The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE impact of the government’s “11th hour” bid to institutionalise the Urban Renewal 2.0 programme will not be fully realised until next term, according to Urban Renewal Commission Co-Chair Algernon Allen.

Just months away from a general election, Mr Allen acknowledged that the optics of the government’s tabling of the Urban Renewal Authority Bill, which will empower the proposed statutory body to grant loans, could be tinged by claims of political expediency.

However, the co-chair recalled assurances given to him by Prime Minister Perry Christie that he would not be used as a “tool of political chicanery,” and pointed to the character strength of fellow Co-Chair Cynthia “Mother” Pratt and his own fundamental principles.

“I hate to fall back on a tired, overused adage but it’s better late than never,” Mr Allen said.

“I do believe that this particular Authority will come into its fullness in the next administration, whether it is the Free National Movement or the Progressive Liberal Party, if the FNM chooses to, and I do believe they will see the value of this.

“Any administration ought to see the value of putting this in proper legislative form, and it will come into its fullness in the next term because really we have five months to go before the next general election and that will go almost in the twinkling of an eye.”

Mr Allen maintained that successive administrations have pursued social initiatives that embody the philosophy of urban renewal, but in an “ad-hoc” manner.

“We are now seeking,” he said, “albeit in the 11th hour, to properly shape it and to properly crystallise all of the objectives over the many years which several administrations have pursued, in a coherent and structured pattern while maintaining the social and philosophical thrust of it.”

Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis tabled legislation to transform the Urban Renewal programme into an independent, statutory authority with the ability to grant loans for small home repairs and social projects on Monday.

It gives the minister with responsibility for Urban Renewal, in this case Mr Davis, the ability to designate an urban community by order.

Yesterday, Mr Davis met with Mr Allen and Mrs Pratt to discuss regulations that will accompany the new bill, such as caps on the amount of funding granted by the Authority. Asked whether he felt the introduction of loans was the right move for the fledgling statutory body, Mr Allen said: “The proof of the pudding will be in the eating, that is why you will find that the authority in terms of its financial provisions and the auditing and the accounting, it’s very exacting.

“We should be able to defend against criticism once the appropriate personnel are put in place.

“I’m convinced that [the bill] represents the coming age of the programme, the institutionalisation of the programme and it also represents the crystallisation of the programme,” he said, “in a form of accountability transparency and regulation which can assure that public funds are appropriately expended, that public works are properly identified, and that the methodologies employed in so doing are acceptable in the broad scheme of correct public policies and procedures.”

The Authority will be required to submit an annual report to the minister no later than September 30 that details the body’s activities over that year, and expands on the accomplishments and challenges encountered in the execution of short, medium and long-term goals.

That report should be tabled in both the Lower and Upper House, and gazetted no later than three months after it was received by the minister.

The bill also mandates that the Authority’s accounts be audited within three months after the end of each financial year.

It comes on the heels of the damning report by the Public Accounts Committee, which found that the programme was “severely lacking in accountability” with “minimal fiscal safeguards,” and last year’s report by Auditor General Terrance Bastian that highlighted a litany of concerns and weaknesses related to the project’s management and expenditure.

Following the publication of PAC report, Mr Allen told The Tribune that the co-chairs were preparing a response to the criticisms levelled in both the majority and minority report on the programme. While it was originally reported that the response would be aimed at discrediting the work of the PAC, Mr Allen said yesterday that he was alluding to the impending URA legislation.

“I could not at the time appropriately divulge that a bill would be tabled by the minister because that was not my call, and it would have been premature. When I said we would be responding to that, the response was the Urban Renewal Authority Bill.

“It is the appropriate response to the PAC, to the auditor general and it takes into account many of the considerations and the concerns of all those bodies.”

Mr Allen yesterday congratulated “all who laboured in the visage of this young democracy, the government, the opposition, the PAC and the media, whose input and vigilance have shaped this landmark bill.”