Miller, Mitchell at odds over NHT board report submission

The Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister has contradicted claims by former chairman of the National Housing Trust, Howard Mitchell, that he submitted board reports to the Office.

The issue of the submission was raised at today's meeting of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, where chairman, Audley Shaw, questioned the accountability framework in relation to the Outameni affair.

Onika Miller, the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister said she was stunned to hear Mitchell claiming in a radio interview that he submitted minutes during his 2008 to 2011 tenure as NHT chairman.

She noted that since November 2009 no board minutes were submitted.

Miller also noted that she only received extracts of minutes for matters she had to bring to the attention of the portfolio minister, a practice which occurred in the current and previous administrations.

Meanwhile, in an interview with The Gleaner/Power 106 News Centre this afternoon, Mitchell said he was standing by his comments that reports of board meetings were submitted to the Prime Minister's office during his tenure.

The NHT is under the portfolio responsibility of the Office of the Prime Minister.