Waste of money on Govt relocation plan

THE EDITOR: Does the Government of Trinidad and Tobago have a long-term development plan for Trinidad and Tobago? Does the Government of Trinidad and Tobago have a long-term development plan for Port-of-Spain? What are the development priorities of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago? What goes where, when and why?

The Government has just spent a considerable amount of money to renovate or to rebuild the Magistrate Court buildings on St Vincent Street. The Government has just spent a considerable sum to refurbish the offices of the Ministry of National Security. The Government has spent and continues to spend a considerable sum of money to refurbish and to repair the Red House Building. Now we are told that the Cabinet has decided to build a Parliament Building on the block north of the Red House Building. This block contains the recently renovated Magistrate Court buildings and the offices of the Ministry of National Security which was also given a recent face-lift, in addition to many privately owned buildings which will have to be acquired. We are also told that the need to construct a Parliament Building in order to facilitate the re-location of Parliament from the Red House, which we are told it has outgrown, was first discussed eleven years ago.

If the relocation of Parliament was being considered, why then was the site on the southern side of the Red House used for the construction of the National Library building? This would have been the ideal site for the Parliament Building and thus leaving the Magistrate Courts and other buildings on their present site. Why spend all this money to renovate and to refurbish existing buildings when the intention is to demolish them? What are the Government’s Development priorities? We still have so many problems in Health Care, in Education, in Water, in Housing, and in National Security to mention just a few areas which I consider to be in need of urgent attention. Is the construction of some form of interchange at the junction of the Churchill-Roosevelt and the Uriah Butler Highways not worthy of priority consideration? Now suddenly the construction of a Parliament Building appears to be receiving priority consideration of the Government. I await the next surprise announcement from the Cabinet with bated breath.

NEIL ALEXANDER
Carnbee, Tobago