Speaker: Time for a new Parliament building

House Speaker Barry Sinanan said yesterday he felt it was time for a new, purpose-built Parliament. Sinanan, who has responsibility for the Parliament, came out for the first time since the Red House controversy, to give his own opinion on the hotly debated subject. He said he knew that people had a “sentimental” attachment to the Red House as the seat of Parliament, but “it was time to move on.” “Left up to me we would have a modern Parliament — new  expansive grounds, nice building, enough space so that Members of Parliament could have their offices, a room where parliamentary staff could put their kids, a place for journalists... in a modern Parliament you need all that,” Sinanan said.

Elaborating on some of the constraints of the Red House, he added: “We need parking space for Members of Parliament. There is no reason why Members of Parliament should be parking on the road. “We need a recreation room, a smoking room. Currently all MPs — those who smoke and those who don’t — use the tea room. We need to put all those who smoke in one room, let them exercise their constitutional freedom to kill themselves, and let the others have their own space,” he said matter-of-factly. Saying that the country needed a Parliament building which was properly designed, Sinanan pointed to what currently happens when departmental committees meet. “If the Parliament Chamber is not available,  it meets in the old tea room,” he noted, adding that this situation couldn’t happen if the committee system were to expanded.

Sinanan make it clear however that the decision with respect to the accommodation of the legislature was a matter for the Executive. He said that if one was thinking 20/20, one needed to think big. He noted that the Red House was originally not for the exclusive use by the Parliament but historically shared the building with several other departments of Government.  It was only in 2001, the Parliament became the sole occupier of the premises of the Red House. However the Speaker reiterated until a  new, purpose-built Parliament building is constructed, the Parliament should remain at its present location.  “When I looked at the alternatives, this recommendation was the more practical, time saving and cost effective,” he said, referring to a recommendation to the Chairman of the House Committee, Ken Valley. Government is still to decide whether to accept this recommendation or not.

The Speaker’s recommendation was examined and accepted without amendment by the House Committee of the House of Representatives. The Committee has since forwarded its conclusions to Public Administra-tion Minister Dr Lenny Saith, who is to take the matter to Cabinet. Sinanan said all he knew at this point was that the (temporary)  roof at present located on the Southern side was going to be moved across to the Northern side (where Parliament is currently located), to facilitate repairs. He said the roof on the Northern section was leaking very badly. Cabinet by Minute No 2739 of October 23, 2003 agreed that the restored Red House be allocated to the Office of the Prime Minister with certain designated areas reserved for public access. It also agreed that the “interim arrangements for the continued functioning of Parliament, the comfort and safety of its staff pending completion of the new Parliament building, should be the subject of further discussions with the Clerk of the House, NIPDEC and the Ministry of Public Administra-tion with the view to making a submission to the House Committee of the House of Representatives,” he said.