A PROJECT earmarked to cost more than $30 million, to be funded by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), in the East Central St James Constituency of Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, raised eyebrows yesterday, during an animated meeting of an oversight committee of Parliament.

A consultancy fee totalling $10 million to "oversee Milk River and Bath" was listed on a document as a proposed project to be financed by the TEF.

The paper, which was provided by the Ministry of Tourism, outlined various projects financed by the TEF. Some of the projects prompted committee member Ronald Thwaites to call for an adjournment of the meeting to allow for greater scrutiny of the information.

Chairman of the Public Admi-nistration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC), Wykeham McNeill, agreed with other committee members and brought the meeting to an end.

Agencies invited

Technocrats from the ministry and related agencies were invited to appear before the committee.

However, after rigorous questioning, the group was summoned to another meeting to provide clarification on the projects.

A $12.5-million allocation to refurbish a community centre and construct a "pathway" in Barrett Town, St James, and the allocation of another $21.5 million on a road repair project angered committee members, who questioned whether the TEF should be used for this purpose.

D.K. Duncan, a PAAC member, said there was tremendous pressure on all MPs to use their CDF (Constituency Development Fund) to carry out these types of projects.

Questions were also raised about the proceeds from the gas tax which were targeted at road repairs.

"It is not fair to the country and all of the electorate and the citizens if there is no parity and equity in the use of the (TEF) funds," said Duncan.

An exchange between the chairman of the committee and Gary Taylor, deputy executive director of the Tourism Product Development Company Limited (TPDCo), was revealing.

The TPDCo is responsible for the project.

$12.5m set aside

Taylor first told the committee that $12.5 million alone was set aside for a project.

McNeill later discovered that additional funds were allocated for another road project in Barrett Town.

Seconds of deafening silence prevailed after McNeill queried the other project in Barrett Town. Several technocrats scrambled for answers.

McNeil: "What has been done so far?"

Taylor: "Nothing has been done to date, no work has been done at Barrett Town, this is all proposed. It is going through the tender process"

However, after identifying that funds were disbursed for another project, an obviously agitated chairman charged: "We were just told that nothing was done in Barrett Town."

Earl Patrick, executive director of TPDCo, intervened, saying the project had started and the roads were in place and "the amount on that paper is correct".

Taylor later conceded that work had been done on the Barrett Town road but explained that it was a separate project from a community centre project.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com