Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley was not telling the truth when he said the Motor Vehicles Authority (MVA) building in Caroni cost the Government over $1 billion, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday.
“That is totally not true. It cost over $230 million,” Persad-Bissessar while giving the feature address at a ribbon cutting and plaque unveiling ceremony at the new Ministry of Tertiary Education and Skills Training (MTEST) office on the Narsaloo Ramaya Marg Road, Chaguanas.
She said chairman of the National Infrastructure Development Company, Hamlyn Jailal, who was in the audience, could attest to this.
The PM was responding to a fresh set of claims from Rowley, at a People’s National Movement (PNM) public meeting in St Augustine on Thursday night, that the MVA, originally estimated to cost $40 million under the previous administration, had shot up to over $1 billion under the Persad-Bissessar-led People’s Partnership.
Rowley, who read figures from what he claimed were Cabinet documents, said the MVA was also the PNM’s idea.
Persad-Bissessar’s claims echoed those of Transport Minister Stephen Cadiz, who also said Rowley’s figures were from an estimated budget which had been rejected by the Government.
“At no time did the Ministry of Transport accept any billion dollar proposal for the Motor Vehicle Authority,” Cadiz said yesterday, adding that the MVA headquarters was completed within budget and was part of a multiple-facility project which included new or refurbished offices in Arima, San Fernando and Tobago. (See page A10)
Yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said the MTEST office was the first ever Government ministry to be fully moved to a central location. The moving of government goods and services outside of Port-of-Spain will enable more people to access them, she said, adding the move was the fulfillment of a promise the PP made in its 2010 manifesto.
She said 13 agencies that fell under the ministry, including the National Training Agency, would also be moved adjacent to the office on the 50-acre parcel of land it occupies. However, none of this means the Government will leave the capital city of Port-of-Spain to become rundown, she assured.
“But you can’t have one area totally developed and all the others in a slump.”
She congratulated the MTEST contractors, Moosai Construction Trinidad, for delivering the project on time and within budget. The building cost $111 million and millions in rent will be saved with MTEST having its own office, she said. MTEST was previously renting an office in St James before it moved to Tower C on the Port-of-Spain Waterfront Complex.
Minister Fazal Karim said the relocation of the entire ministry to central Trinidad would lead to the “levelling of the playing field.”
“All citizens must have access to opportunities, unrestricted by geography and traffic,” he said.
Karim said the office of the Government-Assisted Tertiary Education (GATE) programme, located at Gordon Street, St Augustine, will also be housed at the new MTEST building. He said there will be no threat of carjackings at the new site, adding there are 242 car spaces there.
Karim said while statistics show a decline in population growth in the Port-of-Spain and Diego Martin areas, Chaguanas had jumped from 64,000 to 83,000 people.
Bharath sues Jack, Rowley
Communication Minister Vasant Bharath yesterday issued pre-action protocol letters to Opposition leader Dr Keith Rowley and Independent Liberal Party leader Jack Warner.
In separate letters, attorney Kelvin Ramkissoon accused Rowley and Warner of uttering defamatory words against his client during political meetings this week.
Both men are accused of alleging that Bharath used his office for private gain, including securing property, obtaining employment for family members and interfering in state matters for the benefit of his acquaintances.
Ramkissoon is calling on the duo to issue full retractions and apologies and is seeking damages. He gave them 14 days in which to respond or face legal action.