Moonilal slams government housing distribution policy

Dr the Hon. Roodal Moonilal, Member of Parliament, Oropouche East & Former Minister of Housing

Regrettably it took the Rowley government almost one year to understand the burning need for housing. I feel vindicated when the Prime Minister acknowledges that the demand grows since applicants have been seeing others get homes. This is vindication to our “100 homes per week” initiative of 2015. Today housing distribution is back to the dark old secret discriminatory days of giving out houses to party members and friends and relatives of Ministers

Rowley has no moral authority to speak on Housing , his legacy is Las Alturas, Golconda, Edinburgh towers and Wellington Estates where we had to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to correct bad work , poor design, engineering flaws, lack of sewer plants and poor infrastructure.

The Edinburgh towers costing over a million dollars per apartment are incomplete and has to be totally redesigned. In this day and age the PNM have reverted to cesspits for their much heralded river run through project.

We are back to the NHA ghetto style buildings that nurture crime. One also would want to know of EMA approvals for housing systems using cesspits in a low lying area. These issues will be addressed in due course.

One apartment at Edinburgh towers is already 1 million Dollars under the former PNM government and cannot be occupied at this time.

Notwithstanding my personal stress on the job of housing Minister for five years plus, I never responded with contempt to those in need , in fact I wept when members of the public came to me crying, this lack of compassion is unsuitable and unacceptable for high office holders in the social sector.

The Prime Minister with his “houses like hops” comment seems to be condoning the response to a lady’s plight in San Fernando by his minister
The Prime Minister has dashed the hopes of thousands of long awaited applicants who will be unable to get a housing unit under this PNM administration.

The government speaks of collaboration with the private sector when they suspended the only private sector construction project with Republic bank , that being in San Fernando .

In the coming weeks I will be highlighting the farce of turning Sod in Arima when the project is not ready for construction and the true cost of housing under the partnership government in comparison to former PNM administrations , I have had enough of those lies as well.

Dr the Hon. Roodal Moonilal,
Member of Parliament, Oropouche East &
Former Minister of Housing