Gadsby-Dolly: PP wasted $3b on incomplete school construction

EDUCATION Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly has said the former UNC-led People's Partnership (PP) coalition government wasted over $3 billion on schools which it never finished during its tenure.

She made the comment in the House of Representatives on June 13 as she responded to a question from Couva North MP Ravi Ratiram about an early childhood education centre (ECCE) in Waterloo.

Gadsby-Dolly said it was one of several schools which the PP rushed to finish before the September 7, general election but never did.

She added that there was no clear plan to construct any of those schools and over $3 billion was wasted in that effort.

Gadsby-Dolly also said when the PNM assumed office after that election, it also found the PP was owing hundreds of millions of dollars to contractors with respect to the matter.

With respect to the Waterloo ECCE, she said it was now 85 per cent complete.

On the schools she referred to, Gadsby-Dolly said government spent over $600 million to complete them.

She added that the actions of the PP left many communities "in a state of angst."

Earlier in the sitting, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said his ministry was in the process of examining different plans to improve traffic congestion in Chase Village.

He added that the ministry was also providing support to the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation (CTTRC) with respect to the replacement of a bailey bridge at Roopsingh Road, Carapichaima.

Sinanan said the bridge fell under the CTTRC's purview.