Mark attacks Govt over Red House move

The senator’s stinging accusations stemmed from a Newsday article, in which he claimed Government had asked the Parliament to vacate the Red House in order for it to be restored for the office of the Prime Minister.

The story revealed that Government intended to leave the chamber in the Red House and to put the support services in the old library building.

The senator was speaking at yesterday’s sitting of the Upper House.

Mark called on Saith to state if it was the intention of the Government to use the Parliament, or any part of the building, as a part of or as the Prime Minister’s official office. "No one has denied the contents of the article to date," he said.

According to Mark, when the UNC was in government, he recalled that a unanimous decision was taken in both the Upper and Lower House to ensure that the existing Parliament was repaired, refurbished and renovated. The then Opposition PNM had supported the decision, he said.

He called on Dr Lenny Saith to say if the Cabinet had taken a decision to overturn that decision, or if all parliamentarians had a say in determining "whether the Parliament goes, or whether the Parliament stays."

In response, Saith said that Government, in no uncertain terms, had indicated "in this House" its intention to construct a new Parliament building. When the building is completed it will be used partly for the office of the PM, partly for public accommodation, and maybe for a facility for the history of the Parliament. "But we haven’t gotten there yet. When we get there we will take the appropriate steps to do things in accordance with whatever law exists," he said.

Saith, who said he did not believe half of the things he read in the newspapers, thanked Mark for the advice on the benefits of promptly denying lies published in the newspapers.

"I hope during the course of this discourse you will confirm or deny if Mr Ganga Singh is going to be fired, or if he quit," Saith told Mark.