Chairman of the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation Nafessa Mohammed has fired back at MP for San Juan/Barataria Dr Fuad Khan and Local Government Minister Chandresh Sharma charging that their refusal to move ahead with the San Juan market is politically motivated.
Mohammed said Khan's remarks at a stakeholders' meeting on Wednesday were "ridiculous" and "unfounded." Khan said construction of the market was a large project and should fall under the ambit of the Ministry of Local Government and the MPs for the area which would prove more effective. He added the corporation failed to develop the market in the last eight years. Construction of the market into a modern, mall-type facility stalled earlier this year. Mohammed assumed office after the People's National Movement (PNM) won the majority of seats in the corporation after the local government election in July. She said Khan attacked all regional corporations by trying to strip them of their responsibility.
Mohammed said: "His comments were ridiculous and clearly he is out of touch and ignorant of the role of the corporation.
"It was unfair of him to make statements that nothing happened in the corporation for the last eight years. As the MP he ought to have known better." She said under the Municipal Corporation Act all regional corporations had the responsibility of markets. "It shows the contempt he has had for the corporation because it is PNM-run," Mohammed said.
She added since she assumed office she tried to engage in a collaborative effort with all MPs to deal with issues affecting the burgesses in the region. She said, however, Khan made promises to return her phone calls but never did. Mohammed also was critical of Sharma's statements that the allocation of $52 million to construct the market was unreasonable. Sharma said markets were underutilised, saying they were used once or twice a week, but Mohammed said it showed his lack of understanding of the needs of the people of the San Juan/Laventille region.
She said: "It is an insult that $52 million is too much. He has been refusing to embrace the concept of the market after we have held extensive consultations with stakeholders to bring the market to international standards." Mohammed claimed Sharma said vendors needed only a shed. She said: "We in this region have gone pass that way of thinking in terms of a market. It is not a normal market. "The vendors are expecting a modern day and mall type facility and this is what they had an input in facilitating."
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Chaguanas Mayor Orlando Nagessar said the Chaguanas market was built under former Local Government Minister Dhanraj Singh and was handed over to the borough. Nagessar said he agreed with Khan that the San Juan market should be taken over by the ministry.
Calls to Port-of-Spain mayor Louis Lee Sing's cell phone went unanswered.