The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

ST ANNE’S MP Hubert Chipman said yesterday that he would finally table the long-awaited Urban Renewal report completed by the Public Accounts Committee at the next sitting of the House of Assembly.

He had intended to table the report yesterday.

“It was our intention this morning, Mr Speaker, to present the majority Urban Renewal Commission report from the PAC,” he said.

“However, in speaking with the member for Golden Gates this morning, it is his intention to do a minority report which the committee has not had sight of. We’ve all agreed that at the next sitting, probably next week, once we have sight of the minority report (we will move) to make a presentation.”

However, last evening the House of Assembly adjourned until October 5.

Mr Chipman previously said he would make the findings of the PAC public by mid-March. The timeline, however, frequently got postponed.

In April 2015, a copy of Auditor General Terrance Bastian’s critical report into Urban Renewal’s Small Homes Repair programme was leaked to the press and sparked a debate over the management of Urban Renewal. The PAC has used the report for its investigation.

Mr Bastian highlighted a litany of concerns and weaknesses related to the Small Home Repairs project’s management and expenditure.

The audit revealed, for instance, that 11 contractors were paid more than $170,000 for small home repairs that were “not completed or done”.

The report also noted that there was no competitive bidding for the home repair contracts and the contractors were not required to have proof of all-risk insurance.

The Christie administration rejected the findings of the report and subsequently commissioned its own independent report into the project, citing “discrepancies” in Mr Bastian’s report.

Mr Chipman’s announcement yesterday comes days after former Cabinet minister George Smith criticised the PAC for the low volume of work it has performed this term.

Branding it the “worst” PAC in the country’s history, he said there is no excuse for its “impotence”.

The committee has three members from the Official Opposition and two representatives from the governing Progressive Liberal Party.

They include Mr Chipman, the committee’s chairman, FNM Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest, Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn and PLP members Elizabeth MP Ryan Pinder and Golden Gates MP Shane Gibson.