Camille McEachnie
The Tobago Council of the People's National Movement (PNM) will focus on providing housing opportunities for low and middle-income Tobagonians in the next four years, should the party return to power in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) on January 25, 2021.
The party rolled out its plans in its manifesto at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex on January 7 before a limited in-person audience and virtually on its social media platforms and the local media.
The theme of the manifesto 'Building Tobago Together' spans the period 2021-2025.
Presenting the party's housing plans, candidate for Providence/Mason Hall/Moriah Kwesi Des Vignes said the PNM aims to provide Tobagonians with homes.
"We are going to implement the Tobago Housing Unit, and that housing unit will have the mandate to deliver at least 2,000 housing service lots...to young Tobagonians. We are also going to be looking at developing over 400 homes and 250 rental units."
He said the THA would use new and existing Public-Private Partnership agreements to facilitate its new housing plans.
He said stakeholders for the project have already been identified, and the project will be undertaken using private funds.
Candidate for Lambeau/Signal Hill and the party's Tobago Council leader Tracy Davidson-Celestine said the manifesto addressed food security, business development, foreign direct investment, the digital transformation of the island, autonomy, and internal self-government.
She said the overall plan is to expand Tobago's economy so that it could make a greater contribution to the nation's Gross Domestic Product.
She said the party has always had Tobago's interest at heart as it built 17 new health centres, two hospitals, and more recently, spent $200 million to mitigate the impact of COVID -19.
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