Questions for the City Council

I was invited by a friend in Marabella to look at a video of the Marabella Market. Yes the Marabella Market! So if you live in the Borough of Chaguanas and you think your market is bad, you should really take a look at the Marabella Market. If you live in Chaguanas and you are among those pressing for City Status, oppose it immediately. All you will get for it is higher land and building taxes. There are no benefits. There will be no improvement to facilities. You will live in a place like San Fernando, devoid of representation. But you will live in the City of Chaguanas, just as we live in the City of San Fernando. And your representatives will get higher salaries.

So just to get back to the Marabella Market. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, the dilapidated sheds, dogs sleeping on the tables, chicken feathers stuck up in what passes for a ceiling, pools of water everywhere, moss, the works. I asked my friend if he was sure we were not looking at video footage of a Haitian slum. You too must see this video, so I'll see what I can do about including clips on this site.

This brings me to the questions for the Mayor and Members of Council and the Chief Executive Officer.

1. Seven years ago, Mayor Gerard Ferreira described the Marabella Market as a failed UNC project and he promised to build the new market. What is the status of that project? Mayor Ferreira of course is best known for having made Harris Promenade narrower. A main thoroughfare with several large schools, churches, the street was narrowed to make way for a promenade with wide steps that no one can use. Pardon me, but the vagrants do find the sleeping accommodation very comfortable. No wonder the promenade is now popularly known as FERREIRA'S FOLLY.

2. Just before Christmas last year, a town planner from Port of Spain, Margaret McDowell was paid to relocate vendors from High Street. She supervised the painting of road spots on Mucurapo Street. The Princes Town taxis were brought to the Library Corner to create more congestion. The vendors are still on High Street. How much money was spent to relocate the vendors? How much money was collected from the vendors? What is this CITY Corporation doing about relocating the vendors? Has the Mayor ever seen the police walking up High Street and vendors folding up their tents in anticipation?

3. The Chief Executive Officer must tell us why contracts were given to a member of the San Fernando City Corporation and the value of those contracts. The sums must relate to the two companies linked to the Councillor: Marryshow Maintenance Services Limited and Hasoma Company Limited. The CEO must also tell us what other Councillors and employees of the Corporation are in receipt of Contracts. (See article on WHO IS THE CONTRACTOR NOW?)

4. One contractor built a drain in Battoo Avenue that took water into the community instead of into the river. Was that Contractor paid? How much extra did it cost the Corporation to correct the problem? As a matter of interest, how did that person get a contract in the first place?

While the Corporation will spend plenty money celebrating Independence and probably much more on Republic Day and City Day, the City moves closer to achieving DUMP STATUS. And do you know that the people of Chaguanas and Arima want this for themselves?