Uproar from Hindu pundit over

HOUSE PADDING PROJECT IN SANDO WEST 

THE Rowley Government is moving surreptitiously to construct houses in a densely crowded area of San Fernando. 

The 109 planned apartments in three Housing Development Corporation (HDC) towers could make the marginal San Fernando West constituency safe for the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM). 

A major uproar over the project has come from Pundit Rudranath Maharaj, of Todd Street Hindu Mandir in the district of the proposed construction. 

Pundit Maharaj, an attorney and law school lecturer, has branded the housing scheme as “naked politics”, and promised to publicly object. 

There has been no resistance to the project from opposition politicians. 

San Fernando West is currently represented by the controversial Faris Al Rawi. 

The government has made no mention of the housing plan and there have been no known public consultations. 

But Pundit Maharaj stated that technical officers have been doing work on the site. 

The development is in an area of five schools and a kindergarten, in addition to commercial operations, and a long-standing residential community, all of which contribute to traffic gridlock, especially during peak hours. 

“That is the worse place to put a community,” the Hindu cleric stated. 

He said the infrastructure is inadequate for a housing project. 

Pundit Maharaj said the available green space in the community should be utilised to construct temporary school accommodation when overdue repairs to two nearby institutions are being undertaken. 

“Keep it as a green space,” he advocated. 

“Ensure our traffic does not get worse but that you make plans to alleviate it.” 

An upset Pundit Maharaj called for “good, unbiased effective leadership,” and criticised the current crop of politicians. 

“They have failed us miserably,” he added. 

He stated that politicians “are holding onto office tenaciously and not realising that we, the people, are suffering.” 

The HDC is already constructing houses at Carlton Lane and Cypress Hill in San Fernando.  

The government is also seeking to erect 12 eight-storey buildings, with 504 apartments, on lands currently utilised for the prized St. Augustine Nurseries. 

The area is also congested with houses and traffic, and there are no nearby schools or other support services. 

A civic objection to that project is currently before the court. 

That venue is in the swing St. Joseph electoral constituency, currently represented by Terrence Deyalsingh. 

In his Budget address, Finance Minister Colm Imbert announced several housing projects, to be financed by three government-guaranteed loans totalling $1.5 billion. 

The Housing Ministry is now headed by Camille Robinson-Regis, a candidate for the post of lady vice-chairman of the PNM, Leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives, and a Rowley insider.