The Attorney General says the Government is about to sign off on the purchase of the former FCB building in Port of Spain for accommodation of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The AG spoke on the matter during Tuesday's meeting of the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament.
00:00What is in trade at the moment is an intended purchase by the government through the Ministry of Finance of that former FCB building that straddles St. Vincent and Abercrombie streets for the accommodation of the Director of Public Prosecution staff.
00:17An apparent confirmation from Attorney General Reginald Lamour in the Parliament on Wednesday of an end to what had been an impasse between the government and Director of Public Prosecution, Roger Gaspard, for new accommodation for the office of the DPP.
00:32Last year, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley raised the concerns the government had been paying millions of dollars in rent for the past three years for executive office space at Park Street in Port of Spain for the DPP's office, which had been unoccupied.
00:47The DPP refused to move his staff from their present offices in downtown Port of Spain on Richmond Street to the offices at Park Court, citing security concerns identified in a special branch report.
01:01On Wednesday, Attorney General Reginald Lamour was responding to questions from Barataria San Juan MP Saddam Hussein about a newspaper article regarding the former FCB building as the Standing Finance Committee examined the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of the Attorney General for the government's 2024 financial year.
01:20The FCB building on St Vincent Street, can the Attorney General indicate whether or not there's a lease arrangement entered with that building for the DPP's office north?
01:30There is no rental arrangement or lease arrangement in place.
01:36The AG then spoke about what he called a recent fact that has been confirmed.
01:41The Minister of Finance is about to sign off on a purchase of the FCB building and that purchase is to purchase that building for the accommodation of the DPP.
01:54A valuation report has been obtained and the building is therefore going to be purchased by the state and made available to the DPP.
02:04The DPP has been invited and on four occasions his staff, including the DPP himself on one occasion, visited the property and is satisfied with the property.
02:15When MP Hussein sought clarification about a $5.1 million allocation for rental office space for the DPP's office for fiscal 2025, the Attorney General made reference to operations of the DPP's office in different parts of Trinidad and Tobago.
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