Seeing red!

The Red House is the seat of our parliamentary democracy. It is Port-of-Spain’s most illustrious landmark, one of our rare architectural jewels, and one of our few remaining links with our past.

So much of our history is bound up in it, and even in this era of transience the edifice still evokes dignity and commands respect as a physical symbol of the State and our nationhood. The Red House is as integral to us as the Westminster Houses of Parliament are to the British or the Washington DC Capitol Building is to the United States. However the Government has recently proposed shifting the Red House’s parliamentary functions to a new building proposed to be built nearby. Despite $10 million spent to refurbish the Red House, the Government has said the Red House is inadequate to house all the functions of Parliament.

Minister of Public Administration Dr Lenny Saith on Wednesday announced his intention to shift the chamber of Parliament from the Red House to a new building to be built on the site of the refurbished PoS Magistrates’ Court and the Ministry of National Security, the block just across the road (Knox Street) from, and north of, the Red House. This proposal has raised the ire of the Judiciary and Magistracy who recall that millions of dollars were spent to refurbish the PoS Magistrates’ Court. Citizens too are questioning the move, citing our traditional attachment to the Red House which has housed our elected legislature over centuries.

The Red House was rebuilt after being burnt to the ground in the Water Riots of 1903, which was a public protest against the proposed introduction of water meters, an incident which a Commission of Enquiry eventually blamed on the Colonial Government and the Crown Colony system of governance. In September 1998 the UNC Government allocated $10 million to do urgent short-term repair work on the Red House structure, particularly its roof which leaked when rain fell. The architectural work was done by Bynoe, Rowe, Wiltshire Partnership; the structural work by CEP Limited, and the services work by ENCO Limited, with the project manager being Nipdec and the Ministry of Works.

At present a covering has been erected to protect the roof and facilitate this  repair which is still in progress . In a debate in the Senate in March 2001 Independent Senator Martin Daly had complained: “It is becoming increasingly difficult for any of us to serve the country properly as parliamentarians because there are no research assistant facilities available to Parliament”. In response then Attorney General Ramesh Maharaj assured that the Red House was being refurbished to provide improved and expanded facilities, additional staff was being recruited and other measures were being introduced to cater for the expanded role of parliamentarians. Maharaj said the improved facilities at the Red House would include committee rooms and offices for every Member of Parliament. But since then, the new PNM regime has spoken of moving sittings of Parliament to the Chaguaramas Convention Centre, and now has proposed this new parliamentary complex which Lenny Saith has predicted would be completed in four years time.