Moonilal wants Todd Street housing project relocated

A former housing minister has called on the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and, by extension, the Government to cease the proposed housing development project within the Todd Street area in San Fernando.

Dr Roodal Moonilal called on Government to take the project to another area, citing several reasons like traffic congestion and the removal of green spaces.

"They want to use a parcel of land to put three HDC apartments. This must be madness. I cannot believe people go to sleep and wake up in the morning and think of a plan like that to put buildings in this crowded area," Moonilal said.

He said that by building the units, the HDC would be removing green space and aesthetics and denying children a playground. Earlier in the month, several residents had also called for the project to be stopped.

Moonilal made the comments on Sunday at the UNC’s weekly press conference at the Office of the Opposition Leader in Port of Spain.

The conference was streamed live on various social media sites, including Facebook and YouTube.

As a former minister, he said he supports the acquiring of lands for the construction of units.

Emphasising that the HDC should take the project elsewhere, he made several suggestions. He said there are lands in Retrench, Golconda, and Debe.

He added, "The HDC and Udecott have about 77 acres of land near the Brian Lara stadium (in Tarouba). They can use a small portion of that for housing if they choose. That is within five minutes away from San Fernando."

"Why would you want to put people in a crowded, congested part of the city? What is the interest in putting them there? For votes? They would not vote for you in any case, so forget that."

He said there is also land near the Teachers Training College in Corinth and the Ste Madeleine Secondary School for homes.

He quoted from several documents, including a letter dated March 23 signed by the Education Minister.

It was addressed to HDC’s chairman Noel Garcia regarding the non-objection to use approximately one hectare of unused land designated for institutional purposes off Todd Street. It said the ministry did not object to the use of the land.

The Opposition MP referred to another letter from the Town and Country Planning Division (TCPD), dated April 7 and addressed to HDC’s managing director.

However, the division did not recommend that the land be used as proposed saying it did not conform with the present planning policy.

Any further recommendation of the request, the letter read, must be accompanied by written correspondence from the Education Ministry indicating it has no objection to changing the land from a school site to residential use.

On July 29, the permanent secretary of the Education Ministry wrote to HDC managing director Jayselle Mc Farlene. The letter said construction and development in the middle of San Fernando West and San Fernando Central Government Secondary schools would add to noise pollution and traffic congestion and change the area’s natural aesthetic.

"What madness is this we see here? The Education Minister in saying go ahead, the permanent secretary of the ministry gave an outline against it," Moonilal added.

Moonilal acknowledged that acquiring land for housing has always been a challenge considering 48 per cent s of the island is in vegetation, and people live on 52 per cent.

He said while the Peoples Partnership coalition faced that challenge, they worked with several organisations to resolve the issues.

Some of the organisations were the Caroni (1975) Ltd Estate Management and Business Development Company Ltd. He said the administration also purchased lands from the private sector.

On the proposed project, the HDC has said it would ensure several things are done in keeping with best practices.

These include engaging a traffic management engineer/consultant, and TCPD’s approvals on the appropriate land use.