Friday, March 12 2010

Since it could not find the owner of the Lighthouse of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation served a ‘stop notice’ on Shanghai Construction Group who is building the church at the Heights of Guanapo. The church is said to be owned by Reverend Juliana Pena, the spiritual adviser of Prime Minister Patrick Manning.

Sources said corporation officials ordered Shanghai supervisors at the site to stop construction last week and since then the Chinese workers and equipment have been moved out. It is understood that the workers were relocated to Tarouba where the Brian Lara stadium is under construction. Tarouba, a Udecott project, is the subject of a criminal probe.

Although it has been reported that Udecott had hired Shanghai to build the church, the company and Manning have denied this, with Manning and other Government officials saying any one is free to hire Shanghai. Shanghai, which was invited to Trinidad as part of an agreement with the government of China, has built Manning’s official residence in St Ann’s and the National Academy of the Performing Arts in Port-of-Spain.

Former chief executive officer (CEO) of the corporation Winifred David had disclosed the owners of the church did not have permission to build from the corporation and it would be served notice to stop work.

Since her comments, David has been transferred to the Port-of-Spain City Corporation which Government officials say had nothing to do with the action she took against the church.

Local Government Minister Hazel Manning reiterated this on Wednesday. She said David was promoted, by her move as new CEO to the city corporation.

“There have been five or six CEOs who have been promoted and she is one of them,” Manning said. “She is a very, very good CEO and she has been promoted, that’s all.”

The ministry’s communications manager Deodath Ojah Maharaj said David was previously at the city corporation as a deputy CEO and was moved to the TPRC as CEO. “Now she has been brought back to the city as CEO,” Maharaj said.