Bring proof!

PRODUCE THE DOCUMENT.That is the challenge which fired National Housing Corporation (NHC) chairman Marilyn Rice-Bowen has put to Minister of Housing Michael Lashley.It is her response to Lashley’s statement in the House of Assembly on Tuesday that she was signatory to a finance contract between the NHC and CLICO for the housing project at Constant, St George.“I would like to ask the minister (Lashley) to share the contract with the public, because to the best of my knowledge I don’t recall signing a contract and to the best of my knowledge a contract was not executed,” Rice-Bowen told the DAILY NATION in an exclusive interview.“I would like the minister (Lashley) to produce the document which he is saying that I have signed to support the fact that he is saying there is a contract in place. I stand by my statement that there isn’t a contract in place,” she said.Rice-Bowen also said some of Lashley’s comments relating to the reported contract and a letter being sent to the NHC’s general manager Lanette Napoleon-Young were inaccurate.Referring to a set of minutes, she said: “At April 2009, the manager of NHC was Vincent Alleyne.”She continued: “Item No. 48 captioned Constant Development Page Eight, the general manager informed the meeting that he was in receipt of a letter from CLICO, requesting stage payments for work done at Constant, St George. The general manager indicated that this was in variance with what was agreed to with CLICO and it certainly was not the understanding between CLICO and the board of management.”She added: “In Item 49, the general manager indicated that he met with CLICO and pointed out that neither management nor the board of management intended to vary from the initial agreement.”