The workers say they are facing immense pressure “from someone
high, high up in the Housing Development Corporation (HDC)”
to finish the houses before the scheduled completion date.
But a “political activist” living in a marginal constituency
informed Mirror that the pressure to complete the houses is not
coming directly from the HDC.
“The HDC itself is also under pressure to finish the houses
before time, and that pressure is coming from people in senior positions
in the ruling party,” the self-styled political activist said.
The activist also is of the opinion that “the political directorate”
is “taking big men and making them little boys” as they
order senior managers at the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad
and Tobago (UDECOTT) and HDC to make spot checks and surprise visits
to sites to ensure that work is being done quickly.
“All that would be okay if it was just that they want the
houses to be finished on time to avoid delays and wasting taxpayers’
money, but everybody knows that they rushing the workers to finish
so they could house-pad before the next general election,”
the activist said.
The activist also linked government’s plans to re-house residents
of east Port of Spain to alleged attempts by the ruling party to
full the marginal constituencies with their supporters.
“Port of Spain and Laventille still have plenty barrack-yards,
why they not clearing those?” she asked, adding, “The
Nelson Street apartments have become run down, but the area is not
a slum.
“You have real slums in Sea Lots and the eastern side of the
Beetham, but you gunning to clear Nelson Street after you spend
millions of dollars to paint and refurbish the buildings less than
four years ago, that doesn’t make sense. It goes to show,
the HDC is not really about providing housing for all citizens,
it’s about providing PNM supporters with new homes in the
marginal constituencies,” she concluded.
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