Rowley reveals UNC housing bobol

DEPUTY SPEAKER Hedwidge Bereaux warned three Opposition MPs to restore order in the House of Representatives on Friday when Housing Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced the discovery of an alleged massive housing scandal under the former UNC government, part of which allegedly involved a private developer pocketing $36 million without constructing a single house. Quoting from a letter dated August 7, 1998, from Caroni (1975) Ltd to then head of the National Housing Authority (NHA), Dr Allen Sammy, Rowley revealed that Caroni agreed to release 100 acres of land at Carlsen Field “for the squatter regularisation programme. Not only was Caroni disposed to giving them the land at Carlsen Field but they offered them lands at Perro Hill, La Philippine, Gran Couva, Carli Bay, Hermitage and Diamond Railway Road.

This was Caroni offering lands to the Govern-ment. If today, the PNM Government proceeds to build on those same parcels of lands, you will hear these same colleagues accusing us. The facts are being misrepresented to the population. They are opposed to housing construction on every single site that we have embarked upon today,” Dr Rowley declared to vigorous desk-thumping from the Government ben-ches and mockery from the Opposition benches. He added that by Cabinet note of October 5, 1999, the UNC approved 116 hectares in Carlsen Field for housing. Stating that in 1991, the NAR left 350 acres of a 400-acre site untouched for housing, Rowley charged that “without transparency” the UNC gave the 350 acres to a campaign manager of a UNC candidate to build houses on.

“The arrangement was that you would not only get the lands for free, they gave him $36 million for infrastructure and the arrangement is he will build houses, he will sell them and half of the profits will go to the NHA. That agreement was struck in August 1999. By November 2000, they changed the agreement and they said the profits to come from the proceedings should be rolled over. In other words, none to come to the NHA. Then they changed the agreement and they said the time when the profits should be paid is open-ended. The bottom line is the NHA has not received one cent from the profit,” Rowley thundered.

During his contribution, Bereaux was forced to caution Opposition MPs Kelvin Ramnath, Harry Partap and Chandresh Sharma. “God has spoken!” Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday observed from his seat, but Bereaux refused to respond to him. The Minister also claimed the UNC was using a motion piloted by St Joseph MP Gerald Yetming to secretly insinuate that the PNM was practising racial discrimination in TT and Yetming had leadership ambitions. “Let’s have a race debate out in the open,” Rowley challenged the Opposition. He added that it was Partap’s earlier contribution which exposed the UNC’s true agenda. “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread!” he declared. Earlier in the sitting, Partap accused the PNM of corrupting every sphere of influence in TT and accused the media of “propping up and defending the Government.”