Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday defended his decision to take charge of restoration works on the historic Red House. He was responding to comments from former Speaker of the House Wade Mark who described Rowley’s decision as “out of line, out of bounds and out of place.”
Mark was joined by Opposition MP Dr Roodal Moonilal who described the move as an attempt by Dr Rowley to “micro-manage multi-billion dollar construction projects. This approach has inherent dangers when a PM gets his hands in such matters.”
Dr Rowley said: “I will reserve my best comment for the Speaker when I see him but in the meantime, I simply want the people of T&T to rest assured that it is the intention of the Government to end what has been going on with respect to the building.” He said the state had spent more than $100 million on the Parliament over a 15 year period. Despite this, restoration of the Red House is still in its early stage.
“I have taken personal responsibility for it and if anyone has a problem with the Prime Minister of T&T taking charge of a situation which is totally unacceptable then such a person can meet me in the Parliament,” he said.
Dr Rowley said it was his responsibility and where the public interest was not being well served then he had a duty to intervene.
“We now have a mandate to ensure that these iconic buildings which have been deteriorating are safeguarded. If we cannot preserve our cultural heritage, we do not deserve our nation.
“I toured President’s House last week it was an absolute disgrace. In five years they are still at the starting block. Some progress has been made in relation to the design but more importantly, what have they embarked upon?”
He said there was an arrangement made by the last government to embark on construction of new Parliamentary quarters.
“There is no requirement for that now and this Cabinet is not going to consider any construction of Parliamentary quarters when there are other options available.
“Government responsibility is to ensure that the Parliament is properly housed, not to ensure that the Parliament spends more on housing,” Dr Rowley said.