00:00According to Dr. Soifat Angus, the political leader of the IDA, the contracts were awarded
00:06to build 250 houses in Tobago, yet the beneficiaries are contractors from Trinidad. She argues
00:13this arrangement does little to support Tobago's households and local businesses.
00:18Tobago contractors hire a lot of people from Tobago and that is how the economy stays afloat.
00:25So if you are sending that much back to Trinidad, I mean, that's what the whole development budget
00:36for the year. If you're sending that much back to Trinidad, then it means that a lot of the money
00:44is of that money is now going to be spent in Trinidad and not in the Tobago space.
00:50Secretary of Housing Ricky Jofield recently updated a post-Executive Council media briefing
00:57on the projects, stating that the Ryseland housing development in Canby will cost $141.9 million
01:06and the Adventure Phase III development in Plymouth is valued at about $139 million. He added,
01:14the 130-unit Ryseland project has been awarded to California Stockoo, while the 120-unit Adventure
01:22Phase III project is being handled by CSSL Limited. However, Soyfat Angus calls the decision unreasonable
01:31and unacceptable.
01:33And I know they are attempting to justify it according to OPR rules, but it's not justifiable
01:41at all. And it can be done differently. And they have to, you know, find a way to repay their
01:52benefactors
01:53in somewhat of a different way. You can't put the whole of Tobago at ransom.
01:59The General Contractors Association of Tobago has also issued a statement expressing its
02:05disappointment in the procurement approach utilized, but it notes it stands ready to work with the
02:11THA moving forward. On a separate matter, Dr. Soyfat Angus also weighs in on the controversial
02:17installation and removal of the radar in Tobago. She notes that it was initially justified as a measure
02:24to assist law enforcement with crime and narcotics trafficking.
02:28I think the only persons believing their own lies would have been the government because on the
02:35international media and even local media, it was highly discussed that the, you know, radar was just
02:43part of a geopolitical positioning and that it was just to remove the administration in Venezuela.
02:53Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
02:57.
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