Dookeran:

Story taken from our P O L I T I C S section.

UNC Political Leader Winston Dookeran is opposed to any plan to offer gas at reduced prices to any company on the industrial estates being considered in south- west peninsula of the island.

“Giving away our gas for these projects is really giving away our patrimony,” he said “Is this really the best way to use a very finite resource?”

His comments came last Saturday during a visit to several communities in the area.

He also expressed concern about the risks associated with the proposed industrialisation for the peninsula.

The St Augustine MP also said he was worried about the extent of the erosion taking place along the coastline.

Later in the day, he journeyed to the proposed site of the Union Industrial Estate in La Brea to see first-hand the extent of the destruction of the natural environment. Later, Dookeran went to Cedros where villagers expressed their concerns about the proposed aluminium smelter in their neighbourhood.

Dookeran said he was concerned about what he described as the “callous manner” in which Government has dealt with the villagers. On almost every major developmental issue, there has been a lack of consultation with the communities, he said.

Dookeran said it was particularly troubling that the recently built Vessigny Composite School would have to be relocated to accommodate the industries being proposed for the Union Estate home.

He said it was a clear example of the waste of taxpayers money and the absence of proper planning. “The future of our children will be in jeopardy. The whole concept of community development is being torn apart. The Government has ignored the impact on the people and as a consequence, people’s lives will be destroyed because there is absolutely no planning,” Dookeran said.

“This roughshod attempt at development is especially troubling since the people of St Patrick have put together a proposal for alternate, more suitable forms of development which appears to have received little consideration from Government,” he said.