The Beetham Community Centre was vandalised and the Government is now seeking to rebuild it at a cost of $8 million.Minister of Community Development Winston "Gypsy" Peters made the disclosure in Parliament in response to a question on the Order Paper from Laventille West MP Nyleung Hypolite.Referring to the vandals as "they", he said: "Anything to do with iron. They took out all the windows. They thief the bricks, the floor. And nobody saw when the people were tiefing."
He said NIPDEC was asked to engage a contractor for the project which was estimated to cost the Government $8 million. He said they were looking at a December 17, 2014 completion date.Hypolite asked if there was no security at the centre. Gypsy replied, "We always have security in Trinidad and Tobago. We have a police force."
Asked if residents were consulted about the new centre, he said: "I do not know residents have to be consulted further. They were consulted when it was being built."When they were tiefing, nobody consulted them," Peters said.