Rowley, Harford clash on funds

Rowley also clashed with Republic Bank chairman Ronald Harford over the role of banks in development funding.

Rowley was speaking to a Downtown Owners and Merchants Association breakfast meeting at Crowne Plaza, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, on the issue of construction and its role in development.

“We are not afraid of the protest because you have to be convinced of the rectitude of your cause, the good sense of your actions, and proceed in the face of sometimes malicious and misguided protest, ” he said.

Rowley defined as “March madness” the suggestion (from former AG Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj) that each east Port-of-Spain resident should be given $2.5 million before being relocated. He described it as “putting mouth in gear before brain is engaged.”

Rowley said no environment needed to be changed more than east Port-of-Spain. Noting that the Slum Clearance Act was meant to treat with that area, Rowley said it followed a number of commissions which had investigated the issue and the acquisition of land by the Government.

He said, however, it now fell on him “a grown man approaching retirement” to do what previous governments had been trying to do for the last 50 years.

Rowley said he would be very surprised if people, including the businesses, would pass up on the opportunity to have the area developed like the region west of Port-of-Spain.

“We are talking about turning Columbus Square from a vagrant haven into an extension of the Brian Lara Promenade,” he said.

Rowley spent most of his time strenuously defending government policies. Towards the end of his contribution, he chastised banks, saying they were prepared to lend money for people to buy Carnival costumes, fridges and cars, while failing to put the same energy into developmental lending — investment in the energy sector and on housing programmes for lower and lower-middle income owners.

Harford responded saying that it had become fashionable for people to “bash” the banks. He said given the size of the local banks, they could not support the bulky investments undertaken by large energy companies such as bpTT and British Gas. Harford said all the service industries in the energy sector were financed by banks. He pointed out that the Ministry of Works building, the University of Trinidad and Tobago, the National Library and police stations had been financed by local banks. But, he noted, the Government did not need funding from the banks anymore.

Stressing that the banks had played their role in development, Harford called on the Government to create opportunities for the economic expansion by developing new cities in the Caroni and Tamana areas. Harford said he was worried about the concentration of development in the capital, especially since it would exacerbate the problem of entry and exit of Port-of-Spain.

Rowley responded to Harford, saying that it was an issue of “great annoyance” to him that the first tranche of a housing bond was undersubscribed while banks advertised loans for Carnival costumes. But Harford countered that this was because it was a fixed rate bond, which in an environment of “galloping changes in interest rates” was not attractive from a business perspective to the banks. He said floating bonds made more sense.