–Minister Rodrigues contends; says Norton is in no position to criticise PPP/C’s track record

IN just under three years, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration has allocated some 21,600 house lots, three times more than what the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) allotted in five years, Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues has said.
Rodrigues, during her weekly programme, Making the Case, referenced the government’s track record as a direct response to criticisms of the ongoing housing drive by Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton.

Rodrigues went a step further to highlight that out of the 7,000 house lots allocated by the coalition during its tenure in office, 2,000 were allotted in 2020, when the citizens were contending with the APNU+AFC’s efforts to influence the results of the elections.

She said: “[Most of those house lots] went to themselves and people who were known to them.”

Owing to this track record, Minister Rodrigues said the opposition members, especially Norton, have no right to criticise the housing drive.

“The housing sector is perhaps one of the worst performing sectors under the APNU+AFC government during the period 2015-2020,” Minister Rodrigues said.

She added that despite the coalition inheriting a “vibrant housing sector,” they reduced it to a mere department and neglected the true potential of the housing ministry.

Labelling his comments as untruth and “lofty language,” Minister Rodrigues said that Norton should revise his statement that the coalition has a “proud track record.”
“I don’t know which track record Norton is looking at and speaking very proudly of,” she said, noting that he is acting oblivious to his party’s actual track record.

“They did not see the importance or relevance of the housing sector…” she said.

According to Minister Rodrigues, the opposition has failed to understand the ability of the housing sector can play in transforming a person’s life.

She further noted that, the PPP/C has always understood what the housing sector is capable of and that it does not only empower and provide financial freedom, but it can also give people a sense of security.

Minister Rodrigues said that the opposition has been spreading untruths about the development of housing schemes within their time, and there is evidence to prove that no money was allocated in the budget for infrastructure for three years.

“The first time they allocated monies for infrastructure development under the capital budget was in 2019 during the period when they were a caretaker government,” she said, noting that the coalition was toppled by a no-confidence motion in 2018.