THE National Executive Council (NEC) of the ruling People’s National Party (PNP) has urged the Government to urgently implement the recommendations of the Angus Commission on the National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC) and its Operation PRIDE programme.

The commission, which was appointed by Prime Minister P J Patterson in February to probe the operations of the NHDC, last week reported widespread irregularities, cost overruns and meddling by the portfolio minister, Karl Blythe, in the management of the PRIDE projects.

Blythe has since been replaced by Patterson who named former labour minister, Donald Buchanan, the new minister of water and housing, while the NHDC board has resigned and the permanent secretary in the ministry, Thorant Hardware, has announced that he would be going on retirement leave at the end of the month.

At the same time, the PNP NEC, the party’s second highest decision-making body, said that it was confident in Operation PRIDE as a vehicle to enable ordinary Jamaicans to purchase land so as to provide decent shelter for themselves and their families.

“This is reinforced by the observation of the Angus Commission that Operation PRIDE is a worthwhile programme that should be continued with the appropriate modifications,” the NEC said in a statement Monday night.

The NEC also thanked Blythe for what it said was the “tremendous job done during his tenure as minister to deliver water and housing solutions”.

Meanwhile, Senator Kern Spencer has hailed the decision by Patterson to appoint Buchanan to the water and housing ministry.

Spencer, who was former executive assistant to Buchanan, said the new water and housing minister will be an asset to this ministry, adding that he is a man of unquestionable character and has a solid track record of performance.