Public Accounts Committee Not Casting Blame

Chairman Easton Farrell-Taylor says the role of the Public Accounts Committee is not to cast blame.

He says the PAC is an oversight body charged with the responsibility of ensuring that public funds are spent effectively, efficiently and economically for the benefit of the public.

Mr. Taylor Farrell was speaking a recent public hearing into a government-constructed house on Davy Hill that remained unoccupied for several years.

The house was built for Mr. Alfred Murphy Edwards and his family, who were to be relocated from Carrs Bay.

Committee Chairman, Honourable Easton Farrell Taylor explained that the purpose of the hearing was to, among other things, establish why the house remained unoccupied for up to four years after construction, and to make recommendations on how this occurrence could be avoided in the future.”

Several witnesses appeared before the committee including the current Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Lands Housing and the Environment Euline Silcott Greaves, and former PS’s in the ministry Daphne Cassell and Camille Gerald.

The discussion for the most part focused on a settlement package for Mr. Murphy which reached an impasse with the Montserrat Development Corporation. 

There were two options: the government paying for the area occupied, which is  4, 949 square feet, at the entrance of Little Bay or construct a dwelling house to the maximum value of three thousand dollars in exchange for any interest Edwards would have acquired in the property

The final draft of the agreement to facilitate the transfer of land was completed in September 2014.

However, the house remained unoccupied until 2019, when an arrangement was put in place in response to a housing need.