Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar should move into the Prime Minister's official Residence and Diplomatic Centre in St Ann's on June 24, a source has said. The T&T Guardian was told yesterday that Persad-Bissessar was aiming to move into the $148 million house on the one-month anniversary of her victory in the May 24 general election.
It also was confirmed that Persad-Bissessar was still residing at a relative's home near Pasea Road, Tunapuna, and her husband, Dr Gregorie Bissessar, was living at the couple's Siparia home. Persad-Bissessar had said on the campaign trail she was not interested in living at the Prime Minister's residence and had raised concerns about the multi-million-dollar project, which was built by the Shanghai Construction Company Ltd, which is owned by the Chinese government.
Instead she had offered the house to President George Maxwell Richards to use after a part of the roofing at President's House collapsed. He declined the offer. Persad-Bissessar has since stated it would be difficult for her to commute from her home in Siparia to the Office of the Prime Minister in Port-of-Spain each day.
She said she would use the Prime Minister's Residence and Diplomatic Centre but she would open the house to the public in a manner similar to the custom of the United States President and the White House. According to Persad-Bissessar, the house would become the "people's house." Calls to her cellphone yesterday went unanswered.