It appears as though Member of Parliament for St Michael East Trevor Prescod won’t have to fight to keep houses being built in his constituency for residents there after all.
Two-and-a-half months after he publicly opposed Government’s plan to use 16 housing units under construction in Tichbourne, St Michael to temporarily accommodate persons displaced by Hurricane Elsa in 2021, Prescod said a resolution had been reached.
In an interview with Barbados TODAY, he said that based on recent comments by Prime Minister Mia Mottley, he was of the view that the soon-to-be-completed units would be allocated to his constituents.
“They have not completed them yet so I am still waiting to see what will be the final decision, but based on some pronouncements that were made during the Barbados Labour Party’s Annual Conference, I formed the opinion that the Prime Minister seemed to be seeing very much eye-to-eye with me on how those houses should be allocated and who those houses should be allocated to,” Prescod said in a telephone interview, although not disclosing what Mottley had said.
However, he admitted that he had not met with the Government since making his position known last October.
“There would be no need to because my position is unchangeable, so there would be no need for me to have a meeting if I got the word from the Prime Minister that the houses that were constructed there are for the people in St Michael East.
“The Prime Minister is fully aware of the mammoth demand that is coming from my community because of the amount of homeless and landless persons that live inside the community itself. It is probably one of the poorest pockets in St Michael…. It is not just that they don’t have money but they aren’t even allowed to enjoy the social amenities that other people would enjoy, as a result of not owning anything. There is not even any room for improvement or borrowing money from any financial institutions to help improve the quality of life that they live,” Prescod maintained.
The outspoken MP was heavily criticised for his view that the housing units should only be for his constituents, with some people suggesting that the units should go to those in urgent need of help.
But in response, Prescod said he had promised housing solutions to his constituents over a decade ago.
He contended that if the Government was committed to providing thousands of housing solutions for Barbadians, the allocation of 16 units should not be a bone of contention.
“I don’t subscribe to that logic. This is a Government that committed itself to building 10 000 houses. I am of the opinion that if you are building 10 000 houses in five years, I should not have a major controversy over 16 units. It is a non-point,” Prescod insisted.
“These are units that I promised these people way before 2007…. You know how many people I told I would try and help them? You know how many people got put out of rented units across my constituency during that time by landlords and by the court? You know I had to be running around and asking people across my community . . . to help these people? I won this seat too long and my commitment is to the people of my community and as long as I satisfy them I have done my job and I am not going to retreat on these issues.”
The post House settlement? appeared first on Barbados Today.