Cogging again: Cabinet’s plans to transform Tanner Street already outlined in UPP’s 2023 manifesto, Tabor points out

The Gaston Browne Cabinet’s plan to transform Tanner Street into
a pedestrian mall appears to be an idea stolen from the United
Progressive Party (UPP).

According to the September 28 Cabinet Notes, the Executive has
agreed to a development plan that will “allow brightly coloured
uniform shops to be located along the roadway in an effort to make
the City of St. John’s more attractive.”
 
But this was among the many plans outlined in the UPP’s 2023
manifesto, points out Damani Tabor, the Party’s public relations
officer.

And while the Administration has indicated its intentions to
undertake the project, Tabor is not optimistic that it will have the
follow-through.

He says the Browne Administration is a talk shop that seeks to
hijack other people’s ideas. However, it is unable to execute them
properly – if at all – and is usually incapable of maximizing the
public benefits.
 
Meanwhile, addressing the condition of the commercial centre, the
Executive says that owners will be encouraged to improve the
aesthetics of their buildings.

Accordingly, Tabor is asking whether these owners will be receiving
any incentives from the Government to spur this beautification
drive.
 
On a related matter, Tabor says that sanitation in St. John’s needs to
be addressed urgently, and he calls for the promised central sewage
system – for which monies were already obtained from the Kuwaiti
Fund – to be completed.