THE FACTS:
1. Invoice for 2,700 residential garbage bins at US$102.19 sent to the Prime Minister’s Office on April 22, 2008 by Andre Dopwell, a resident of Pennsylvania and brother of Trade Minister Colin Mc Intyre.
4. No tenders were invited for the supply of the bins. There is no evidence of any competitive bidding. There is no evidence that any sample of the product was examined prior to the payment approval.
5. The retail price of the bins eventually supplied (Roughneck 32Gal Non-Wheeled Refuse Bin from Rubbermaid) is as low as US$14.67 at Home Depot locations.
6. Item is not provided for in the budget for the financial year July 2007 to June 2008 in which the money was spent.
8. Payments for the US equivalent of EC$275,909.98 and EC$473,887.74 (total of EC$749,797.72) made to Dopwell/Logistical Supply Solution by wire transfer from the National Bank of Dominica (NBD) on May 09, 2008.
9. The funds are transferred into the same personal account number 5300752184 at Susquehana Patriot Bank in Pottstown Pennsylvania used by Dopwell for receipt of payment for fertilizer sold to the Skerrit administration in February 2007. 
10. Dopwell places on TradeKey.com on May 13, 2008 a request for quotations for the supply of bins CIF Dominica four days after he was paid in full for the bins invoiced at the arbitrary, astronomical cost of US$102.19 per bin.
11. 2,192 bins arrive in Dominica on September 24, 2008. The shipment is 508 bins short.
12. Government grants itself concessions to import the bins duty free on September 26, 2008. Concession scheduled to expire on February 26, 2009.
13. Prime Minister Skerrit presents supplementary budgetary appropriation to Parliament on October 06, 2008 and says that EC$764,541.00 was paid to Logistical Supply Solution for the bins that should have cost no more than EC$200,000.
14. Bins are cleared from customs on April 16, 2009 after a VAT payment of EC$112,400 – six and a half months after they arrived in Dominica.
15. Eight months after the arrival of the shipment, 508 of the bins ordered and paid for more than a year ago, remain outstanding.
16. The Roseau City Council is selling the bins that cost the taxpayers over EC$300.00 each for EC$30.00.
17. Following media disclosure and heightened public outrage over the transaction in May 2009, Prime Minister Skerrit says that he has asked his accounting officer and the Director of Audit to investigate the matter
18. The popular perception is that since he is directly involved in the spending irregularity, the Prime Minister should not be the one making decisions about any investigation into this matter. It is widely believed that the situation warrants an intervention by the President in the public interest.
The Secret Documents
Andre Dopwell “Garbage” Invoice
First Wire Transfer to Andre Dopwell
Second Wire Transfer to Andre Dopwell
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
in my days at the treasuary,this could never happen.the board of directors of the nbd should be investigated.the auditor general should be fired.the financial sec should be taken to task. maynard and saverin should resign.ask frank baron what happened to him and the tyres and that was more legitimate.i feel sorry for u dominicans.
listen dominicans,u all are brainless.just think.try selling some dasheen to the hospital and ask them to pay u in advance.it will take u a month to get paid.come on ,who is fooling who?where are the maynards,saverins sorhaindos and the others?why dont u all speak out.i have no confidence in u so called leaders that go to church and give communion.hippocrits.
Could tour senior politicians elevate their discourse on the campaign trail beyond the stale and ineffective strategy of simply accusing the incumbent party members of corruption and spreading "BoBol money" and focus on the issues please? We need to know what the UWP or the Freedom party propose to update and modernize the legal and regulatory framework of public procurement in Dominica, which aid and abet public corruption.
Public procurement has NOT been considered a central pillar of the government’s effort to improve public transparency and good public governance in Dominica.. The present government of Dominica has failed to acknowledge that an effective public procurement system is essential for good governance and as a result the poor public procurement system in Dominica results in inefficiencies, public corruption, higher costs to the government and ultimately wastage of public funds.
In recent times, there have been several complaints with regard to alleged corruption in public procurement in Dominica. The Dominican public has expressed distrust of public officials and concerns over the lack of probity and integrity in government’s procurement process. This has had the effect of discouraging good firms, both national and foreign, from participating in government’s solicitation exercises, thus depriving the country from access to better prices and higher quality goods, works, and services.
Dominica, like most developing countries, is not a party to the plurilateral WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) and the country does not have any specific or modern procurement legislation /office. Most of government’s purchases are on a ministerial basis, although tender boards are established on an ad hoc basis for large purchases such as construction projects. Public procurement legislation is under consideration as part of the CARICOM harmonization of laws project and is said to be based on examples from similar existing laws in other Caribbean countries. The pending legislation will be based on best practices in the choice of modalities and other aspects of public procurement.
As signatories to the agreement establishing WTO, CARICOM Member States are already participating in negotiations on certain transparency-related aspects of government procurement. Their commitment goes much further in the FTAA process, where the aim is to negotiate a WTO-plus hemispheric regime of rights and obligations relating to government procurement. As part of the FTAA negotiations, for example, participating countries have been requested to submit statistical and other data to the Negotiating Group on Government Procurement, one of nine groups set up to negotiate the FTAA agreement. Under the Regional Program, entitled “Government Procurement Frameworks in the Caribbean Community: Towards a Regional Best-Practice Regime for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy.”
The status of the public procurement legislative framework in Dominica has not advanced since the issuance of a 2003 Country Procurement Assessment Report (Report No. 30975-DM) on Dominica, which was prepared by the Operations Support Unit (OSU), World Bank. The report found inter alia;
• The legislative and regulatory framework of public procurement in Dominica is outdated and requires substantial revision. Significant gaps contribute to distorting practices and the widespread perception that the system lacks transparency. The system is inefficient and possesses a high fiduciary risk. The lack of transparency itself is a major cause for inefficiency, potential corruption and high costs. This causes significant negative impact on trade, investment, and economic growth in the country;
• A comprehensive revision of the system should be carried out in the context of the regional harmonization effort;
• A sound regulatory framework for public procurement would help reduce many opportunities for corrupt practices, which engenders the confidence in the business community and civil society and would give the clear signal that procurement practices are fair and transparent;
• There is a need for increased mechanism for oversight of government’s procurement expenditures;
• Current procurement rules are obsolete and lost relevance. The rules provide for institutions which never came into existence such as the Public Tendering Board and
• the value of government procurement of the country is very limited with the majority of capital investments being financed by external sources.
The question is, in light of the numerous allegations of corruption and misuse of public funds, I am interested in knowing what will the UWP or the Freedom party propose to update and modernize the legal and regulatory framework of public procurement in Dominica?
Dominicans should acquaint themselves with the provisions of the Draft Procurement and Contract Administration Act, which provides general requirements for an efficient and transparent procurement system in Dominica. The draft act establishes public procurement authorities and outlines all relevant steps for achieving best value when utilizing scarce public funds. Once implemented, it will address all the issues identified by J.C in the comments posted above. The Draft Procurement and Contract Administration Act is available for review by the General Public.