The Ministry of Social Development and Family Services is on track to complete its new ten-storey headquarters along Tragarete Road by August 2026.
Line Minister Donna Cox toured the $151 million project on Wednesday, emphasising that its completion is expected to lead to significant savings on rental costs.
“Some of our, the places that we rent, we pay as much as $100,000 per month. Therefore, it’s a lot of money that will be saved when we move into this building. And as we say, the Government, it’s not just the Government, I look at it as taxpayers’ money because it’s all of us who will be paying the rent for some of these buildings.”
She expressed satisfaction with the progress of the project, which is currently 20% complete and aims to centralise the Ministry’s offices across the country.
“I’m happy with what I’ve seen. I’ve seen the progress with the car park. I believe it’s a five-storey car park. Yes. And this is a ten-storey building to hold the administration of the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services, which is much needed because we are scattered all over Port of Spain and parts of Trinidad.”
Addressing concerns about the timing of the project in relation to the April 28th General Election, the Minister dismissed claims that it was an election tactic.
“No, well, at the end of the day, people will always talk. And this building, well, you know how long it started. And this was in the making. You don’t just start to build a building of this magnitude in a day or when an election is called. So, therefore, I would just ignore the sceptics at this time.”
Minister Cox said the new building promises to be a significant step forward in improving the working conditions for staff and the services provided to clients.