Now Manning listens to La Horquetta’s problems

As he toured La Horquetta to hear “first-hand” from residents their problems and concerns, Prime Minister Patrick Manning promised the construction of a pan theatre; the completion and upgrading of a multi-purpose complex; compensation for leaking roofs and new booths and relocation for those vendors illegally set up in the median and who are being threatened with demolition.

“I have my four children to support and is one thing I will turn to and that is what we trying to prevent,” one vendor stated as he explained his plight to the Prime Minister. Manning later told NHA’s CEO, Noel Garcia, “One thing you must do, is build and relocate before you break down.” It was the second time in less than two days that the Prime Minister was dealing with the problems of illegal construction during a tour to a depressed community.

On Sunday, Manning had to take action to avert the demolition of an illegally constructed mosque in the new housing estates in Beverly Hills. While the Prime Minister admitted that he saw parallels between what happened on Sunday in Laventille and the illegal construction at Mucurapo Road which the State also chose not to demolish in the 1980s, they are two different issues. “It is by no means the same. That facility which we saw yesterday was built by a contractor who is doing the housing programme in the area,” he said. Was the contractor  going to be penalised for building without approval on NHA land? Stating that the structure was not the only structure in the country which had been built without authority, Manning stated: “We thought that the better approach was to adjust it to make it conform with the laws of the country.”