$5m to fix PM's official residence, Udecott representative says 'it's liveable'

THE argument between the former and present administrations over the condition of the Prime Minister's official residence in St Ann's continues, with Minister in the Office of of the Prime Minister (OPM) Barry Padarath revealing it would take a $5 million investment to bring the compound up to standard.

While a Udecott representative confirmed work needs to be done, she said the residence is ''liveable."

In a live video from the residence posted on the parliamentary secretary in the OPM Nicholas Morris' Facebook page, Padarath attributed the price tag to a Udecott representative assigned to the office for several years, Wendy Rock.

"I want to introduce you to Ms Wendy Rock who has been responsible for the management and the upkeep and so on of the residence and the Diplomatic Centre. Now these officers would not have had responsibility in terms of the budgeting that goes with this, all they would be responsible for is making a request to ensure that the maintenance of the facility, the property, would have been properly done.

"Ms Rock is now sharing with me as she shared with us on Monday when she met with the permanent secretary and Mr Morris, that it would require an additional $5 million at a time when the country is experiencing grave financial issues. There has been very little maintenance in terms of work to be done at the residence and the diplomatic centre. This is a shell of what we left in 2015."

Padarath said he was not blaming any of the employees, but rather the leadership who delegated funding.

When asked by Padarath during the video, Rock said they immediately addressed some of the issues raised by the new administration in a meeting on May 5 and the additional money had been requested.

"We would have informed of the challenges in addressing and the status of the works that have been done and the progress that is being made and also the recognition that after being in a residence for ten years that's been lived in, that there is always significant work to be done and a request for funding would have been made to address these issues."

She said the $5 million request would cover upgrading furniture and fittings and to modernise the building.

"This facility is 19-years old and it has been maintained, it's not been upgraded and the $5 million, in the scheme of today's world is meagre but it would be able to bring this residence up to the standard that is required, but it's liveable."

In a post to his Facebook page on May 8, former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley shared a video with the caption: "The Prime Minister’s Official Residence as I left it recently."

Rowley stepped down from his prime ministerial portfolio on March 17 and passed the baton to his right-hand man, Stuart Young. Young held the position until a 26-13-2 defeat at the April 28 polls.

The video gave a point-of-view walking tour of several rooms in the residence, such as bedrooms, the gym, the chapel, and the kitchen. It all appeared to be in good condition, barring the pool which was not filled with water.

Apart from being a security breach, Padarath said Rowley's video did not reflect what they met when assuming office.

"When we left here, meaning the former prime minister, we should have left here in a condition that was befitting the Office of Prime Minister. A man who spoke so much about the public's interest and the public's purse is this morning relying on a doctored and altered video that does not reflect the reality."

He complained about the condition of the grounds, gaping holes and raw sewerage mixed in with stagnant water in the moat, loose pool tiles, mouldy and rotted baseboards and other infrastructural problems with the house. Padarath, who is also the Minister of Public Utilities, said he is going to get WASA to address the raw sewerage issues at the compound.

In the video, he also refuted Udecott's May 7 release that all scanners at the diplomatic centre were functional except those for baggage.

"I am not surprised by Udecott and their utterances because many of them inside of Udecott, they are agents of the People's National Movement."

Padarath visited the security checkpoint at the compound's entrance, where he showed that the pedestrian scanner was also non-functional.

"You'd notice there's no beeping, there's no lights, there's no functionality when you walk through the pedestrian scanner. It does not work. It is down."

Newsday could not reach former Udecott chairman Noel Garcia for comment. An email was sent with questions to the company's corporate communications team.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has been working from her Phillipine home in South Trinidad since being sworn in on May 1, owing to what her administration said were the unsuitable conditions at both the official residence/diplomatic centre and Whitehall. The former PNM administration had since refuted those claims.