Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter

( L - R ) Evans, Davies

The Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) could be giving up millions of dollars to persons who are living on and operating businesses free on its lands.

The KSAC yesterday admitted that it has no record of how much land it owns, where these are located, and the only person who had this information died several years ago, taking the records to his grave with him.

Acting Town Clerk Lincoln Evans made the disclosure while responding to questions during a sitting of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday.

The PAC was probing the circumstances under which the KSAC was owed more than $1 million in rent.

Unsuccessful attempt to collect

But Evans moved the discussion into a wider area when he admitted that it was unlikely that the corporation could collect approximately $960,000 of this amount.

According to Evans, one person had been evicted from a KSAC property, but it has been determined that he has no asset that could be seized to pay the outstanding amount.

In the other case, efforts to collect the outstanding rent from another tenant have been unsuccessful.

Evans said in several cases, persons are living on KSAC lands with no formal rent or lease agreement and efforts to implement agreements are proving difficult.

"In some cases, the agreements have been drafted, but the Finance Committee could not agree on the level of rental to be charged," Evans said.

"It's not a matter of rent-free, but there is no agreement in place," the acting town clerk told PAC chairman, Dr Omar Davies.

Evans said this was a problem the KSAC has grappled with for several years.

He admitted that lawyers representing the KSAC were finding it difficult to prepare lease agreements because there was nothing to confirm that the council actually owns the lands.

"We are doing title searches to establish ownership of some of these properties. If we establish ownership, then the lease agreements are going to be prepared," Evans added.

No record of property

PAC members appeared stunned during this exchange involving Dr Davies and the acting town clerk:

Davies: "How many pieces of property you own? You don't know?"

Evans: "No, I don't, but it's quite a lot."

That prompted Davies to disclose that there was a gentleman who reached retirement age, but was kept on at the KSAC because he was the only person who had an idea of which properties were owned by the corporation.

Evans admitted that this was true, but also disclosed that the man had died and had no successor.

He said the KSAC has established a new committee to set up a property register. "We are going to look through the titles that we currently have and we are seeking the assistance of the commissioner of lands."

But that did not satisfy government member of the PAC, Laurie Broderick. "I'm really appalled that the corporation could be running its business that way and the greatest asset any business could have is its real estate."

The PAC closed the matter by instructing the KSAC to take immediate steps to address the deficiency.

arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com

... defends its decision to spend $6 million on PR

The Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) has defended its decision to spend more than $6 million on public relations over two years.

The corporation yesterday rejected claims that the expenditure was unreasonable, while standing by its decision not to offer the projects for public tender.

Acting Town Clerk Lincoln Evans was responding to concerns raised by the auditor general in his 2004-2005 report.

The auditor general had reported that there was no evidence that the necessary competitive price quotations were sought and that the money spent on the services seemed excessive.

Evans told Parliament's Public Accounts Committee that just over $1 million was paid to a journalist attached to a local media house who wrote press releases, speeches and messages for Kingston Mayor Desmond McKenzie.

In justifying its decision to offer the reporter the job without competitive tender, the KSAC said the choice was based on his ability to capture the style and nuances of the speaker in making the desired impact on a target audience.

Evans later told The Gleaner that the money charged by the journalist was not excessive.

It was a similar story as the acting town clerk sought to justify the KSAC's spending of $2.8 million for photography over the two years and $2.6 million for videography.