Harriette asks for help, not politics, for Parham entrepreneurs, and says he feels their pain

Tevaughn “Peter Redz” Harriette is chastising the Development Control Authority (DCA) for destroying the business place of five Parham entrepreneurs, while advising, “Help the youth and hold the politics.”

Harriette, the United Progressive Party (UPP) Candidate for the St. Peter constituency, where the incident occurred, says the DCA’s action was “severe.”

The government agency demolished the business place over the weekend, reportedly because the principals were expanding the place and did not have permission to do so.  It is alleged that they had been issued warnings by the DCA to stop.   

Harriette, a youth, himself, and a resident of Parham, says he is also very disappointed with Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s remarks about the situation.

Browne has hinted that certain undesirable activities were taking place at the location, and that other residents had made complaints.

Harriette is also critical of those who are making the issue political without genuinely having the youths’ interest at heart.

If the businessmen have, in fact, broken any law, then the DCA should act swiftly in penalizing others who are doing the same thing of which the young men are accused, he says.

In that way, the UPP Candidate says, the DCA would level the playing field.

Harriette says that, to date, he has had discussions on the matter with an officer of the DCA and remains in contact with the youth and their families, “keeping them up to date with his efforts.”

Meanwhile, he reports that he had organized a meeting with a DCA representative and those discussions were set for today, January 18.

Coming out of that meeting, he says, he will actively “seek funding” to help the young businessmen rebuild their property at whatever location they decide.

Harriette says he will also offer any other support he can when the youth begin to rebuild.   

This might be “manpower or an attorney-at-law to provide assistance and understanding of the legislation, to make it clear what they can and cannot do,” or he might offer substantial financial assistance, he says.

Going forward, he says that he, the young men, and their families do not want this matter to be politicized.

“This is personal for me. I grew up with the boys, so I’ve known them for years,” Harriette says, adding, “I feel their pain and I want to advocate for them.”