President of the T&T Society of Planners Lennox Austin says stiffer penalties and proper enforcement of the law are needed to save historic buildings like the Greyfriars Church of Scotland.He said so at a press conference by the Joint Consultative Council (JCC) at the Professional Centre Building, Fitzblackman Drive, Port-of-Spain.He said the fine for demolition without a permit was $2,000 and described that as a "slap on the wrist."
Two Sundays ago, the northern wall of the Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain, landmark was torn down on the order of its owner Alfred Galy.The Port-of-Spain City Corporation has since obtained an injunction from the High Court to prevent demolition work from going forward on the historic church.
Austin, who said the issue was more than just proper planning, added: "The owners made a choice to give up the property and all this was happening while discussions were taking place between ministry officials and concerned citizens."A sad part in all of this is the National Trust. It so happens that the National Trust was reconstituted about three or four days before the demolition started on Greyfriars.
"Apparently the Ministry of National Diversity had sough to establish the reconstitution of the National Trust but instead of reconstituting it when it was due they set up a committee to develop policies and this took about three of four weeks of valuable time."So when it was actually set up apparently things were in train already for the demolition," Austin said.
He said there were many lessons to be learnt from the incident as the new owner was in discussion with the Town and Country Planning Division for development and demolition."Development would have encompassed plans for demolition and restructuring and all those discussions took place the same week that the demolition occurred."The second fiasco was that the individual went head with the demolition without getting any permit for demolition.
"Demolition is considered development and he had to seek a permit for demolition. The fine for this might be about $2,000 so he too took a calculated risk in terms of saying, 'What is $2,000?' So he would be ahead of the game anyway," Austin added.The Greyfriars Church of Scotland has a history dating back to the 1800s.