NASSAU| A SENIOR employee at the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) testified in court yesterday about her initial findings from an audit of vendors contracted by the corporation under the Minnis FNM administration.
Dian Saunders-Adderley, an assistant general manager at WSC, discussed her findings while testifying in the criminal trial of Long Island MP Adrian Gibson and others. Mr Gibson faces charges related to his tenure as WSC executive chairman involving his alleged failure to declare his interest in contracts awarded by the WSC.
Mrs Saunders-Adderley, an internal auditor, said the audit covered vendors the corporation engaged from 2017 to 2021 and noted that such audits were conducted regularly.
“All vendors that were paid by the WSC during that period were reviewed,” she said. “That review produced a listing of all these vendors for each year.”
After determining the value of their work, she categorised vendors into groups: those paid under $100,000, between $100,000 and $250,000, and over $250,000. According to the witness, 63 vendors were paid over $250,000. Vendors paid $500,000 and above were identified as “super vendors,” typically including water purchase companies, insurance firms, accountants, and lawyers.
She then assessed the type of company and their scope of work.
Regarding vendors paid over $250,000, Mrs Saunders-Adderley said: “In looking at the vendors between $250,000 and $500,000, there were 37 vendors; 11 of those were identified as contractors (or) contracting companies.” She said it was unclear what specific work these 11 companies performed, only that they were contractors.
To determine the projects involved, she reviewed the payments made to each vendor.
“I did observe in looking at all eleven companies and all of their cheques that two specific companies had their costs charged to the same project,” she said. She described this as “noteworthy” and claimed “this was not seen among the other vendors.”
Mrs Saunders-Adderley conducted a similar review for vendor payments over $500,000. Of the 26 vendors who received payments over $500,000, seven were contracting companies.
“I looked at all their cheques and observed that one of those companies had its payment also charged to the same project number as the two companies between $250,000 and $500,000,” she said.
She identified these companies as Adams Landscaping, Elite Maintenance, and Baha Maintenance. She claimed Adams Landscaping was paid nearly $600,000, Elite Maintenance around $432,000 in 2018, and Baha Maintenance $413,000 in 2020.
The FNM MP for Long Island Mr Gibson is on trial alongside Elwood Donaldson Jr, the former WSC general manager, Joan Knowles, Peaches Farquharson, and Jerome Missick.
The defence team includes Mr Damian Gomez KC, Mr Murrio Ducille KC, Ian Cargill, Bryan Bastian, Ryan Eve, and Raphael Moxey. The Crown’s legal team comprises acting Director of Public Prosecutions Ms Cordell Frazier, Cashena Thompson, Karine MacVean, and Rashied Edgecombe.
