The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

THE Public Accounts Committee will continue to hear testimony on Monday as it pushes toward completing its probe into the operations of Urban Renewal 2.0.

According to PAC Chairman Hubert Chipman, the committee’s work came to a halt yesterday after police were sent out to summon an Urban Renewal official who did not show up to be interviewed.

He said the official, who will appear before the committee on Monday at 11am, later showed up at the PAC hearing, claiming to have just returned to the island following a two-week trip overseas.

Urban Renewal Co-chairs Cynthia “Mother” Pratt and Algernon Allen are expected to be interviewed next Thursday.

On Wednesday, FNM Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest, who sits on the committee, said Auditor General Terrance Bastian’s report will take precedence in the investigations that were stopped nearly four months ago.

He said the PAC would not place much weight on the government’s independent report into the Small Home Repairs Programme (SHRP) once the questioning continued.

Insisting that the PAC’s scope extends further than just the SHRP, Mr Turnquest said members were eager to get back to work on addressing concerns related to all aspects of the government initiative, such as the Urban Renewal Foundation.

“The question is and what we hope to get some clarification on is value for money and whether in fact the projects that were completed were done in a structured and orderly matter,” Mr Turnquest said on Wednesday.

“Whether the money was appropriately spent in accordance with the announced guidelines for the programme.

“We’re focused primarily on the system to see what the weaknesses are, what structures and controls were put in place to rectify the deficiencies identified. To ensure that the government put the necessary controls in place so that we don’t have any further wastage – if in fact that has occurred, we’re not rushing to conclusions.”

He added: “We still have a number of questions to ask and avenues to investigate, including the whole concept of a foundation that seems to have been operating in a manner that we’re concerned about.”

The auditor general’s report covers the period of July 1, 2012, to September 30, 2014, and surveyed a sample of 75 homes. After the report was leaked to the media in April, the co-chairs refused to appear before a scheduled hearing with the PAC concerning the specifics of the audit.

Their refusal was ultimately supported by House Speaker Dr Kendal Major, who ordered the PAC to “stay its hand” regarding the probe until the audit had been tabled in Parliament.

The audit found a litany of concerns and weaknesses related to the Small Home Repairs project’s management and expenditure, and concluded that it was difficult to determine whether the government had received value for money.

Pointing out “areas of discrepancy” in the audit, Minister of Works Philip “Brave” Davis commissioned an independent study – tabled in the House of Assembly on July 22 – that determined the initiative’s first phase had received value for money, directly contradicting findings in the auditor general’s report.