PM rejects 'baseless' AuG findings on social housing programme

By Clinton McGregor    

 

Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness has described as baseless, an Auditor General's report criticising the government's various welfare programmes.

 

In the report tabled in Parliament this week, the Auditor General (AuG) raised questions about possible duplications and corruption in the government social housing programme.

 

But speaking in Montego Bay on Friday, Prime Minister Holness said he rejected assertions by the Auditor General about the New Social Housing Programme.

 

"The New Social Housing Programme does not give building grants. Building grants are done by another unit within the Ministry of Housing and it is also done by the CDF. All of these units collaborate. In fact, the New Social Housing Programme constructs houses on behalf of various other entities. For example, [it] collaborates with the efforts in the Ministry of Local Government to build Victoria Palms. There are some houses to be built in West Central St. Andrew, my constituency, and they are collaborating. So this notion that somehow the public interest is being defeated by there being multiple windows is absolute nonsense," said the prime minister. 

 

Dr. Holness defended the programme which provides housing to vulnerable people, noting that more than 300 units have been delivered so far.

 

"We intend to expand the rate of delivery and we have done so without any hint of any misallocation, misappropriation, without any form of corruption. So we pay very close attention to the report of the Auditor General."

 

While he acknowledged the Auditor General's "constitutional duty to report on government expenditure", the prime minister maintained that the government rejects the findings of the report. 

 

"I wish to reassure the public that we have administered the programme and structured the programme in such a way that we follow all the regulations that are required," he insisted. 

 

Dr. Holness was speaking at a handing over ceremony for five houses under the New Social Housing Programme.