By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis defended his administration’s proposed Prospect Ridge housing project after Transport and Housing Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis said her tech team recommended it be left alone.

Dr Minnis responded to the minister’s comments about the project, which the former Prime Minister said yesterday was “dear” to him.

“The Prospect Ridge (project), we’ve designed it, done the environmental impact studies — the 83 acres — we’ve transferred over to the Crown. We were gonna develop it into upscale because that’s an upscale community. We had discussions with the banks. There were 1,000—1,500 individuals that applied; 900 of them had already been approved by the financial sector for excess of $200,000 and the land is theirs,” he said.

“Now I heard the minister said that ‘oh the infrastructure.’ I’ve been involved in construction and development. I was involved in development when the Balmoral project was going on. The minister said that the Balmoral infrastructure was $25m. She was misinformed. I was intimately involved. The Balmoral infrastructure was $6m and if you take the cost of living increase the Prospect (project) would only be 12-14 - we place it at 16 (million).

“We had placed the fees at $40,000-$50,000. We were given all the tax exemptions for the young people to get them started because you must remember it’s their land. It’s not my land. Prospect is theirs. I prefer to see it in their hands as opposed to somebody (else’s). Some shark come along later and take it as we see in many instances.

“Now they may have a different perspective and they may have alternative views or they may have other motives for this property, but I will do all I can to ensure that and similar property goes into the hands of the young people for upliftment. The 40,000 we probably would’ve dropped that. We would’ve dropped especially with the inflation and the cost of living increasing we would’ve dropped the 40 to an even lower price.”

Mrs Coleby-Davis previously branded the Prospect Ridge subdivision for young professionals an “election ploy” and noted that no master plan, feasibility study, and topography were done for the housing project.

Yesterday, Dr Minnis also brought up issues with the housing project in the Carmichael area which was envisioned during the last Progressive Liberal Party administration. The Davis administration said about 365 lots are available in the area under the government’s housing initiative.

He said: “Carmichael was first envisioned by the PLP and we took Carmichael up — development I think of 365 lots I believe and we did it in phases. First phase I think was 107 lots. We put in the infrastructure. The PLP without putting in the proper infrastructure that should have been done had already commenced construction in the Carmichael constituency.

“They’d built four homes. You all don’t know this, but they had constructed four homes. They were built in (an) inadequate environment below road level and below sea levels. Those homes were condemned. Those homes could not be utilised because they would’ve been in a flood zone. That was their original programme. We subsequently had built up the road and put in the infrastructure. Once we built up the road, we realised those homes were way below the road.

“So they want to embark on a different type of programme that we had. We had a programme where we were gonna allow the young people to purchase the land and then they built everything duty-free.”

Dr Minnis said he will keep close watch on who are selected for homeownership under the government’s initiative to ensure there is no political favouritism.

“Individuals had applied for the land in Carmichael. They were police, defence force, teachers, health workers, other members in the private sector, civil servants, etc - they were approved.

“We’re watching that list to ensure that they do not take those individuals off to make it a political list. I went through that when I campaigned — and check the records — in 2007 in Dignity (Gardens). Individuals were handpicked; that is not a society we want to live in. We want a society where that transparent and individuals are selected on their merits not their politics… so we have that list. Thirty individuals were already approved, financially approved by the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation.

“We have that list and we’re watching and if the PLP try to deviate to bring in individuals for political reasons I will table that list in Parliament that were approved and that were financially approved.”