Courts moving to Trinidad House...just so

TRINIDAD HOUSE is a likely site for the new Magistrates’ Courts. The Parliament Chamber will probably become a museum, while Whitehall will be turned into an entertainment centre.

Far from reconsidering his decision, Prime Minister Patrick Manning was amplifying on his city centre plans at the post-Cabinet news briefing at Whitehall yesterday. Manning said while Government was still looking at alternative sites for the Magistrates’ Court, (which would be displaced by the new Parliament building), one possible option was  Trinidad House. He said this building, which is itself historic, was “far more adequate to the task” than the current location on St Vincent Street Manning said Trinidad House had its own short street — Treasury Street — which was “easier to embark and disembark prisoners, as opposed to what takes place on the more congested St Vincent Sreet.”

Manning also said it was very likely that Government would turn the Parliament Chamber into a museum and convert Whitehall into an entertainment centre (for government and Prime Ministerial entertainment). The plan for Whitehall would also involve having its staff dressed in clothes reflecting the different periods of the country’s history. While the Parliament Chamber would become a museum, the rest of the Red House was still earmarked for the Office of the Prime Minister, Manning confirmed.

The Prime Minister, who admitted that Speaker of the House of Representatives, Barry Sinanan, was not consulted before Government announced its decision to relocate the Parliament,  said the leader of Government Business  would be speaking with Sinanan when he returns to Trinidad and Tobago. Sinanan, who left Trinidad and Tobago on Carnival Monday, returns today. Manning said Government was listening to all the comments being made on the issue but as of now, it heard nothing to make it reconsider its decision. Manning conceded that the question of the relocation of Parliament was not in the PNM manifesto. Asked why in the face of this, there was no public consultation, Manning reiterated that Government’s plan was in keeping with historical use of the Red House as the seat of governance.

Manning said there was no intention to demolish the Red House or the Magistrates’ Courts. Manning said the problem was not the Parliament, but the chamber which is too small and which cannot be adjusted without destroying its architectural beauty “which would be the real travesty”. On the petition presented by 46 distinguished citizens headed by former First Lady Zalayhar Hassanali, Manning said he had spoken to one of the persons who signed the petition and “after I explained a point of view, the people’s comment to me was ‘I did not realise that when I signed. Perhaps you ought to publicise this more comprehensively and if you do it is entirely possible that you could convince all 50 persons as you have convinced me’. Manning added that he had some of this “in writing”.

Valley said the relocation of the Parliament was not an issue. “In Trinidad we like to look for issues,” he said. He said Cabinet had asked UDeCOTT to come up with a plan and consult with the both Houses of Parliament.  “It is not as though one is going to break down buildings tomorrow and put up an edifice,” he said. Valley said Government might have a particular view but there would be consultation. When asked if this meant that the plan was not cast in concrete, Manning said it was indeed cast in concrete.