Gov't town hall meeting | Don't disturb green spaces, build affordable houses, says MP Thwaites

Central Kingston Member of Parliament Ronald Thwaites characterised the National Heroes Park as a "parking lot, dust bowl, and a cemetery", as he pressed home the need for development in the area. 

Speaking at a town hall meeting on Thursday evening, Thwaites said that while he is in support of the general development of the area, he is urging the Government not to disturb the green spaces there.

"So we are looking for uplift, and hopeful and willing to collaborate with that," Thwaites said.
He also urged the Government not to take away people's land, which he argued they are entitled to possess.

"Everybody here wants development; everybody here wants a better house to live in; everybody wants, also, to keep the community over the years and not to have it dismantled and destroyed," the member of parliament charged. 

Thwaites suggested that the Government should not build houses that the residents cannot afford, thus forcing them to leave the area. 

"We respectfully suggest that the National Housing Trust, which is bursting with money, so much money that the Government can take some every year for other purposes, help us, give us a loan to fix up our house and make it as nice as anything you will build," he said.

As he made the suggestion, he was heckled by some members of the audience who accused him of playing politics at the town hall meeting. 

However, the former education minister said the residents want to stand side-by-side with the Government as the development moves forward. 

"We pledge our support, once the issues and concerns of the people are taken into account," he added
 

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