PM: Do not be concerned where President sleeps

THE PRIME Minister said the population should not be concerned where President Paula-Mae Weekes sleeps.

He was speaking on Thursday at the post-Cabinet media conference held at Whitehall, Port of Spain and responding to the President's announcement that she would not be residing at the newly renovated President's House.

Dr Rowley said the President will be using President's House to interact with foreigners and locals. He also said the President wanted to continue living with her mother and he recalled she made a stipulation, before accepting the nomination as President, that she would not be required to move but could remain with her mother.

"Don't be disappointed she is not sleeping there every night."

He recalled a previous prime minister (Kamla Persad-Bissessar) had an official residence but was occupying a private house in Pasea.

"I don't expect it will attract attention where the President sleeps. It is a good reason. She has a bond with her mother and is not prepared to move. (President's House) is in use, and it is in the hand of the President of TT."

He explained if the President is in receipt of housing then she would not receive a housing allowance. The President's communications adviser Cheryl Lala in a release said the President has never sought nor received a housing allowance.

Rowley, at the media conference, said people have commented that $89 million should not have been spent to renovate President's House but to give people a meal and look after poor people.

He recalled that very early in this administration's term he said, despite straitened circumstances, iconic and priceless buildings would no longer be neglected. He also recalled that in April 2016 he took responsibility to chair a Cabinet sub-committee to look at the renovation of Stollmeyer's Castle, Mille Fleurs, President's House and the Red House.

Rowley said the complaint that the money should be used differently came from a government which met President's House with a collapsed roof during the election campaign in 2010. He said the building remained in this state for five years of the previous administration and one year of the current administration.

"They are asking us to have left it the way it was."

He recalled when he first visited President's House, after assuming office, there were piles of garbage and eight to ten truckloads of garbage had to be removed. He reported, the renovation involved 14 components and employed a total of 370 people including engineers, architects, welders, painters, joiners and non-skilled labour. He said the building is now ready for years of service "and we can be proud."

He stressed, a significant portion of money went directly into the pockets of people who do the work and this was the best way to spend public money compared to those who enriched people for doing nothing.

Rowley said three contractors bid for the project: $174.9 million, $133.4 million and $98 million. The lowest bid of $98 million was further reduced to $89.9 million following negotiations with Udecott, which many people thought was pie in the sky. He said the Government insisted that more be done for less and the project was brought in within budget and largely within time.

Rowley said an iconic building has been restored and the people who supplied the materials also benefited which was 60 per cent of the cost.

He pointed out that Stollmeyer's Castle and Whitehall, where the media conference was being held, had been completed, and significant progress had been made on Mille Fleurs and the temporary roof should come off in the next couple of weeks. He noted that last Wednesday was the last sitting of the Senate at the International Waterfront Centre as Parliament moves to the completed Red House in January.

He said if these legacy buildings had been allowed to deteriorate then children, grandchildren and great grandchildren could only be shown pictures of what it used to be.