00:00The government is pursuing changes to the Public Procurement Act, which will see, among other things,
00:06the exemption of some categories of procurement from the legislation, including public-private partnerships for housing.
00:13It's a move Housing Minister David Lee says will redound to the benefit of the tens of thousands hoping for
00:20public housing.
00:21We have a waiting list of over 100,000-plus people who are waiting on homes.
00:27We have a dispensation.
00:31We have a mandate led by the Honorable Prime Minister, the Honorable Kamala Prasad De Sesso,
00:37to deliver homes for the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
00:41And we will not play politics in delivering homes for the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
00:46That is why tomorrow in the Parliament, the changes that will take place in the procurement legislation is critical,
00:55not only for delivering homes, but delivering proper governance to the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
01:03The announcement comes in the wake of the Office of Public Procurement,
01:07putting a stop to the HTC's award of $3 billion in housing contracts earlier this year,
01:13citing selection and vetting concerns.
01:16But the Housing Minister says the proposed amendments have nothing to do with that matter.
01:22This is about governance, as I keep saying, governance for the people to deliver at a faster rate.
01:31We are in government now 18-plus months, going on 19,
01:36and we have a mandate to deliver under the Ministry of Housing,
01:39deliver homes for the people of Trinidad.
01:42And we will do that.
01:44We will not be perturbed and we will deliver houses for the people of Trinidad.
01:49And I ask you all to have some patience tomorrow, and a lot more will be said.
01:54The Housing Minister was speaking at an official viewing of the HTC's recently completed
01:59Canopies at Quora development, which was initiated under the previous government.
02:06MP4 Tunapuna Raj Alexander, who was in the service of the TTPS at the time,
02:11hinted at some possible underworld pushback to the project.
02:15Very early when this was being built, I was called to this location
02:22where there were some persons who decided that they didn't want here to be built.
02:28But as usual, I had a conversation with persons, and then they changed their mind.
02:37That's as far as I could go with that.
02:39The development will be home to about 100 residents.
02:43I urge the persons who would be selected to come here to be good.
02:51Be good to yourself, be good to your neighbor, be good to the community.
02:58No matter what walk of life you come from, be good and enjoy your new homes.
03:06Renasa Cutting, TV6 News.
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