A committee advising the Deputy Premier on the Government’s decade-long, multimillion-dollar affordable housing project is “taxpayer conscious” and intent on getting value for money, according to its chairman.

Hugo “Miguel” Pereira told The Royal Gazette that pricing from 16 companies, international and local, was scrutinised by the Ministry of Housing and Municipalities’ ad hoc affordable housing advisory committee before lucrative contracts were awarded — without a formal request for proposals — to two foreign firms, Coastal Precast Systems and Preconco Ltd, for units in Sandys, Southampton and St David’s.

Mr Pereira, a six-figure salaried special ministerial adviser to Zane DeSilva, the Deputy Premier and housing minister, said: “We interviewed 16 companies, 16 companies with all sorts of different methodologies of construction.

“We then took into big consideration that precast [concrete] is a proven model in Bermuda, because they were built back in the day.

“ … We looked at the longevity of this product, because we also had to be taxpayer conscious that [with] the money being spent, we need to get the longest lasting product that we could.”

The Government’s recently published Affordable Housing Strategy 2025-2035consultation draft set out an ambitious proposal to build 974 units at an estimated cost of $418.5 million over ten years, including 229 multi-site residential units for $115 million before 2028.

The housing ministry said last month that “nine international firms and multiple construction methodologies” were evaluated by the advisory committee as part of its research. Mr Pereira clarified that the number had been whittled down from the 16 originally reviewed.

Mr DeSilva told MPs in June there was no request for proposals issued for the $64 million contract awarded to Virginia-based CPS for 84 units, “because we know how RFPs work. And I will tell you what, if we would have been through an RFP on this particular matter, we would be here next year and we wouldn't have built a home …”.

A government spokeswoman told the Gazette the two publicly funded quangos leading the project, the Bermuda Housing Corporation and the Bermuda Land Management Corporation, did not need permission from the Office of Project Management and Procurement to bypass the typical government bidding procedure as they had the “legal authority and responsibility for their procurement processes”.

Mr Pereira, a director of BHC for the past four years, said: “BLMC follows its own tendering process. At the end of the day, we followed BLMC's tendering process, OK?”

Asked why quotes were not sought, to ensure value for money for taxpayers, Mr Pereira replied: “They did. I don't know where you're getting your information.”

He added: “Don't you think that we did not ask for a price per square foot? [That] we just made these awkward decisions?

“No, we requested prices per square foot because we knew what we wanted. So we wanted per square foot, turnkey [prices]. In other words, you turn the key and go live in it.”

Mr DeSilva said in Parliament that the advisory committee “spent months and months looking at every building system in the world. And based on the information that we received … and there were many, hundreds and hundreds, literally, from many people, many organisations … I am very confident in that committee and the work that they have done …”

Mr Pereira insisted due diligence was done before CPS and Preconco got the contracts and said cost overruns were not expected.

“They have contracts signed and they will be obligated to those contracts,” he said.

“There were many, many other things on top of the table and we looked at the two companies that have already built in Bermuda.

“One of the companies [CPS] built in Victoria Place in Dockyard — the units that are still there [after] 15 or 16 years … and the other company started with Morgan's Point …”

He said a decision was taken that precast concrete was best in the long-term because of Bermuda’s climate.

“Concrete lasts 100 years, 200 years,” he said.

Mr Pereira said another factor was the ability to use local contractors on the CPS and Preconco units.

“So the drywall, the painting, the plumbing, the electric, the excavation, the landscaping, the painting, the carpentry and so on to complete a project — [it is] is going to be by Bermudians and Bermudian companies” he explained.

“That was also taken into consideration to continue to create, to generate employment.”

The advisory committee chairman declined to comment on whether any of Mr DeSilva’s companies, including Island Aggregate Ltd, could be hired as subcontractors on the affordable housing project.

Asked if the committee considered whether the minister had a conflict because of his business interests, Mr Pereira said: “I don't comment on the minister’s personal business.”

He saw no conflict of interest for himself in being advisory committee chairman, special adviser to Mr DeSilva and a BHC director.

“Why should it be? Why is it a conflict when the company that, or the quango that, is spearheading this programme is BLMC, which I have no ties to?

“BHC is involved, yes, but BHC also sits on that board, on that advisory committee.”

He said the advisory committee met weekly and was doing valuable work assisting the minister in the knowledge that “you have people living in cars, in tents, in the trees, inside of trucks, inside of vans”.

“To create affordable housing is money well spent,” said Mr Pereira. “The money is being well spent to house our people.”

The affordable housing advisory committee was officially formed in March, and its other members are Jeane Nikolai, the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Housing and Municipalities; Jane Brett, a policy analyst; Julie Marshall, a senior planning officer; Christopher Famous, a Progressive Labour Party MP and BHC chairman; Lauren Bell, a PLP senator and BHC board member; Lakila Bell, also a BHC board member; Paul Martin, the BHC chief executive and general manager; Mark Melo, the BHC chief financial officer; Keino Furbert-Jacobs, a BHC project manager; and Andrew Dias, the BLMC chief executive.

The Gazette asked Mr Martin and Mr Dias to share the financial and procurement procedures approved by the boards of the BHC and BLMC, and filed with the Accountant-General.

The request included whether those procedures were followed for the CPS and Preconco contracts, and for the paper trail showing that to be provided.

Mr Martin e-mailed in reply: “While phase 1 of the affordable housing initiative may involve entities across government, the specific CPS and Preconco contracts referenced … were executed by BLMC rather than BHC.”

There was no response from Mr Dias by press time yesterday.