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  • 3 months ago
The North West Regional Health Authority is facing tough questions tonight over a multimillion-dollar security contract that may have bypassed the law , under its then CEO Anthony Blake, who has since denied all wrong doing.

Investigative Journalist Mark Bassant has been investigating and has this report.
Transcript
00:00The current predicament at the Northwest Regional Health Authority raises serious governance and accountability questions.
00:06The allegation is that Anthony Blake, while serving as CEO, signed a $91.5 million security contract with Swart Estate
00:15Police Company Ltd. in December 2025 without following the legally required procurement process and without board approval.
00:22Blake disputes this, claiming the document was only for a much smaller interim contract worth $717,342.
00:32However, the acting CEO Judith Ballyram has stated that a larger agreement for the $91.5 million contract was unlawful,
00:40has since gone missing and is now under investigation, fothering a whistleblower complaint.
00:45During our investigation, TV6 News obtained a document bearing what appeared to be the signature of then-NWRHA Chief Executive
00:52Officer Anthony Blake on a contractual agreement between the Authority and Swart Estate Police Company Ltd.
01:00The document, also signed by a Northwest Regional Health Authority employee as a witness, is dated December 19, 2025.
01:07The date predates the completion of the procurement process, raising questions about whether the contract was executed outside the legally
01:15required tendering framework.
01:17The alleged agreement was signed less than two months before the NWRHA issued a procurement notice inviting, quote-unquote, qualified
01:24and experienced firms to bid for the provision of security services at its facilities.
01:29Tender number 2026-20, which closed on March 4, 2026, sought bids for those services.
01:37Blake, who is currently on extended vacation, responded to questions from TV6 last Thursday, vehemently denying any wrongdoing.
01:44Open quote, at the outset, I must state that the documentation relied upon in support of the allegation has been
01:50presented in a manner that creates a false and misleading narrative.
01:54He added, the documents supplied comprised records generated for different procurement exercises at different points in time and for entirely
02:02different administrative purposes.
02:04When viewed collectively and without the necessary operational and procurement context, they create the inaccurate impression that they relate to
02:11a single procurement transaction.
02:13They do not, close quote.
02:15Blake insists the document at the center of the allegations does not involve a $91.5 million deal.
02:21He says it was actually tied to a separate interim contract worth $717,342.75.
02:30According to Blake, that short-term agreement was issued after World Class Security Services pull-out of its contract in
02:372025, leaving seven NWRHA health centers without security coverage.
02:42He maintains that the arrangement was a lawful stopgap measure, not part of the larger contract now under investigation.
02:49Open quote, quotations were received from the authorities' existing contracted service providers and evaluated in accordance with the authorities' procurement
02:57procedures.
02:58Following completion of that evaluation, Swart Estate Police Company Limited was awarded an interim contract, close quote.
03:05While Blake did not address allegations that a contract of that magnitude required board approval, he maintained that the interim
03:12SWOT contract related solely to seven health centers following the withdrawal of the previous contractor and was valued at $717
03:20,342.
03:22He added that tender number 2026-20 is a separate public procurement covering more than 25 facilities.
03:29No award has been made under tender number 2026-20, which remains before the Procurement Disposal Advisory Committee.
03:38Blake also said the figure of $91.5 million represents the estimated multi-year procurement value based on existing contract
03:45rates and was prepared for funding verification purposes.
03:48The procurement contemplates the engagement of multiple security providers consistent with the authorities' long-standing operational model.
03:57When contacted for comment last week, Acting NWRHA Chief Executive Officer Judith Balliram said she would not engage in a
04:05public dispute with former CEO Anthony Blake.
04:08However, she emphasized that her intention was to clarify the circumstances surrounding the controversial $91.5 million contract.
04:17She said the NWRHA board was alluded to the matter several months ago through a whistleblower's allegation that Blake had
04:24signed a two-year $9.5 million contract with SWOT.
04:29Rejecting Blake's explanation, she said, open quote, that contract was only for SWOT and no other provider, as the agreement
04:36indicates.
04:36Mr. Blake signed a contract on December 19, 2025, valued at $91.5 million, while a security procurement notice was
04:44issued in February 2025.
04:46A funding request form was prepared by the General Procurement Manager on January 9, 2026.
04:52It is apparent that a contract was executed.
04:55There was also no board approval.
04:58Under the procurement legislation, the contract is unlawful.
05:01An NWRHA employee also signed as a witness to that $91.5 million contract, close quote.
05:09Balliram further alleged that following the whistleblower's disclosure, the NWRHA was unable to locate the contract at the center of
05:15the controversy because it had apparently, quote-unquote, disappeared and may have been destroyed by a senior NWRHA employee.
05:22A senior NWRHA source also told TV6 that a whistleblower's report stated that the $91.5 million contract agreement with
05:31SWOT was intended as a comprehensive agreement for SWOT to provide security services throughout the NWRHA.
05:38Sources further added that banking documentation relating to the contract had also been prepared.
05:44Mark Bessant, TV6 News.