Richard Lightbourn, member of Parliament for Montagu and member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said yesterday the committee has to stand by the report of the auditor general until it is able to analyze the Technical Evaluation Report for Small Home Repairs (Phase I), tabled by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works Philip Brave Davis in the House of Assembly.

“That’s the report that was provided to the government, and so that is the one we need to rely on,” said Lightbourn.

“Now this further report they (the government) have obtained, I have no idea of the specifics. We have to find out what was stated [in the report] and compare it with the report of the auditor general.”

During his communication, Davis tabled the report and said he commissioned Island Dimensions & Development Co. Ltd and J. D. Chisholm & Associates to conduct an independent report to verify the quality of repair works that were completed under the Urban Renewal Small Home Repairs Programme (SHR) to determine whether there was value for money and to make any recommendations to improve efficiencies for further consideration.

Davis said the report revealed almost 94.2 percent of all repair works was completed when set against the intended scope of works and, in some instances, contractors went beyond the scope of works. Prime Minister Perry Christie tabled the auditor general’s report last week.

According to the report, leaked to The Guardian in April, Auditor General Terrance Bastian found that there was a lack of accountability, transparency and due diligence in the management of the SHR program, its execution and the quality of work done.

He also found that 11 contractors were paid $171,000 for work that was either incomplete or never done.

The leak sparked controversy around the program.

House Speaker Dr. Kendal Major had directed the PAC to “stay its hand” in relation to any investigation surrounding the auditor general’s report. He ruled that because the report had not been tabled in the House, the PAC could not take “cognizance of the report”. He determined that it was up to the House to decide whether it wished to cause the report to be tabled.

Major made his decision after an opinion from the Office of the Attorney General said the PAC’s investigation into Urban Renewal was “legally improper”.

A copy of the opinion was given to Major on April 22. The opinion said the course of action taken by the PAC in summoning the Urban Renewal co-chairs, after they refused to appear before the PAC, was legally improper because the auditor general’s report had not been laid before the House.

PAC Chairman Hubert Chipman told The Nassau Guardian on Tuesday that he expects the committee to complete its investigation into Urban Renewal next month and table its report in the House of Assembly before September.