Chee Mooke backs new homes for east PoS

In an interview at Chee Mooke Bakery’s Independence Square outlet, owner Leon Phillips said his business, which was first established in east Port-of-Spain in 1931, was one of several commercial properties which could be relocated as part of the HDC’s plans to develop the area.

Phillips said he supports the Government’s plans but believes a lot more information should be disclosed about what those plans entail.

Phillips said it would not be a problem for his business, which employs 62 people, to relocate once the compensation package is acceptable and a suitable location to establish a new bakery could be found.

Phillips recalled how another Port-of-Spain bakery quickly went out of business after it was moved out of the city a few years ago.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, other east Port-of-Spain businesspeople, said they also did not oppose the HDC’s plans to develop the area but agreed with Phillips that information about those plans was a bit vague.

When contacted yesterday, parliamentary representative for the area Eric Williams said he knew that the HDC was having a “one on one” with the residents and entrepreneurs in east Port-of-Spain but he had not been updated on the status of those talks.

Efforts to contact officials at the HDC for comment were unsuccessful.