Last night Islanders were given the chance to quiz the Council of Ministers about any issue during an event at the Royal Jersey Showground in Trinity.
The session, despite being poorly attended with about 30 people in the audience, was at times heated, particularly when they were discussing the controversial Jersey International Finance Centre being developed by the States-owned Jersey Development Company.
- In total, six office blocks are planned for the site.
- An underground and overground car park are also due to be built.
- More than 1,200 people have signed a petition against the development.
- A protest is due to be held at the Esplanade this Sunday, starting at 2.30 pm.
- Deputy Montfort Tadier has lodged a proposition calling for a referendum on the plans.[/breakout]
Last week it was announced that Swiss investment bank UBS had signed up to be the first tenant and would occupy about 16,000 sq ft of space, which the JDC says is enough to enable building work to start.
Among those in attendance was former St Brelade Deputy Sean Power, who has been a critic of the development, while other Islanders in the audience voiced their concerns about the JIFC.
The Council of Ministers continued to defend to project, with Chief Minister Ian Gorst saying that the need for grade-A office space was ‘absolutely necessary’.
Mr Power questioned whether there could be competition in the development industry if companies are expected to compete against
the States. He pointed to the fact that the Esplanade land was transferred to the JDC for a nominal fee of £1. Treasury Minister Alan Maclean said that the site on which the proposed JIFC will sit was ‘an asset we already owned’ and meant that there was no need for the JDC to purchase the land.
Islander John Baker said that while he understood there would be confidentiality issues, the States had lacked transparency over the development, and that if the States were unable to give the public ‘the information they require to have trust in the JIFC’, then there was always going to be serious problems.
Senator Maclean agreed in part, but said that revealing the negotiation process of the JDC would be damaging to a company owned by the public.
Mr Power also questioned the dual role of Mark Boleat, who is chairman of both the JDC and the CI Competition and Regulation Authorities, suggesting that it would be impossible to do both. Senator Gorst said: ‘He was appointed by the States and it was made quite clear that if there was a conflict of interests within both roles then he would step aside from the debate.’
All members of the Council of Ministers attended the meeting except External Relations Minister Sir Philip Bailhache and Education Minister Rod Bryans, who were busy on States business.
