00:00While the fire service is yet to determine the cause of the blaze at the building formerly occupied by the Club de Vegas Casino,
00:08word on the ground is that street dwellers occupying the vacant building may have been involved.
00:13Port of Spain Mayor Chinualin confirms that it was only last week that the council had discussions on the matter.
00:20The property in question came up for discussion in our committee meetings last week
00:25and the council asked the city engineer and the building inspectorate as well as our public health inspectorate
00:31to pay a visit to the property and make an assessment and to make contact with the property owner
00:38and take whatever corrective action can be taken by the city under the law.
00:44We've also asked both the building inspectorate and the public health inspectorate
00:48to make an assessment of all abandoned properties in the city
00:53and to make contact with the relevant owners and ensure that those properties are maintained in a way
01:01that protects all of the other property owners and users of the capital city.
01:08The mayor notes that dealing with the homeless is a complicated issue, but says the corporation is doing its part.
01:15With respect to the socially displaced in the city, we have been working very closely
01:19with the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services, with the construction of the new assessment centre at South Quay.
01:27I have not yet had an opportunity to meet with the new minister, but I'm sure that we will in due course
01:33and we'll continue to collaborate very closely with the ministry to address the needs of those that are most vulnerable in the society.
01:41The news is expected to be well received by the president of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association
01:47who called on the mayor earlier today to treat urgently with the issue of vacant and abandoned properties in the capital city
01:55as well as street dwellers.
01:57They have enough at their disposal to deal with the persons who might come to, you know, occupy an empty parking lot
02:07or set up underneath a canopy of a building that is vacant and light fires and do their piping of whatever drugs they're doing and so on.
02:18They have enough at their disposal to deal with that.
02:22I mean, complaints have been made by the people in the vicinity of the episode last night.
02:29Those business owners around that area have communicated according to them with the corporation
02:36and nothing has been done according to them.
02:38Were those reports made prior to the incident?
02:40Yes, they claim so.
02:43He's urging the owners of the abandoned and vacant buildings to maintain their assets.
02:48He's also calling on the council to do more in light of what appears to be a trend of divestment away from the capital city.
02:57We are still an excellent destination and there is still a lot worth fighting for with respect to our capital city of Port of Spain.
03:05But it needs attention.
03:07It needs collaboration.
03:08And it needs an understanding that we aren't going to have a city without business.
03:15You cannot use the city as some sort of instrument of social welfare.
03:20Renasa Cutting, TV6 News.
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