The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Deputy Leader K Peter Turnquest yesterday challenged the government to table the Auditor General’s report on the Urban Renewal programme.

Mr Turnquest said the relevant ministers should table the bill so that the Public Accounts Committee can continue its investigation if there was nothing to hide. He said that the current roadblock was indicative of basic procedural issues.

As the government represented the majority of the lower House, he believed it would be impossible to get approval for any investigation in a timely fashion.

“That would be the easiest thing to do,” he said, “again from our point of view it is not necessary that it is tabled, but since the Speaker has made the ruling that would be the easiest way to proceed. If they have nothing to fear as they say, then they can just table the report.”

“We intend to press on,” he said, “whether we are permitted or allowed to summon the two Urban Renewal co-chairs will be a matter for the House to decide at some point. Regardless of that the Speaker has made it very clear that he has asked us to stay our hands from the Auditor General’s report, but that does not preclude us from looking into other matters of Urban Renewal, like how the organisation is ran and how public funds are used.“

Mr Turnquest said: “Irrespective of the report we still have a tremendous amount of work that we can do and will do.”

Last week, House Speaker Dr Kendal Major ordered the PAC to “stay its hand” regarding its probe of Urban Renewal 2.0 until Parliament can decide on the way forward.

He said in seeking legal advice from the Office of the Attorney General, he was informed that while the PAC possesses the power to send for persons, papers and records, the committee is only allowed to do so by way of a resolution in the House of Assembly.

He added that the Office of the Attorney General had also advised that the PAC is confined to examining only documents that are tabled in Parliament.

In a later interview, Dr Major explained that the PAC should have the powers to operate freely but, he said, this can only happen within a certain framework.

He said there will be no further deliberation or consultation on his part into this case, adding that he remains optimistic that the government and its relevant ministers will table the documents which the PAC needs to carry out its work.

When asked whether he would support the tabling of the UR report, MP for West End and Bimini Obie Wilchcombe said he did not see the need to change the rules of the House to accommodate the PAC’s misstep.

He said that the committee was a respected body in the lower House that was guided by set rules that should be respected and adhered to.

“The PAC has work to do and they are a respected body in the House, and one of the reasons democracy works is that you have a PAC chaired by the Opposition,” Mr Wilchcombe said. “Why change the rules of the House now? It’s worked over the past decade, it continues to uphold relevance, we have to get away of doing things for immediacy or political agenda. I support the PAC doing its work, there are rules and whatever they are, it will have to be respected and obeyed.”

According to Mr Turnquest, the three opposition PAC members are still focused on the way forward and obtaining legal advice.

He said the committee was one of the primary checks that the public has over the actions of its government, and had the duty to act as a watchdog to ensure that public funds are spent only as authorized.

“We are confident that we have acted within the rules of the House as well as within the constitution,” Mr Turnquest said, “so we will seek further clarification from the Speaker on his ruling to lay out the facts not only to this current situation, but to define clearly the standard operating procedure of the PAC so in the future we don’t incur this kind of misunderstanding.”

“It’s important that the PAC has as wide a power as possible within the constitution to execute its oversight function,” he added.