The Christie administration never signed the lease agreement with the Seventh-day Adventist Church for use of the church's land upon which the $30 million STAR Academy was built, nor did it pay any rent or other money after more than two years of occupation, renovation and construction, Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd said in a statement yesterday.
The STAR Academy was the brainchild of former Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald and former Prime Minister Perry Christie for at-risk youth.
Lloyd met with senior officials of the Seventh-day Adventist Church on the matter.
"It was noted that, despite the fact that a lease agreement had been drawn up, the same had not been signed by the ministry after more than two years of occupation, renovation and construction on the site by the ministry," the statement said.
"Further, the church had not been paid any rent or received any other monies, nor was it in any manner involved with any financial transactions relating to the ministry's occupation, renovation and construction."
It added: "Pastor [Paul] Scavella (who heads the South Bahamas Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church) stated that the Seventh-day Adventist Church had only tried, in good faith, having been approached by the Ministry of Education, to assist in providing an identified venue to address the specific needs of the Ministry of Education.
"He further said that when it became apparent that the agreed scope of work was being extended without consultation by the ministry, he had intervened to stop further work until the matters were regularized."
Speaking during debate on the new budget last week, Minister of Public Works Desmond Bannister revealed that the Christie administration spent nearly $30 million on the STAR Academy, even though it did not own the land -- a matter he called a "fiasco".
He also suggested that former ministers may face legal action over it.
However, Opposition Leader Philip Brave Davis asserted that the arrangement did not amount to a waste of money.
"It is interesting that the minister (of education) neglected to mention that similar arrangements as this, contemplated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, was also concluded with a number of other churches, including the Catholic Church of which he is a part," Davis said.
"It is unfortunate that the minister has created controversy over a perfectly legitimate arrangement with the Seventh-day Adventist Church merely in an attempt to score cheap political points.
"The minister intentionally misled Parliament on many assertions about the school and left out many key facts behind the decision, such as the fact that there are actually two buildings on the property which the ministry will occupy, one of which is now complete and to be used as an administrative building, and the fact that when the school is complete it will also be the home of the technical cadets, who will use it in the afternoon, as they are being forced out of BTVI because of increased enrolment.
"Therefore, the completion of the school is of utmost importance to our troubled youth and the technical cadet program."
Davis said the question should be whether the arrangement can be justified by the overall contribution to society and whether the state receives value for money.
"Without question the answer to both is [yes]," he said.
"The minister must recognize the value of a holistic partnership with religious schools for the general betterment of our children.
"The subventions and partnerships provide immeasurable benefits to our society beyond the question of costs.
"Focusing on cost only is myopic and exposes the minister of education and his government's lack of appreciation of the ills of society, [rather than] how to address them in partnership with civil society.
"For our part, we would like to thank all churches, and in this instance, the Seventh-day Adventists, for their willingness to partner with the state in the overall education of our young people."

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