3/19/2010 11:19:00 AM Under-fire consultant defends $2m Gov't contracts
* File photo. Project: Eddy Benoit, president of development company Ambling, claims his firm cut $9 million off the taxpayer’s bill for the demolition of Club Med, above.
"We're saving Bermuda millions." This is the verdict of the president of an Atlanta-based development company that has come under fire from opposition MPs who claim Government is throwing money away on needless consultants.
Eddy Benoit, president of Ambling, said his company's contacts, advice and expertise has saved millions of dollars on major projects.
He claimed their negotiations on the Club Med implosion alone had shaved $9million off the bill to taxpayers.
He added their intervention and advice had been instrumental in making the underperforming planning department more efficient.
Mr. Benoit has been stung by the criticism questioning the value of his company to Bermuda.
Assurances
Deputy UBP leader Trevor Moniz has been among the most vocal critics of the company, which has contracts with Planning, Works & Engineering and the Department of Tourism worth almost $2million over the past two years.
He said Mr. Benoit's assurances meant very little without specific details of exactly what work his company had done and what they had charged for it.
He specifically targeted Ambling's role with the planning department, saying they had not shown anything for the $1million they had received and had ignored their remit to improve planning legislation.
But Mr. Benoit said his team had made a complete overhaul of the department, which was beset with staffing problems.
He added the department was so bad that talented civil servants would resign because of its poor reputation and their inability to be promoted.
Mr. Benoit said: "Our assignment was to ascertain the problems affecting the inefficiencies within the department, which included staff, production, performance appraisal, process and procedures, technology, revenue production and work environment.
"There was a backlog of over 420 applications dating back up to two years without response.
"The staff wasn't even operating to the standard expectations of a planning department within a country of 65,000-75,000 people.
"We had to bring in outside planners to perform the work that they should have done.
"There also hasn't been a fair performance appraisal system to measure individual staff production."
Mr. Benoit said changes his company had recommended had reduced the backlog by 60 per cent and decreased the wait time for applications to be dealt with from roughly 150 days to about 100 days.
Local planning experts agreed that the wait time had improved but cast doubt on who was responsible for that.
Aideen Ratteray, of ARP Consulting, said: "I am surprised to hear you say that Ambling was involved in the reduction of the backlog.
"The department of planning itself recognized the need for additional assistance and arranged for consultants to be hired.
This was done in June 2008 when Erwin P. Adderley Associates and ARP Consulting Services, my consultancy, were taken on for 11 months."
Mr. Benoit said the recommendation had initially come from his company along with a host of other changes to make the department more efficient.
He added more changes were required, including a new system of fees to help the department become self sufficient.
Ambling has also acted as a consultant to Government on a number of construction projects and tourism contracts.
He said their principal job was to use their contacts and expertise to ensure Government got the best deal.
The company also worked on the Grand Atlantic housing/hotel project and is currently assisting in the negotiations over the controversial Southlands land swap.
Mr. Benoit said his company drew on the expertise of 1,200 employees across five businesses, with specialties including management, real estate and development.
He added they had expertise and experience that regular civil servants did not and could use their know-how to save millions on major projects.
Value
Mr. Benoit said: "Government staff may have certain limitations as far as experience relative to the project. Some of these projects are pretty big. They have never happened before in some cases (in Bermuda).
"That's where you really need someone as a consultant to advise them as to what they really need to see from the contractor."
He cited the Club Med demolition and cleanup, originally slated by Works & Engineering as a $20 million project, as an example of the value of his company.
Mr. Benoit added: "We were able to get it done for $11 million. Just off Club Med alone we saved them $9 million - many times more than what we've been paid over the past couple of years."
Mr. Benoit said his staff worked on Bermuda-related projects every day.
He added: "We are here primarily to save Government money, help them be more efficient and evaluate prospective projects to make sure they have merit before Government publically endorses them.
"Whatever project we are involved in there is no benefit to having us there if we can't bring added value to the bottom line.
"We would not agree to be involved where we didn't think we could do that."
Reader Comments
Posted: Saturday, March 20, 2010
Comment by:
khomeini Taalib-Din
Thank you Bermuda Sun for printing
this.
Posted: Friday, March 19, 2010
Comment by:
Rockfish
The issue of Government consultants is a thorny one indeed. We tend to think 'foreigner/ex-pat' whevever the subject arises.
The fact of the matter is that there are plenty of Bermudians employed as consultants as well. What they actually do is sonething of a mystery.
Perhaps every Minister should be required to list all publicly, with a description of their duties along with the length of their contracts.
Revealing their pay should be considered also.
