarding the number of consultants at the beck and call of government for various purposes remains unknown. He accused the present and previous administrations of spending millions of taxpayers’ money on consultants affiliated with political parties.
“But we are creating opportunity in this legislation, even if we don’t intend to do so, to ensure that that type of practice is perpetuated and that is a serious thing,” he said.
Atherley also indicated that while billions are spent on public-private sector partnerships, often the public is not made aware of the details regarding contractual arrangements.
Standing by his belief that there is a culture of corruption in Barbados that includes persons from the banking, insurance, and real estate, among other sectors, the Opposition Leader questioned what penalties will be applied “when proof of this corruption come to light”, especially as it relates to outrageous contracts being awarded through public-private partnerships.
“And the question I raise, Mr Speaker, is the matter of ministerial bullying. Now, we have a clause here that says contracts must be drawn to the attention of the Solicitor’s General Office before they are approved and acted upon. Now, this has been the case, but yet how is it that we end up with these outrageously bad contracts?
“And is there a question of ministerial bullying that ministers feel that they can bully officers of the Crown, whether it be the Solicitor’s General Office or in the Chief Town Planner Office or wherever they may be located. Are we dealing with an issue of ministerial bullying which even Permanent Secretaries cannot resist?
“If that is the case, this is a monster whose head we need to chop off. You cannot have respectful public servants possessed with high levels of integrity industriously trying to do their arduous task by the law and ministers come and bully them and they have to do this and they have to do that because a minister said so and because the permanent secretary is weak,” the Opposition Leader said. (AH)
