PoS is our home: residents not eager to move

East Port of Spain has been home for generations of residents in the capital city.

And some of them, who live at Jacob Hill and Piccadilly Street, say they are not prepared to move to make way for a developed Port of Spain.

“I born and grow here, Dr Rowley coming and say he coming to put out my mother? My mother is 87 years. She say she not moving, and I not going a place,” said 62-year-old Piccadilly Street resident, Dawn Clement.

Others think it's time for progress. "I can't stop that evolution," said Greg Cyrus.

The Prime Minister first announced the plan to revitalise the capital on November 16, outlining an initiative that is 16 proposals, over decades, old, but one that must get done, he said at a forum on urban development at the Hyatt Regency. High-rise apartments, a waterfront park, and even tram cars will mean a new quality life for the city, he offered.

Dr Rowley said, “This Government believes that the capital city of our nation is a major economic engine which, if oiled and maintained will create increased opportunity and benefit for a wide cross section of the national population.”

It's a multi-billion dollar proposal that needs private sector help to fund, said Dr Rowley. And when concerns arose, he assured there was no pushback to the plans, speaking at the sod-turning ceremony for the Health Ministry’s new headquarters at Queen’s Park East, a week later.

The Prime Minister said he was shocked that people were claiming there was no consultation on the project. He said there was a major public consultation in September 2018, attended by 220 people, at at the Government Plaza.

But for Clement the price will never be right to move.

The redevelopment of her area is in the first phase of the plans to re-engineer the capital. As she spoke with Sunday Newsday, amidst the screams of her parrots, her niece advised her to leave. The advice was quickly rejected.

“This is a family home. This house is over 100 years old. The plan was always to develop that side (pointing to buildings on Duncan Street).

"I not going anywhere. I don't want any compensation; I am not going!”

Sharing in her resolve was a mother of three, including a physically-challenged son. The woman, who did not want to be named, said she recently spent over $100,000 renovating her home and now to be told she may have to leave was not welcome.

“I real uncomfortable with that (the prospect of leaving). I spend plenty money here. As a single parent I use whatever resources I get to build something for my children. I have easy access to everything. My mother can get a taxi right there to go the hospital, and when I need to carry my son to the doctor, a car can pick him up right outside. Where I going?”

Of the people Sunday Newsday spoke to, one person was accepting of the idea of vacating his home. A retired Housing Development Corporation (HDC) employee, he said his Jacob Hill home was given to him by his aunt, who was paid in the 1970s to vacate the area. He said as long as he is relocated, he is fine.

The plan to re-engineer the capital was first announced in March last year. Then housing minister Edmund Dillon told the country at a post-Cabinet meeting about the Piccadilly Street Urban Regeneration Project. A key part of the project was the demolition of the old police station and constructing a multi-storey complex.

The Housing Ministry then said the vision for the development was to use it as a catalyst for positive change, using crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) principles. The ministry said then that the East Port of Spain Development Company, which was established for the development, is not a part of it.

Whenever things finally get going, Cyrus said he will move once the price is right. He said he has been hearing of plans to relocate residents from his grandfather, who bought the property when it was still a tenement yard.

“Since I is 19 or 20, I hearing that. I is 40 now. Since in the 1970s money was paid to people to move out.

"If they come correct, I must be available to move with no stress. I say a $30-$35 million” Greg said of his 204-206 Laventille Road property.

According to the proposal, some of the challenges hoped to be addressed in redeveloping the capital include proper lighting, traffic congestion, revising outdated policies, cleaning and policing.

The short-term plans for security concerns are lighting and policing, while long-term plans include job opportunities, counselling and rehabilitation programmes. Phase one of the plan is to clean and wash the city, improve policing in the capital, light the city and address homelessness.

The plan includes six projects – the development of Memorial Plaza (residential, commercial, office, parking and recreational spaces) at Keate Street, the Salvatori site (Independence Square), Piccadilly development, re-developing the now decommissioned PowerGen site (Wrightson Road), City Gate (South Quay) and a Foreshore green space, including Invaders Bay and along the coast of the Audrey Jeffers Highway.

In 2012, three communities in the Port of Spain area were earmarked to benefit from a US$196,496,000 (roughly TT$1.3 billion ) development fund from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The IDB was to have to injected US$50,351,000, while the National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) and the Water and Sewerage Authority were to contribute a total of US$2,600,000. The remaining US$143,545,000 was to be funded by “multiple sources.”

The Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative (ESCI) plan was developed after 40 people planned for about a year to revitalise the city. Among the 40 were former Port of Spain mayor Louis Lee Sing and former finance minister Winston Dookeran. The three areas involved were East Port of Spain, Belmont and Gonzales.

According to the executive summary of IDB’s Sustainable Port of Spain Action Plan, the ESCI was aimed at providing technical expertise to Caribbean governments and assist in refining and implementing the country’s urban development plans. Not much has been said since last month's announcement, and there have been no signs of any physical activity in the city, except for the hospital sod-turning.

But 68-year-old Patricia Williams said she is hoping for the best and relying on God.

“It is a great plan; I love beauty and I know my Prime Minister loves beauty. God is a God of beauty.

"I living here 36 years now and many times heard about it. People came and take names.

"I am really hoping for the best. Whatever comes my way I willing to accept. I will not fight.”