By Lynford Simpson, Staff Reporter
Shaw
THE JAMAICA Labour Party is today expected to ask Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Kent Pantry, to conduct a probe into the operations of the National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC).
They want specific attention to be paid to the Government's Operation PRIDE projects.
"It must be left up to the DPP to determine whether the Fraud Squad should be called in at this stage and not the work of some committee appointed by the Prime Minister," said Audley Shaw, Opposition Spokesman on Finance.
He was referring to Sunday's announcement by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson that he had appointed a four-man special investigative commission to probe the operations of the NHDC and Operation PRIDE.
The Prime Minister's intervention comes in the wake of allegations of corruption and multi-million dollar cost overruns and a $35 million overpayment at the two government agencies.
The public controversy erupted last Tuesday with the revelation by Mr. Shaw that all was not well at the NHDC where four senior officers were dismissed then ordered reinstated by Water and Housing Minister, Dr. Karl Blythe who has portfolio responsibility for the two agencies. The men were subsequently suspended with full pay pending an investigation.
At the same time, Christopher Honeywell, the NHDC's managing director, tendered his resignation. A replacement is now being sought.
Mr. Shaw pointed to the ten PRIDE sites which were the subjects of an audit ordered by the NHDC. The findings point to the possibility of $5.5 billion in cost overruns, if the work continued at the current pace. There are 110 PRIDE schemes islandwide.
He is convinced more than $1 billion in payment was made on the ten sites for work not done. "So we feel that the Auditor-General, and the DPP along with the Fraud Squad is what is needed now and not a long drawn out commission of enquiry," Shaw said. The committee which has been given six weeks to submit its report, began its work yesterday.
In the meantime, the Opposition spokesman has laid the blame squarely at the feet of the Prime Minister, who he said ignored the concerns raised by Auditor-General Adrian Strachan in a 1997 report on PRIDE schemes.
Mr. Strachan, in that report, pointed to "several instances" where payments made for work done "far exceeded the value of the agreements seen".
Mr. Shaw charged that neither Minister Blythe nor Michael Vaccianna, NHDC Chairman, were technically competent to draw any such conclusion that the report on the ten sites was flawed.
"As far as I'm concerned they need to separate themselves from any further analysis of these projects because they have a credibility problem".
Mr. Shaw alleged that Vaccianna had forced a member of staff to authorise a $14 million payment to Shamrock Ltd., to clear a site at Albion, St. Thomas last December.
The officer, one of the four who were suspended having authorised the payment reportedly wrote on the document "prepared under duress".
Vaccianna confirmed the payment but said the amount was $14.8 million for road works, excavation and earth works. The actual clearing of the site to make way for 400 house lots was $2.8 million.
The NHDC chairman explained that the certificate for payment was received in early November last year, but no payment had been made by December 24. He said the contractor called in desperation as he had workers to pay for the Christmas holidays.
"I instructed the officer to process the claim. I am told that the officer wrote 'under duress' on the thing when he signed it but I don't know what he means by that because I was telling him to go do his job," Vaccianna told The Gleaner.
He added that the provident society at Albion had contributed in excess of $7 million to the NHDC and that the contractor, Shamrock, had spent the $14.8 million from his own pocket. He charged that the officer had a history of favouring some contractors while others were made to wait months for payment. "It was against that background that I gave instructions for payment and quite frankly I would do it again," Vaccianna said.
