00:00During his visit to the HDC's current Hills Housing Development in response to complaints about sewerage leak there, Minister in
00:07the Ministry of Housing Philip Alexander fielded a question from the media about comments made by Opposition MP Camille Robinson
00:14-Regis during the 2026-2027 budget debate in the House of Representatives about the $3.4 billion HDC project, which
00:23he said was stopped by the HDC without its explanation.
00:27If you go to a bank and qualify for $100 million in financing until you actually go to draw down
00:36the money, it is non-binding.
00:38The line of credit requirement was mandatory with a minimum of $100 million and the RFP stated that proponents who
00:50could not meet this requirement would not advance.
00:55The Opposition MP quoted from a report from the Office of Procurement Regulation, the OPR.
01:01However, eight of the ten letters from financial institutions regarding various proponents carried disclaimers such as these financial requirements were
01:20non-binding and consequently, eight of these ten did not meet the financial requirements.
01:30But they still went forward.
01:34She either doesn't understand how banking works, but if you go to a bank and qualify for $100 million in
01:42financing until you actually go to draw down the money, it is non-binding.
01:48In the Parliament on Friday, MP Robinson-Regis raised other concerns.
01:52The OPR said that there was no evidence existing to satisfy the OPR that the HDC conducted its due diligence
02:04in a manner consistent with the applicable legislative framework.
02:11It said one supplier's profile indicated insolvency, receivership, winding up, yet it was pre-qualified.
02:28Minister Alexander gave the government's position on Sunday.
02:31All of the contractors that we got comes from the OPR registry.
02:36You have to be registered.
02:38And the information as to somebody's financial status or otherwise, when we get it from the OPR, these are people
02:46who, according to the OPR, are registered and pre-qualified so that we can do business with them.
02:53It is not the HDC's job.
02:55Between the award of a contract and the signing of a contract, there is some information that comes to the
03:01Housing Development Corporation.
03:03And that information is the actual due diligence in the bank and the financial information.
03:07The minister in the Ministry of Housing is due to give his contribution to the budget debate in the Senate.
03:13Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
03:15Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
