CONCERNS have been raised about the cost of maintaining the quango responsible for the redevelopment of the former Maze-Long Kesh site near Lisburn.
The Executive Office yesterday re-appointed the eight-man board of the Maze-Long Kesh Development Corporation.
Redevelopment at the site was effectively halted in 2013 when the then DUP leader Peter Robinson scuppered plans for a £18m peace centre amid vocal opposition from victims' groups.
The board's chairman is Terrence Brannigan, who is also chair of Tourism NI.
Mr Brannigan receives a salary of £30,000 for the Maze-Long Kesh role, while each of the board members are paid £6,000-a-year each.
Other board members include former PSNI assistant chief constable Duncan McCausland and former Sinn Féin Belfast councillor Joe O'Donnell.
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According to the Executive Office, the chairman and board members have agreed an "interim reduced remuneration package based on a per diem rate" and reduced number of meetings - though the press release announcing their re-appointments neglects to outline details of the reduced packages.
Mr Brannigan also receives £26,000-a-year for chairing Tourism NI.
The Executive Office-funded quango's accounts for 2016-17, the last annual return available, show the operating costs for the corporation were £1.9m, with staff costs accounting for £456,000.
Initially appointed for a five-year period in 2012, the board was reappointed for a 12 month period in September 2017, which was subsequently extended for a further six months to March this year. The re-appointments announced yesterday are back-dated and will expire in March next year.
Before Mr Robinson's infamous 'letter form America', in which he called time on the peace centre project, the development corporation said it expected to attract 5,000 permanent jobs and £300m of investment on a site covering 347 acres.
Peace centre plans at Maze prison site 'dropped' says UUP
Both the DUP and Sinn Féin supported the development of the site, including the peace centre. However, after a campaign against what some unionist politicians branded a "shrine to terrorism", Mr Robinson withdrew his support.
Last night SDLP MLA Dolores Kelly the potential of the site has been squandered.
"If the board is simply performing an administrative or bureaucratic function then it should be shelved," she said.
The Irish News asked the Executive Office to provide examples of substantive development and investment at the Maze-Long Kesh site in the past five years, but it declined to respond.
