Guanapo church site locked and deserted

When Newsday visited the site, all gates leading into the church were locked. There was no one on the premises. A backhoe that had been on the premises last week was also removed. Chinese workmen were last seen packing PVC fittings onto a truck parked alongside the building were not on the site. Newsday was told that a white panel van dropped off about 11 Chinese workers at the site shortly after 9.30 am on Friday and they were seen packing material and carrying out work inside the enclosed compound. To date there is no definite information on the owner of the church and who is paying the Shanghai Construction Group (SCG) for the work being carried out at the site.

According to reports, the church is being built at the cost of $30 million. Former Prime Minister Patrick Manning has been linked to the project but he insists that he has no ties to the church and maintains that “no State funds” were used to finance the project.

There have been claims that the church is owned by Rev Juliana Pena, Manning’s spiritual adviser. At present investigators are seeking the assistance of Interpol to locate Pena to ascertain if State funds were used in the construction of the church. Sources said Pena lives in the United States and has only been to the church site once since the start of construction by SCG. So far, attempts to contact Pena have been futile. Her last known local address was at Cocorite Road, Arima.