Still no rent - Transport minister not paying up for controversial Millsborough property
Published:Sunday | April 24, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Tyrone Reid, Sunday Gleaner Reporter
CABINET HAS granted approval for the transfer of the controversial house occupied by Transport Minister Mike Henry, for which he has not been paying rent, from the Port Authority to the commissioner of lands.
A government source told The Sunday Gleaner at the weekend that the minister has still not paid any money as rental for the state-owned property he has occupied for the past three years.
The source also said that the minister "has no intention of getting into a fray and will not answer any questions" in response to efforts to clarify the situation.
The minister should be paying $20,000 per month as rent for the property in the Millsborough area of St Andrew, an upscale property comprising a dwelling house with helper's quarters, a pool, and other amenities.
In August 2009, the Port Authority revealed that Henry had not been paying the proposed rental for the house. At that time, the authority reported that a lease agreement had been sent to the minister for signing, with the proposed monthly rental effective June 2008, but it said the transport minister had yet to sign the agreement.
If the minister has failed to pay the rent, it means he owes the authority $680,000 to date.
Late last year, The Sunday Gleaner revisited the issue and asked the Port Authority whether the rent was being paid, but the query was left in limbo. The request for information was repeated more than a week ago, but a release issued by the authority on Thursday did not address the issue directly.
It read in part: "The Port Authority wishes to advise that Cabinet has granted approval for the transfer of the property being occupied by the Minister of Transport and Works, Hon L. Michael Henry, at Millsborough Crescent, to the Commissioner of Lands. Therefore, the National Land Agency (NLA) is currently the purchaser in possession of the property.
"Further enquiries on this matter may be directed to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Works."
Could not comment
When contacted, Dr Alwin Hayles, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Works, told our news team: "The Port Authority ought not to have referred you to me."
Hayles said he could not comment on whether the rent had been paid over to the Port Authority. "What I do know is that while the ownership of property was being resolved, the money for the property was being held in escrow by the minister's lawyers."
Hayles was unable to respond when asked why the minister was not paying before Cabinet started to deliberate on the transfer of the property.
However, he said the Port Authority had been seeking to get out of the situation because it was not in the practice of providing housing for ministers.
Hayles said he recalled the controversial housing matter going before Cabinet early this year or late last year.
In September 2009, The Gleaner reported that Hayles was unable to explain why money from the Port Authority's pension fund was used to purchase a ministerial residence for Henry. The revelation came at a press conference held by the ministry to counter criticisms after the multimillion-dollar purchase and upgrade was made public.
Property value
The property is currently valued at approximately $80 million.When The Sunday Gleaner first reported that approximately $50 million had been spent by the Port Authority of Jamaica to acquire and refurbish the Millsborough property, it was also stated that the property was a part of the assets of the defunct Jamaica Omnibus Service (JOS). The purchase triggered a firestorm of criticism. At that time, Henry reportedly said that he was not accustomed to living in squalor.
The prolonged public dispute over the purchase and upgrading of the upper St Andrew property was fuelled by the poor state of the national economy.
A statement issued by the transport ministry revealed that in 2000, Cabinet gave approval for the ownership of the property to be formally transferred to the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC). The transfer was not done.
Cabinet was expected to review the process of formally transferring the ownership of the property from the former JOS to the JUTC, based on that decision in 2000, then to the Port Authority as a result of the above-mentioned purchase agreement.