THE fate of Urban Development Corporation (UDC) general manager Joy Douglas was hanging in the balance yesterday as board members discussed a series of developments that have brought unfavourable publicity to the State-run agency.

A highly placed source in the UDC told the Observer that speculation started to mount that Douglas, who sits on the board, was in trouble when she was asked to leave this month’s meeting of directors on Wednesday.

“The meeting went on for a long time after she departed,” the source said, adding that the majority of board members have grown dissatisfied with Douglas’s management style.

Douglas and the UDC were thrust into the public spotlight in August this year when the media reported her as saying that plans were afoot to forcibly acquire the church-owned Nuttall Hospital lands near Cross Roads.

The reports sparked a mini stand-off with the Anglican church community.

However, a few weeks later, Douglas told Observer reporters and editors at the newspaper’s weekly Monday Exchange that the UDC has since “met with the Anglicans and disabused them of any misunderstanding they may have had”.

“We have cemented our good relations so there will be further engagement in the public between ourselves and the Anglicans, so the whole society can see that there is no problem between the UDC and the Anglican church,” she said.

Last week, the UDC was again in the news, this time for the sale of 23 acres of beachfront property at Little Bloody Bay in Hanover.

The Public Administration and Appropriations Committee of Parliament (PAAC) argued that the property was sold for much less than it was valued.

Angrey PAAC members summoned the agency to appear before the committee to answer questions about the sale.

In the latest controversy, the UDC was scolded by the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) for agreeing to sell a property at 35 West Parade in downtown Kingston to Bashco Trading Company without advertising the property.

Yesterday, the UDC said it would be withdrawing the sale offer, a decision that was hailed by Contractor General Greg Christie, who said the corporation has demonstrated that it is at least prepared to be held accountable for its admitted breaches of the rules and to implement the requisite corrective measures which will ensure probity in its handling of the matter in the interest of the country’s taxpayers.

Said Christie: “The OCG has consistently encouraged public bodies which have breached the contracting guidelines and laws to move with expedition to proactively correct the process rather than to persist in the breach.”

But late yesterday evening, Bashco Chairman Gassan Azan said he had sent the matter to his lawyers.

Azan said his attorneys have been instructed to take all legal measures to protect the company’s interest as investors and developers of the West Parade property, which, he said, could place his $31.4-million investment in the property at risk.

“As chairman and CEO of Bashco Limited, I have an enviable record of investment, development and job creation in downtown Kingston. We currently own and operate a major consortium of enterprises located downtown and over the years have invested millions of dollars in the development of the area.

“For us at Bashco, investing in downtown is good business and provides an opportunity to contribute to a fundamental plank of Jamaica’s urban development. Our investment in the property at 35 West Parade was to facilitate a major redevelopment project which would create significant economic opportunity for the community and an expansion of our business operations.”

The Bashco boss said that in making the proposal to the UDC for the acquisition of the property, the company had scrupulously followed the steps outlined and is now awaiting a response from his lawyers on the matter.

The decision of the UDC to withdraw the planned divestment of the property to Bashco, which was communicated in writing to the OCG on Wednesday, followed a recommendation by that office on October 13 for the UDC to “immediately terminate the arrangement with Bashco Trading Company Limited, and advertise the property in keeping with the strictures and requirements of the Government of Jamaica Privatisation Policy and Procedures”.