The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

URBAN Renewal Co-Chair Algernon Allen yesterday said he and Cynthia “Mother” Pratt are “eager” to finally appear before the Public Accounts Committee to give an account for the government’s controversial programme.

He added that the co-chairs are “more than happy that this torturous process is finally coming to a sensible conclusion.”

Mr Allen said he and Mrs Pratt are happy to be “part and parcel” of the committee’s probe of Urban Renewal 2.0, which has been shrouded in controversy ever since the leak of Auditor General Terrance Bastian’s scathing audit of its Small Homes Repair (SHR) initiative.

However, Mr Allen declined to elaborate on what issues he expects to be raised when he and Mrs Pratt finally appear before the PAC.

Last week, PAC Chairman Hubert Chipman said a September 17 date has been set for Mrs Pratt and Mr Allen to give an account for the controversial operations of Urban Renewal’s SHR programme.

Mr Chipman said he has provided Mr Allen with verbal notice of the committee’s intent. He said a formal notice was to follow in the days ahead.

“We are more than happy that this torturous process is finally coming to a sensible conclusion, because at the very beginning we maintained that the process had not been properly founded, grounded, that there was unconstitutionality,” Mr Allen said yesterday. “Now that that has been solved, now that the Constitution is being followed in relation to this matter, we are happy to be part and parcel of this constitutional exercise which will only strengthen our democracy.”

When questioned on his and Mrs Pratt’s position heading into next month’s meeting, Mr Allen said: “We do not want to be specific in relation to any of the matters which may be raised, because we want to preserve the integrity of the process. We believe that there’s been too much discussion which has gone on already in relation to this matter, and we do hope at the end of this exercise that the democracy will be stronger, that the Urban Renewal programme will be stronger and that there will be disciplined approach to the work of all parties, whether it is the office of the auditor general, offices of the PAC and indeed the Parliament of our country in relation to the transparency, the accountability, of institutions in our country to the Bahamian people.”

He added: “We have sought to keep it above the realm of politics. We do not wish politics to despoil, to contaminate the tremendous Christian work that Urban Renewal is doing. So we are seeking to downplay some of the excessive rhetoric, some of the inappropriate commentary which has been made in relation to this Urban Renewal and in relation to all parties involved, and let it maintain the dignity, the respect which will make it available to all Bahamians irrespective of politics, irrespective of race. That is what we are about.”

In April, Mr Bastian’s scathing report into Urban Renewal’s Small Homes Repair programme was leaked to the press and sparked months of heated debate over the management of Urban Renewal and possible abuses.

The PAC subsequently called for Mrs Pratt and Mr Allen to appear before a scheduled hearing with the group concerning the specifics of the audit. The co-chairs responded by saying that they could not make the meeting because of short notice and prior engagements.

In a letter, however, the co-chairs also said the audit was illegal because it had not gone through proper parliamentary channels and had not been tabled in Parliament.

Further pointing out that the report was incomplete, the co-chairs said they would appear before the PAC at an appropriate date only if the report was removed from the scope of questioning.

House Speaker Dr Kendal Major later ordered the PAC to “stay its hand” regarding the probe until the audit was tabled in the House of Assembly.

Last month, Prime Minister Perry Christie tabled the report, giving the PAC the green light to interview persons and send for people without interference in its Urban Renewal probe. Mr Christie said the government was prepared to facilitate the work of the PAC.

In June, it was revealed that the government commissioned its own independent report into Urban Renewal’s SHR project.

Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said the report was commissioned as a result of “areas of discrepancy” in Mr Bastian’s report on Urban Renewal.

That report, which was also tabled last month, found that the first phase of the SHR programme received value for money and contradicted areas of Mr Bastian’s audit.