NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – The government says it has requested and accepted the resignation of the executive chairman of the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC), Sylvanus Petty, amid reports that Prime Minister Phillip Davis had requested that a contract that was given by WSC to his daughter, Sylatheia Gierszewski, be canceled.
A brief government statement gave no reasons for requesting his resignation, noting that “Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper accepted the resignation on behalf of the Prime Minister” who has traveled to Saudi Arabia for the inaugural Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Saudi Arabia summit that gets underway there later on Thursday.
“We thank Mr. Petty for his service,” the statement said.
Earlier this month, Petty was being cross-examined in the corruption trial of the former WSC chairman and current Member of Parliament, Adrian Gibson, when news of the contract to Petty’s daughter became public.
Petty told the court that he did not discourage awarding contracts to people known by members of the WSC board, saying “everyone in The Bahamas was family.”
He also said he did not frown on nepotism and had no problem with the company entering into contracts with political allies if they were capable.
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