Alexander protesting Red House: The roof still rusty

While many gathered at Woodford Square to celebrate the re-opening of the Red House on Friday, Phillip Edward Alexander, leader of the Progressive Empowerment Party, dared to protest against what he believes was a misuse of taxpayer money.

Alexander, along with supporters, gathered in the square in protest of the renovations done to the Red House. He claimed the $441 million spent on renovations did not serve any purpose and could have been better spent elsewhere.

He also said, for the amount of money government spent, it wasn’t an improvement on the old building. “Look at the roof. We just spent half a billion dollars on this and the roof is still rusting,” he said. “What did we spend it on? What did we get? Half a billion dollars for paint and plaster?”

The PEP head knocked government for spending money on “vanity projects” such as the renovation of the Red House, Whitehall and President’s House when that money could have gone elsewhere.

“This is a building that, when money is flowing we could have renovated, but we have a perfectly good waterfront Parliament. We will now have to spend more money behind it at a time where the Minister of Finance can’t find money to pay public servants. How does this add up?

During his protest he was cautioned by police to maintain a safe distance. Police were seen speaking to him as the procession was conducted, and he, along with the rest of the crowd were made to step back from the fence facing the red house on the western side of the park to behind the walkway.