CONTROVERSIAL Bermuda Housing Corporation property officer Terrence Smith has been absent from work on sick leave since May, the Mid-Ocean News has learned.

Mr. Smith hit the headlines in March this year when contractor Kevin Pilgrim said his company had lost a BHC job after he had billed Mr. Smith for personal work carried out on his Tee Street, Devonshire home.

And days later it was revealed that Mr. Smith had also run freelance architectural and building consultancy companies from his BHC desk - which, if considered a clash of interests, may have contravened the Civil Service Code of Conduct, used as a guide by publicly-funded bodies like the BHC.

A source close to the BHC also revealed the identities of the two management staff who quit the Corporation in recent weeks, names which were yesterday confirmed by the BHC's acting finance manager Nas Jetha.

Former property officer Floyd Forth left at the end of last month, while Jerry Robinson, who worked as a property manager, was the other man who resigned.

Mr. Jetha also confirmed that Mr. Smith had been off sick since May. And he said there was a collective agreement that anyone off work through illness for more than two days would have to produce a doctor's note - and Mr. Smith had done so.

"We are concerned about absenteeism, of course, but Mr. Smith is on a doctor's note and we have to assume that the doctor knows what he's talking about," said Mr. Jetha.

Messages were also left for acting general manager Deborah Blakeney, who took over from the previous stand-in boss Richard James last month, but she did not respond.

Mr. Forth said his decision to leave the BHC was unconnected with the problems revealed at the Corporation this year.

"I chose to pursue another career," Mr. Forth said. "It was a personal decision that I made about a year ago and it was nothing to do with the controversy."

Former property manager Mr. Robinson was reluctant to talk about his reasons for quitting the Corporation.

"Right now, I'm just settling back in at Eurotile and I don't want to discuss it," he said yesterday.

Two others, general manager Raymonde Dill and finance manager Robert Clifford, were suspended by the BHC board following revelations by this newspaper of extraordinary payments to contractors and allegations of corruption made in the House of Assembly by Shadow Housing Minister Michael Dunkley. The board stressed the action implied no wrongdoing by either employee.

Auditor General Larry Dennis carried out an in-depth investigation into the BHC, which he completed in mid-May, but was advised by Director of Public Prosecutions Khamisi Tokunbo not to make the report public as publicity surrounding its release could influence possible criminal proceedings. The BHC's financial affairs are currently under investigation by the Bermuda Police Service, in what is expected to be a lengthy and complex probe.Police spokesman Dwayne Caines this week said: "We have an investigation ongoing into the Housing Corporation, but that is all I can say."

The media spotlight first turned on Mr. Smith after contractor Kevin Pilgrim, owner of SOHO Applications, said he had lost a BHC contract after he had billed Mr. Smith for private work on his Tee Street home.

SOHO had completed one BHC job on North Shore Road and was working on another at Friswell's Hill while also working at Tee Street.

After Mr. Pilgrim had submitted a bill for $16,000 to Mr. Smith, however, his workers were thrown off the Tee Street property. And days later, Mr. Pilgrim said he was told by Mr. Smith and BHC general manager Mr. Dill that he and his staff were no longer welcome on the BHC job either.

The revelation that Mr. Smith was freelancing from his BHC desk also emerged in March this year.

The work number listed on Mr. Smith's business card for Architectural Design Services and Terrence STP Smith and Associates was that of the BHC offices in Hamilton.

Efforts to contact Mr. Smith were unsuccessful.