00:00The Prime Minister, she is extremely busy dealing with all of the pieces on the board and with all of the conversations that we were having, there were other positions and posts she was looking at. She finally decided on this one and here we are.
00:16The new Minister in the Ministry of Housing, Philip Alexander, responding to a question from the media as to why he received his new appointment some four days after Prime Minister Kamala Passat-Bissessa appointed most of her cabinet. Mr. Alexander leads the PEP, which is a part of the UNC-led coalition of interests.
00:33A lot of people don't know, but when I'm not in politics, what I am is a property developer.
00:38The Prime Minister told the media the new trade investment and tourism minister, who also took his oath of office on Wednesday, had been out of the country on Saturday.
00:47But no mention was made of Mr. Alexander at that time.
00:51Senator Alexander's appointment now means that he and Senator Anna Roberts shall both be ministers in the Ministry of Housing being led by Housing Minister David Lee.
01:00We have a list of over 100,000 people trying to get houses in Trinidad and we have so, and people have been on that list for decades, we have so many unfinished projects, the idea was to get it done, put capable, strong people together and see if we could make that list done as fast as possible within the next couple of years.
01:22TV6 used a sort of clarification from Minister Alexander.
01:25It is not uncommon when a new government is elected into office that there may be a review of the list of those who have applied for state housing. Is that something that could be expected this time around?
01:38Well, I think the list needs evaluating because it's a long list and it's an old list. There have been people who have spoken to me over the years that have their number and their name on that list, 25 years.
01:51So, at some point we have to make it make sense and I think that that should be the first order of business to see what exactly is the size of the problem we need to solve and get down to the business of solving it.
02:03Like Minister Roberts, Minister Alexander is known for being very vocal about a range of issues. Will he continue to do so as a member of the government?
02:11I am first and foremost a team player and I am very good at taking my cues from seniors. That said, I know the Honourable Kamala Pasa Bisesa SC knew who I was when she brought me into the mix and yes, there have been a couple of times when she would say, rethink that comment.
02:32And I am figuring out her tenor, her tone and aligning myself with that. There are some things that I see going on in the public space that I would like to respond to but that's not my responsibility right now and I have to be mindful of that.
02:49The new minister in the Ministry of Housing says he looks forward to meeting with the new housing minister and taking his cues from him.
02:56Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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