Dear Editor,

I have noted an article appearing in the Jamaica Observer of Wednesday, November 19, 2014 in which it is stated: “When the Jamaica Labour Party used money from the Trust to purchase lands at Ferry the accusation of self-interest by the PNP was strong.” I wish to point out that the lands at Ferry were purchased not by the National Housing Trust (NHT) but by the Urban Development Corporation.

Further, contrary to the assertion made in a statement by the church groups yesterday that “successive governments have turned to the Fund to support national budgets or to fund projects offering political advantage”, no JLP Government has ever molested NHT funds. This practice started in 2002 when NHT funds were used to develop Emancipation Park. It recurred in 2005 when the NHT Act was amended to provide $5 billion for the education transformation programme. It was done again last year when the Act was further amended to allow for the take-off of $44 billion over four years to support the fiscal consolidation programme.

I protested on each occasion, suggesting that if resort to NHT funds was unavoidable, it should be done by way of a loan at interest rates comparable to the average return that the NHT earns from its investments (including its low-interest mortgages) so that it would become part of its investment portfolio.

In the alternative, especially if our debt limits do not permit this, the Government, which owns vast amounts of land, should transfer lands suitable for housing and of an equivalent value to the NHT. In that way, the integrity of the NHT funds and their use for the statutorily mandated purpose of providing housing for its contributors would have been preserved.

In 2008, the JLP Government sought to borrow, not to take, $45 million from the NHT to finance the drought-alleviation programme, but abandoned the idea after the board, led by Howard Mitchell, expressed its disquiet about the proposal.

Bruce Golding,

Former Prime Minister of Jamaica