Former Minister of Public Works and Transport Neko Grant said yesterday that a commission of inquiry into the handling of the New Providence Road Improvement Project (NPRIP) would only be a waste of public funds. "During the budget debate I advised Parliament and in particular the deputy prime minister and minister of public works and urban development (Philip Brave Davis) that the same technical team that advised me as minister would be the same technical team that would be advising him unless he fired them all," Grant said.

"At the time I also noted that I didn't think he was brave enough to do so. "Having been in that position for several months now he's been up to date as to what has happened and what is expected to happen. He knows that a commission of inquiry will be a waste of the public funds. There's nothing to inquire about."

Grant was responding to comments made by Davis who said that he still supports a commission into the NPRIP. "I think the call for that is with the prime minister himself," said Davis last week. "But if you ask me, I still support an inquiry, not only for the road project, but for the whole system of management that was engaged in by the previous administration." On the campaign trial, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) slammed the Ingraham administration for its handling of the road project, which is $93 million over budget.

Davis said the project was poorly managed and announced that he would push for the appointment of a commission of inquiry within the first 100 days of a PLP government. Davis also noted that the Ministry of Public Works will commission a study on the design of all the roads that fall under the NPRIP.

"So there are a lot of challenges with the accommodation works, and it is the intent that once the roads are turned over to us there will be a study done on road usage, and whatever needs to be corrected will be corrected," Davis said last week. Grant said it's just rhetoric. "The roads have been built and designed to internationally accepted standards," he said. "We couldn't construct them if that was not the case with funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)."

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