Deputy Kevin Lewis made the admission while responding to a question tabled by St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft about how much had been spent and whether there was any contingency funding in place if the existing money – taken from Jersey Development Company profits – became unavailable.
The project, dubbed ‘Liberation 75’, would involve merging the two public spaces and extinguishing the link road between Route de la Libération and the Esplanade.
It is hoped that it could be completed in time for Liberation Day 2020.
Speaking in the States yesterday, Deputy Kevin Lewis said that £100,000 had been spent on the project so far and that it was in an ‘engagement phase’.
Following this, Mr Crowcroft asked Deputy Lewis if he was concerned the scheme may be aborted if there was no money to pay for the project.
In response, Deputy Lewis said: ‘The joining of the squares has been discussed for many years and the most recent proposal was included in the Future St Helier project of prioritised projects that confirmed that funding be made available in the MTFP-three and I believe the Constable sat on that project board. I am at the mercy of the assembly – I am merely a facilitator.’
However, Mr Crowcroft refuted Deputy Lewis’ comments and added that he needed to be more transparent about how the project was being carried out.
‘For him to imply that this has suddenly jumped up the priority list is completely misleading,’ he said.
‘Will the minister undertake to be more transparent with what is going on with Liberation Square because I do not believe the public knows, they have certainly not been consulted and my key concern is where is the money coming from?’
However, Deputy Lewis said that he could not be any more transparent than he was currently being and added he did not know of many people who were against the proposals.
‘I believe the Constable sat on the Future St Helier Group so he will know, more than I, how far up the list this was,’ he said.
‘But if it is not a priority, would he kindly state where on the list this project comes because I have not seen many people that are against it?
‘Obviously there will be problems with rerouting taxis and buses but I am more than happy to discuss that with the Constable and I am 100 per cent transparent with this project.’
