THE NATIONAL Housing Development Corporation (NHDC) says it has asked Danwills Construction Ltd. to stop work on two controversial NHDC/Operation PRIDE sites.
These are the St. Benedict's and Morant Farms projects, in east Kingston and St. Thomas, respectively. In relation to the St. Benedict's project and one at Melbrook, Harbour View, east Kingston, the NHDC said a technical review of the two schemes was being undertaken in "an effort to discharge the NHDC's responsibilities to the beneficiaries and to determine the future viability of the projects."
It added that the review was being done by new consultants brought in for the purpose.
The NHDC made the disclosure in a statement which followed charges made by Edward Seaga, the Jamaica Labour Party leader, that a contractor connected to the governing People's National Party had fraudulently collected more than $341 million under government's low-income housing projects.
Mr. Seaga identified the contractor as Danwills Construction LTD, owned by
PNP activist Danhai Williams.
In a statement on Monday, Mr. Seaga called on Kent Pantry, Q.C., Director of Public Prosecutions, to act promptly on investigations done by the Fraud Squad into the NHDC/Operation PRIDE housing projects.
The schemes he referred to were St. Benedict's, $161.2 million; Melbrook, $168.1 million; and Riverton, $11.7 million.
He added that a fourth project, Morant Farms, was not an approved project, even though $35 million was paid out to Danwills Construction. According to him, $12 million of the $35 million was for materials delivered off site which could not be substantiated.
According to the NHDC's statement, a complete overhaul of the planning for the Morant Farms project had been done. It added that approvals for the project had been completed and tendering would be done in accordance with guidelines set out by the National Contracts Commission.
Controversy has dogged the Operation PRIDE schemes for more than a year, after allegations arose that the low-income housing project was being loosely managed, opening up a floodgate of corruption.
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson set up a commission to probe the projects.
The report of the commission revealed that there was gross mismanagement and
corruption in the administration of the Operation PRIDE projects. Based on their
findings, the commissioners recommended that a forensic audit be carried out
on certain projects. They recommended also that police investigations into allegations
of fraud, with respect to the Morant and St. Benedict's projects, be continued.
