GUARDIAN Newspaper
Yvonne Baboolal
Housing Minister Dr Keith Rowley says he
would not be surprised if, five years from now, he or Tunapuna
MP Eddie Hart are not in power some will say the Government
never did anything.
Rowley made the statement on Monday during
the presentation of the keys ceremony at the new Housing
Development Corporation (HDC) project- the $25 million Peas Tree
Development at El Dorado. Keys were presented to 100 new
residents.
Criticising those who opposed the
Government’s housing programme, Rowley said: “There’s a certain
kind of resurrection called Carson Charles (National Alliance
for Reconstruction (NAR) leader and UNC Alliance member) who’s
saying the mortgage payments on an HDC housing is some kind of
bondage for life.”
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But Rowley said the 100 housing at Peas Tree
cost $225,000 each and
were cheap.He said the mortgage was $1,200 a month and two pensioners
could afford
to buy a house.
He said in the private sector the same units would cost
close to $1million.
He said: “I know this is the election season and people are
entitled to talk
stupidness but this one a takes the cake.”
Challenging anyone to find housing development in T&T and
anywhere in
the world better than Peas Tree, Rowley
criticized the UNC Alliance’s
land for the landless policy
which he said was the cod word for
“go and squat.”
“There are four components of this policy; dirt road,
latrine, flambeau
and standpipe. That’s what you get in
their policy. Our policy is world
class,” Rowley added.
He said the Government’s housing programmed was so
successful that there
were 9,000 applicants on the HDC’s
database. He warned that there
might be waiting period for
as long as nine years.
In fact, the HDC’s offices have become so busy that
officials were even
thinking of opening the offices between
the hours of 7am to 5pm, Rowley
said.
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