Ministers ‘free to hire, fire’

Minister Stephen Lashley on Tuesday defended the action of his namesake and colleague, Minister of Housing and Lands Michael Lashley, in firing the former chairman of the National Housing Corporation (NHC) Marilyn Rice-Bowen.The Minister of Family, Youth and Sport told the House of Assembly that any minister was free to select or deselect a chairman of a statutory corporation.His comments were made during debate in the House of Assembly on a resolution to vest 2.76 hectares of Crown land in the NHC for housing development following a January 8, 2009 Cabinet decision.Rice-Bowen was sacked on July 31, but said in a Press statement that she had been given no “direct or indirect explanation” as to the root cause of her termination.The Minister of Sport said the development (Rice-Bowen’s dismissal) was totally within the domain of a minister.“Any minister is free to either select or to deselect a chairman of a statutory corporation,” he declared.Targeting minister“What has happened in this case is that we have seen a clear orchestrated attempt to take an issue and fly it as a flag of ultimate proposed destruction aimed at targeting a Minister of Housing, who they themselves in this House admitted was doing a good job . . . in prior debates.“But all of a sudden they have seen a window of opportunity and they have flown in; they have jumped in where angels fear to thread.”Lashley said the matter of changing a chairman of a statutory corporation was not an issue that should conjure up the kind of emotive and perjorative language from MPs, especially where those MPs did not stand on a good record. The Christ Church West Central MP charged that there had been examples of previous ministers of housing giving instructions to the NHC to act in breach of resolutions of the House, and he cited references in a recent Special Audit of the NHC by the Auditor General in relation to lands at the Kent Development, Christ Church. (AB)