Rowley mum on Parliament relocation

PLANNING MINISTER Dr Keith Rowley declined to answer a question Tuesday on whether Cabinet had taken a decision to relocate the Parliament.. Rowley was in the Senate to respond to a question on whether there existed a development plan for the City of Port of Spain which involved relocation of Parliament and other institutions such as the Magistracy and Judiciary. Rowley said several plans existed — one done in 1972, another in 1987 and another in 2001. He said,  however, that none of them provided the level of detail required for the critical appraisal of the existing use or future use of any of the main buildings. He said the 1972 City Centre plan made a strong plea for the preservation of the civic centre of PoS focusing on the Red House, the library, City Hall, Trinity Cathedral, the Cabildo and Police Headquarters. He said it was within this context that any proposals for the redevelopment of the city centre and any associated building construction for Parliament or  for any institution were to take place.

Rowley said in 1992 the Government, in response to the unplanned development that was happening, took certain decisions to develop the city centre with the historic Red House and Woodford Square as a focal point.  This led to the City Centre Development Group consisting of various stakeholders. He said two of the projects emanating from the group were the Brian Lara Promenade and the National Library. Wade Mark enquired whether Cabinet had taken a decision to relocate the Parliament. Rowley said this was a new question, which he couldn’t answer at that moment.