Ramesh, Garcia

FORMER attorney general Ramesh Lawrence-Maharaj yesterday accused the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) of tricking residents of East Port-of-Spain into agreeing to move out for the redevelopment of the area.

However, in a swift response, HDC chairman Noel Garcia, said this was not so.

Maharaj claimed residents who visit the HDC office are being tricked into signing a document which they are told is an attendance record, but which in fact, is a consent form to their relocation from the area.

When told of these charges Garcia expressed disbelief. “That is foolishness. I know of no ‘consent forms.’”

Lawrence-Maharaj also accused the HDC of failing to supply residents with the “particulars” of the proposed redevelopment plan, thereby depriving them of the right to be fully informed.

Garcia retorted that the HDC did supply the particulars, as stated under the Slum Clearance and Housing Act. “We follow the law, which is very specific as to what must be given.”

Maharaj said the HDC failed to give residents their individual details such as which apartments are to be relocated, what terms and conditions would apply, and what compensation would be offered.

Garcia’s response was, “We have spent considerable time speaking to people in groups and on a one-to-one basis, and the process is continuing.” He said the HDC simply wanted to redevelop the area but some persons were Hell-bent on making the matter into a political football.

In a reply to a charge by Lawrence-Maharaj that residents of Beverly Hills, Laventille did not have new houses built despite a three-year wait, Garcia said that project was not under the aegis of the HDC, but under Udecott.

Maharaj said the Act only allowed redevelopment of areas with “working class” housing, as opposed to business premises, but in reply Garcia said that Maharaj had not properly read the Act.