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PM Says Friars Hill Road Lease Saved Government Millions

Prime Minister Gaston Browne has defended a leasing arrangement involving a building occupied by the Ministry of Agriculture, saying the deal saved the government millions of dollars and followed standard public-sector practice.

Speaking on the Browne and Browne show on Pointe FM, Browne said the ministry has been operating for about 18 months from a 12,000-square-foot building that was initially leased to the government on a rent-free basis for three years, at a nominal cost of $1 per month .

The prime minister explained that the arrangement allowed the government to carry out necessary leasehold improvements to configure the space for ministerial use. He said such improvements are normally paid for by the tenant, not the landlord, and are standard in both public- and private-sector leasing arrangements .

Browne said that based on an average rental rate of about $5 per square foot, the government would otherwise have paid roughly $60,000 per month in rent. Over a three-year period, he said, that would have amounted to more than $2 million, money the state did not have to spend under the rent-free arrangement .

Even after accounting for the cost of fitting out the building, Browne said the government still came out ahead financially. He rejected suggestions of impropriety, arguing that the arrangement benefited the public purse and did not deprive anyone else of an opportunity to lease space to the government .

The prime minister said the building is currently fully occupied by the Ministry of Agriculture and used the example to counter claims raised during the budget debate about government leasing practices, insisting that the agreement reflected prudent financial management rather than favoritism .

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