Deputy Mayor: Woodbrook people, you are stealing

DEPUTY MAYOR Hillan Morean yesterday issued a stern warning to the public, particularly certain Woodbrook residents who he claimed are trying to defraud the Port of Spain Corporation of much-needed funds.

Morean, who chaired the monthly statutory meeting at City Hall, said there were people in Woodbrook who have registered the buildings from which they operate as residences, but are running businesses instead.

Morean said the act was, in no uncertain terms, stealing. He threatened to go as far as revoking deeds to the buildings if leaseholders do not register them properly.

“It is stealing when you are reporting to us that you are operating as a resident yet you are operating a business,” Morean said. “We will treat with that accordingly and have our corporate secretary review leases if necessary, and if necessary, leases will be revoked. Action will be taken on those people who are defrauding the corporation of their funding.”

He said the discovery was made during a property verification exercise currently under way in Woodbrook, when surveyors found businesses being run out of some buildings listed as homes

Morean explained that while 85 per cent of the corporation’s funding comes from the government, a minute three per cent comes from funding listed as “other,” which would include dues from property leases paid to the corporation.

“They are robbing us of our due revenue to run the city,” Morean said. “When you rob us of the funds that we require, we cannot do our jobs the best that we can. And you cannot expect us to always depend on the support of government disbursement.” According to the 2011 Census from the Central Statistical Office, of the 12,000 houses in the Port of Spain area, fewer than 1,000 have been registered as business places.