By Jeff Trotman
Controversy has intensified on the proposed Digicel state-of-the-art Linden children’s rehabilitation centre.
Linden IMC Chairman, Orrin Gordon says the project has been put on hold because Local Government Minister, Norman Whittaker “has indicated that he wants to get on board”.
This injection by the minister is foul, Gordon declared at a press conference on 2nd January, adding that three weeks had passed since the minister’s intervention and that he had not contacted the Linden municipality to discuss a way forward for the project.
“So, as far as I am concerned, they have basically put a project on hold for no solid reason. The minister has no locus standi on the matter that is something for the municipality to decide.”
Controversy surrounding the project started one day after the turning of the sod ceremony in mid October when a Special Buildings Committee of the Linden Town Council called for the architectural drawing of the Rehabili-tation Centre to be submitted for approval before Digicel could be allowed to proceed with preparing the land for the project although most members of the Linden IMC at an earlier date had approved the project.
The controversy increas-ed as PPP/C and PNCR councillors attacked one another on aspects of the proposed project while members of the Region Ten Democratic Council at their November statutory meeting voiced concern at the location of the project but abstained from a collective decision, claiming the matter rested in the purview of the Linden Town Council. Meanwhile, a public petition, expressing disapproval of the location of the Centre, was signed by over eighty residents in the wake of contentious letter exchanges in the local newspapers between IMC Chairman Gordon and Samuel Wright, who spearheaded the petition.
Gordon told journalists on Friday that Digicel had subsequently submitted the plan, which has been approved by the town council but he does not believe Digicel would proceed with construction unless it is certain that the project would not be stopped by some authority.
He said that he has kept the minister updated on the matter and that he had even invited the minister to the turning of the sod ceremony.
“So, he knew about it. So, this is what I would call an unwholesome intervention on the part of the minister for a development within a community that because of whatever authority he has and wants to control, he has gone in that direction.”
Gordon said that when the minister assumed office, the impression was given “that he really wanted things to work … and within the last year, or so, with what you see happening in Georgetown and all the other municipalities, he basically has been either used to deliver the mandate of the cabal, or, basically, is a new creature. We in Linden have evidence of that kind of behaviour. I would show you an instance: when the (Kara Kara) toll booth was closed, we threatened to open back the booth and when we got there, the question was asked what would we do with the money? We said that we will bring the money in here (the town council office). Then he said they would block the money from coming here. We said that we would put the money in the bank. They then sent a letter to the bank, telling the bank that only the town clerk and the treasurer can deposit money into the bank. That happened for one year.
“Now, this is what happened last month: both treasurer and town clerk proceeded on leave. The town clerk has turned out back to work and until now, the person who acted has not received her acting letter. The second thing is, that individual should have taken the money to the bank in the absence of the town clerk. The town clerk sent that letter to the Council but it was not approved by the councillors because we did not take away that arrangement; the arrangement was there and the minister was the one, who wrote the letter telling the bank that they must only accept from these two people. If he wants it changed now … he got to change it – not the council to legitimize the nonsense. So, they did not do anything; they just allowed it to happen and so there were a couple of times during last month when the money was not deposited and people had problems getting their salary – but they did not go to the press and make noise concerning their salary. So, that is how ridiculous the situation has gotten.”
Background
Gordon said someone from the Commission for the Disabled approached Digicel to upgrade two facilities in Linden – one for the visually impaired, which was destroyed by fire during the July/August 2012 electricity protest and the other being the Linden Centre for the disabled on Independence Avenue.
He said Digicel visited the facilities and came up with the idea of establishing one state-of-the-art facility in Linden, catering for sixty children. Digicel also offered to train the teachers, install the equipment and provide long term support. The company then contacted the Education Ministry in Georgetown and through Mrs. Hamilton, who has responsibility for that area, met with the Region Ten Chairman, Sharma Solomon, to decide on the project before approaching the municipality for a suitable location .
Gordon said the Linden IMC supported the project because assistance for the two facilities had been sporadic. He pointed out that a lot of children are shut in and are not allowed to socialize and access formal education “because their parents are embarrassed. So, this was an opportunity to provide a pride of place for them. Unfortunately, some persons felt that the facility was not properly placed … and you would have seen letters to the press to that effect. My simple response was that … whatever development is taking place in our community, it is not for Orrin Gordon but for the people in the community and the differently abled also have rights …. So, that was the crux of my position: there’s a facility that is there, the land comes under the management of the Mayor and Town Council and the Council has the right to give to whomever. As a matter of fact, before this Council came in 2003, the land was given to the Legionnaires to take a piece because they had moved the Cenotaph from the site at the Market Square to here (the roundabout). But for some reason, the Legionnaires never got going. Lands and Surveys came … and they took a piece and they put down their thing.”
