NHT: What secret deal?

THE EDITOR, sir:

WE REFER to your story on page A2 of the Sunday Gleaner dated April 7, 2013, which was penned by Senior News Editor Arthur Hall and appears with the headline: 'Secret deal: NHT paid $4b into gov't coffers last year'. The National Housing Trust (NHT) finds this allegation of a secret deal to be insulting to its integrity and record of good governance.

Without ascribing motive, we advise that the article is laced with inaccuracies which do a disservice to the National Housing Trust and the Government of Jamaica, both of whom have a duty of transparency in its reporting and accountability to the people of Jamaica. Furthermore, the article also does a disservice to the readers of the Gleaner newspaper who rely on you to report on the nation's business responsibly with integrity. Given the inaccuracies, which you can easily confirm through researching your own archives, we request a retraction of the headline and a correction of the story to remove the allegation that the NHT and/or the Government of Jamaica acted improperly.

Specifically, we remind you of the following:

Secret deal? On May 24, 2012, during his contribution to the 2012/2013 Budget Debate delivered in Parliament, Minister of Finance Dr Peter Phillips provided details of the agreement reached between the NHT and Government to make a special contribution of $4 billion.

Secret deal? The details of this special contribution were included in the Jamaica Public Bodies, Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure 2012-2013 which was tabled in Parliament in May 2012.

WIDELY REPORTED

Secret deal? The matter of this special distribution was widely reported in the press, including your newspaper, and in that regard we direct you to the following:

Gleaner article headlined 'NHT raided?', published on May 24, 2012 and written by your senior staff reporter Daraine Luton which stated: "The NHT is being called upon to contribute $4 billion dollars. Some $3 billion will come from outstanding taxes being paid over to the Government and $1billion will be in the form of infrastructure development for specified housing schemes."

Gleaner article contributed by columnist Martin Henry on May 27, 2012, headlined as 'CDF and the Budget' commented on the 'NHT raided?' story to say: "But then, as the story progressed, it turns out that the "raid" was a bit of a letdown, but could not be let go after the hype of expectation. And it was most reasonable after all, for 'some $3 billion will come from outstanding taxes being paid over to the Government and $1 billion will be in the form of infrastructure development for specified housing schemes'. The very thing the NHT was set up for".

Based on the foregoing which can be corroborated by your due diligence, we trust that the blunder contained in your article will be immediately addressed and that, contrary to Mr Hall's account, you will have no difficulty concluding that:

1. The information on the agreement was made public during the May 24, 2012 Budget address by the minister of finance.

2. There was no quiet withdrawal of NHT's funds by the Government of Jamaica.

3. The details of the contribution were contained in the Jamaica Public Bodies Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for 2012-2013 and also 2013-2014.

The National Housing Trust is committed to effective governance, integrity and transparency in all its dealings, and we will vigorously defend ourselves against any unsubstantiated claim to the contrary. We, therefore, respectfully ask that suitable steps be immediately taken to inform the public of your error in reporting, and that appropriate efforts be taken to erase the consequential suggestion that the NHT is managing its fiscal affairs without propriety and transparency.

A. CECILE WATSON

National Housing Trust

Managing Director