PM
wants local govt elections postponed
By Phoolo Danny-Maharaj, South Bureau
Trinidad Express
Port Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
04 15 07
PRIME Minister Patrick Manning proposes to seek
Cabinet support to postpone the local government
elections, giving way instead for a 2007 general
elections.
With
both local government and general elections also
due this year, Manning said two elections
in the country at the same time "could lead
to a tremendous amount of confusion, which we do
not want".
According to political sources, Manning can postpone
the local government elections up to six months
or a year by a simple majority.
Addressing a crowd of enthusiastic PNM supporters
at the Canaan Presbyterian School on Saturday evening,
following a walkabout in the new Oropouche East
constituency, Manning said he would approach Parliament
shortly and propose postponing the local government
elections.
He
said this would allow the party to "concentrate
on the national general elections and the major
issues associated with that", rather than
seeking to confuse the electorate "by putting
too many issues before the national community at
the same time".
Among the issues which Government had successfully
addressed, Manning said, was the housing shortage.
He said the housing lots that were valued at $120,000
would be made available to former Caroni workers
for about $20,000 or $30,000. The process for the
distribution of those lots is to start this week.
He
contended that the Opposition parties were quick
to say that the houses provided by Government
were only for People's National Movement supporters "but
that is not so".
In the Golconda and Debe housing projects, he
added that some 600 lots would go to the former
Caroni workers.
He said the Government had met its target of constructing
10,000 houses annually.
"We targeted 100,000 in ten years and targeted
ten thousand a year, but we have met our target
and as we build more houses, the demand for houses
is rising,"he said.
Manning added that a new development in the housing
sector was to ensure that all public utility lines
be placed underground. Some lots in Central, he
noted, even have natural gas lines underground,
subscribing to the new standard for development.
Trinidad
Express
Monday, April 16th 2007
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©2007 Trinidad Express. All Rights Reserved.
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