WESTERN BUREAU:
ALL THE agencies in the Ministry of Water and Housing are to be audited in detail from March 1, in the wake of allegations of a $35-million overpayment, and other irregularities at the National Housing Development Corporation, Kingston.
Dr. Karl Blythe, the Minister who is in charge of water and housing, in stating this yesterday at a news conference at Breezes Hotel, Montego Bay, denied allegations made by Audley Shaw, the JLP's spokesman on finance, of an overpayment of $35 million on an NHDC project, and called on Shaw to provide proof of the allegations.
Also, he denied that any interference by him had triggered the resignation of Christopher Honeywell as managing director of the National Housing Development Corporation, Ltd., which has its headquarters at 13 Caledonia Avenue, Cross Roads, Kingston 5.
Mr. Shaw had charged that Mr. Honeywell resigned his post after Dr. Blythe insisted that Warren Sibbles, the NHDC's chief technical director, be reinstated after Mr. Honeywell had fired him.
"This is unfounded, and it is very unfortunate that the opposition spokesman would have made this statement. At no time did I interfere in any matter or decision taken by the board or the managing director," Dr. Blythe stressed.
He read Mr. Honeywell's letter of resignation to the NHDC board, which cited "family and health reasons" as the causes for the resignation which takes effect on May 7.
Dr. Blythe said that Mr. Honeywell was not pressured to leave the NHDC, but that the board had advised him to take sick leave since he was not "feeling well."
He said that Mr. Honeywell did not dismiss Mr. Sibbles and Donovan Hill, project manager, and it was in fact the NHDC board which had fired them. Dr. Blythe admitted however, that he did suggest to the board that both men should be granted a hearing in the interest of "natural justice."
In response to questions, Michael Vaccianna, chairman of the NHDC board, said that both Mr. Hill and Mr. Sibbles were sent on leave because they were found to be negligent in their duties.
"In the case of Mr. Hill, by his own admission, he was not visiting sites which was one of his duties. Mr. Sibbles was in charge of monitoring cash flows and project budgets, and there were serious shortcomings in that area," Mr. Vaccianna said.
The hearings for Mr. Hill and Mr. Sibbles are scheduled for Tuesday. Both are still receiving full pay.
Dr. Blythe said that while he was not accusing Mr. Honeywell of any wrongdoing, the managing director had the ultimate responsibility to sign off on payments and as such would have to give some answers.
"I am not accusing anyone of criminal or unlawful acts. We are doing a detailed investigation and let the chips fall where they may. I would like to reserve my opinion of Honeywell until after the audit, but there are some interesting developments. Honeywell has many questions to answer," Dr. Blythe told the news conference.
Donovan Stanbury, the Ministry's chief technical director, has been named acting managing director of the NHDC.
Dr. Blythe said the audits were triggered by a preliminary assessment of an Operation Pride project, which brought out certain irregularities at the National Housing Development Corporation Ltd.
"This was not a technical assessment because there were many flaws in the way it was done. It was to give NHDC an idea whether or not we needed to conduct a proper audit of these sites and if they needed to get proper professionals to go out and look at the sites," Dr. Blythe explained.
He said the agencies have been instructed to conduct detailed audits of all projects, following which the ministry will be auditing the agencies.
According to Dr. Blythe, the figures in a report of the preliminary assessment of Morant Farms, an Operation Pride project in St. Thomas, could not be accepted as being accurate, as the persons who conducted it did not consult with the technical personnel involved with the project.
"The persons who did the assessment reported that they did not have access to technical information. I fail to see how anybody can go to a site most of these constructions started in '96 or '95 and can arrive at the value of work on ground, without holding discussions with the engineer, technical people, or the contractors. Thus, we cannot take the report as being accurate," Dr. Blythe said.
All agencies would have to get the written consent of the Permanent Secretary for any payment exceeding $4 million, Dr. Blythe said. In addition, any work exceeding $1 million in value also has to be approved in writing by the Permanent Secretary.
