By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest yesterday called an audit in the Urban Renewal Commission’s Small Homes Repair programme “concerning,” and said it highlights a “number of structural weaknesses” in the government initiative.

Mr Turnquest, who also sits on the House of Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee, said the audit conducted by Auditor General Terrence Bastian is something that should “really raise eyebrows” and “give us all concern” as to how taxpayers’ money has been spent and whether they got value for their money.

The SHR programme, which exists primarily to repair homes for the elderly, unemployed and the disabled in inner city communities, was criticised as lacking in “due diligence, level of transparency and accountability,” as well as having too many “gaps” in its execution, quality of work done, and overall management.

Ultimately, the report concluded that contrary to its fundamental mandate, homes were repaired “where occupants were not elderly, disabled, or unemployed.”

“There’s a number of issues that this report raises that we’re well into,” Mr Turnquest said. “Some of the things that we have discovered thus far have certainly given us a lot of concern, and this is the reason why we’re still in the process of interviewing various agency officials and employees to try and see exactly what has happened and to see whether there is any gross misconduct involved.

“We’re very concerned about it because it highlights a number of structural weaknesses in the government’s entire programme. And when you see the report you will see that (Mr Bastian) has some comments to make that really would raise eyebrows and give us all concern as to how this money has been spent and whether in fact the Bahamian people got value for their money.”

The report, which was compiled based on a study for the period July 1, 2012 to September 30, 2014, revealed that contracts for the repair of small homes in New Providence totalling $10,000 or more were issued to contractors without proof of ministerial approval.

The report revealed that an approval letter from Works and Urban Development Minister Philip “Brave” Davis did not accompany contracts issued to contractors, and neither were officials able to ascertain if there was a financial ceiling in place for small home repairs.

The report also revealed that 11 contractors were paid $171,000 to conduct repairs, but upon onsite inspections conducted by the auditor general, it was revealed that little to no work was done at all.

Additionally, the report revealed that close to $90,000 was paid to a consulting group to conduct individual home inspections prior to the completion of repairs without confirmation of how many homes were actually inspected, and without knowledge of whether or not the consultant’s seal was on each certificate of completion.

The audit also revealed that contractors were not required to have all-risk insurance to receive contracts, and were only required to have proof of paid national insurance contributions and a valid business license.

The filing system in place for documenting the aforementioned transactions was “not adequately maintained”, according to the report, which added that a proper inventory system was “not fully in place or maintained”.

The report concluded by criticising the programme for its lack of “due diligence, level of transparency and accountability” as it revealed too many “gaps” that were critical to the process.

Mr Turnquest, who has previously raised concerns about Urban Renewal, along with PAC Chair Hubert Chipman, told The Tribune yesterday that the PAC would continue to investigate the concerns raised in the report, with a formal announcement on the PAC’s findings to be issued in the House of Assembly within the next two weeks.

“We’ve been investigating,” he said. “This report was actually done as a result of a request from the PAC. We have been actively engaged in interviewing various individuals from the Urban Renewal SHR department, trying to source the validity of some of the claims and trying to follow the process as to how some of the things that have happened actually happened so we can make recommendations on how to plug them.

“This week, we will be meeting with the two coordinators for the programme. We certainly hope to be able to issue a report at the latest next week when the (House of Assembly) sits again.”

According to the audit, phase one of the SHR programme began in November 2013. A total of 312 homes were repaired during this phase at a cost of $3.2m, according to the report.

The auditor general surveyed 75 homes for the audit.

In February, URC Co-Chair Algernon Allen said Urban Renewal spent $2m during phase two of the SHR programme. He said over the ensuing five months, Urban Renewal would repair 200 more homes at an estimated cost of another $2m.

Shortly thereafter, however, Mr Turnquest said he was not satisfied the programme was fulfilling its mandate. At the time, he said there needed to be more scrutiny over Urban Renewal’s spending.