Sharma: I am concerned about magistrates

PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning has apologised to Chief Justice Sat Sharma for what was viewed as a “discourtesy” but what was really “an oversight”. Manning stated that he had met with Chief Justice, Sat Sharma, and apologised for not informing him about the decision to relocate the Parliament. But, contacted last night, CJ Sharma said he was not concerned about whether the Parliament was moving from the Red House. His concern was the accommodation for the magistracy. He noted that millions of dollars had been spent to have proper accommodation for the magistrates in Port-of-Spain. “What will happen to the magistrates? This cannot be looked at in isolation. There are also problems at other courts where prisoners have to remain in the prison vans,” Sharma added.

The Prime Minister, speaking at the post-Cabinet news conference yesterday, added, “To us, it is not a new matter. To us it is an old issue and therefore we proceeded on the erroneous assumption that everybody understood it and was on board,” adding that the idea of creating a new city centre was enunciated as PNM policy eleven years ago.  But the Chief Justice said times had changed, pointing out that the judiciary was not a club. Manning went on, “If it is that the Government erred by not first advising the Chief Justice — again, eleven years later — before the announcement was made, it had no difficulty whatsoever in apologising to him and I apologised.” But in the face of growing criticism about his Government’s decision, the Prime Minister is “confident” and “convinced” that people would “buy into” the idea when they see the finished result.  It happened with the Brian Lara Promenade and the Hall of Justice, he said, pointing out that there was a lot of controversy over those projects at the time they were conceived. Told that people felt that the whole decision to relocate the Parliament was being driven by a desire on his part to move his office into the Red House, Manning asked: “But how could that be so? It was not my choice. It arose out of a Technical Team report.”

On reports that he was trying to build his own personal monument, Manning replied: “Me? I should invite you all to see where I live in San Fernando. And then you would understand how I think... I live in a townhouse of which I am very proud and which I didn’t want to leave. And for the record, the car that I own is less costly than the cars owned by most of you all. I own a PBC Mazda 323, a used car. Tell me if those are the actions of somebody who is interested in building edifices.”  Manning, who promised to give the media a tour of Whitehall, “so you can see it is quite inadequate”, said the only reason the UNC returned to Whitehall was “because Eric Williams occupied it”.  Manning said when the sod was turned at the Twin Towers, the architect stated that 50 years from today people would ask not how much  the Towers cost, but who built it. “It was a point I never forgot,” the Prime Minister stated. “Picture it. A city centre based on Woodford Square — the people’s parliament, three arms of the democracy surrounding ...and the city centre being pedestrianised.” He said the recommendations of the Technical Team were based “largely on the country’s history, recognising that the Red House has traditionally been the seat of government”.  Reminded of the fact that the Red House was stormed in 1990, Manning said: “Well they killed Butler in Charlie King Junction in 1937...What does that mean?” Manning also noted that there was a lot of controversy over the Hall of Justice at the time it was built, which is now also regarded as “an edifice to our democracy”.