Prime minister updated on UDC saga

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

ON his first official day behind his brand new desk as head of Government at the Office of the Prime Minister, Andrew Holness turned his attention to the troubled Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and its controversial divestment of assets.

A release from his office yesterday noted that Prime Minister Holness was being updated on the matter, particularly the divestment of property at 35 West Parade in downtown Kingston, which has been the subject of several news reports and public debate.

The prime minister, who is reportedly seeking a better understanding of the issues, has also been in consultation with the attorney general, the contractor general and the Chairman of the UDC Board.

Holness inherited the problems at the UDC when he assumed his lofty new position on Sunday as the agency falls under the prime minister's Cabinet portfolio.

Yesterday, in the latest development at the state-run agency, civil engineer Desmond Arnold Young was appointed acting general manager, replacing Joy Douglas, whose handling of the divestment of the West Parade property came under scrutiny by the UDC board last week.

Douglas was suspended last Friday to facilitate a probe into the corporation's management practice and procedures, which was triggered by a series of controversial and highly publicised events involving the UDC.

The first occurred in August this year when the media reported Douglas as saying that the UDC had plans to forcibly acquire the Anglican Church-owned Nuttall Hospital lands near Cross Roads.

A few weeks later, Douglas told the Observer that the UDC had cleared up any "misunderstanding they may have had".

Two weeks ago, the UDC was publicly lashed by a parliamentary committee over the sale of 23 acres of beachfront property at Little Bloody Bay in Hanover.

The Public Administration and Appropriations Committee argued that the property was sold for much less than it was valued and summoned the UDC to appear before it to explain why.

In the most recent controversy, the UDC was criticised by the Office of the Contractor General for agreeing to sell a property at 35 West Parade in downtown Kingston to Bashco Trading Company without first advertising it.

On Thursday, the UDC said it would be withdrawing the sale offer. But Bashco chairman Gassan Azan said he had instructed his attorneys to take all legal measures to protect his company's interests as investors and developers of the West Parade property, which, he said, could place his $31.4-million investment in the property at risk.

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Prime minister updated on UDC saga