Help from Valene from wrong place
THE EDITOR: The recent sight of Valene Lynch living in an abandoned car with a baby in Marabella was most heart rending and touched all Trinbagonians. Everyone would want to reach out to this young woman and those who assisted should be commended. There are a couple of matters in this situation that have me puzzled. Firstly Valene Lynch lives within the area controlled by the San Fernando City council. In every regional area, there is a social welfare officer who attends the co-ordinating committee meeting of the Council and reports on cases of this nature. Up to now Majors Atherly or the Council has not made a single comment on this matter. I would like to know how come the City council was not aware of this situation. Secondly, while I am happy for Valene to obtain a home quickly, I would have expected that such a quick response would come from the National Housing Authority or the Ministry of Housing or the Social Welfare Department. There are also a number of NGOs that help in situations of this nature such as Habitat for Humanity and Sou Sou Land. The Palo Seco Agricultural Enterprises Ltd, is owned wholly by the Government. I would doubt that any of its objective would include providing housing for the poor and needy. The spending of money to provide a house for Valene would undoubtedly be ultra vires the authority of the Palo Seco Agricultural Enterprises Ltd. To further compound matters, the chairman of this State Enterprise, Mr Francis Bertrand, is touted to be the next PNM candidate for Pt Fortin. It is easy to spend other people’s money. The provision of housing for the poor and needy is the responsibility of the National Housing Authority or whichever new body has taken over for the NHA and I would have preferred to see help for Valene to come from this quarter. KRISHENDATH GOORCHARAN National for Reconstruction Gasparillo
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"Help from Valene from wrong place"