What about that Tarouba stadium?

We heard recently from works minister Colm Imbert who was boasting that the first phase of the light rail project for Trinidad and Tobago is a go and the contract contains one of the tightest anti-corruption clauses "in the world".

Imbert was also telling reporters he would show it to them. He hasn't. And probably because no one asked to see it.

But what about other contracts, especially that Tarouba stadium, the one that was supposed to be ready for the big World Cup cricket event? Does it also have an airtight contract?

We ask because we find it amazing that it has been under construction for an eternity and now we hear Sports Minister Gary Hunt saying he doesn't know what it would cost or when it would be finished.

He told reporters July is an "ambitious timeline". The government, he assured the attentive scribes, was monitoring the project very closely for "progress and cost."

And what exactly is the cost? Well the honourable minister did not know.

"I don’t have the exact figure, but there is a projected final cost of around $500 million, just a ballpark figure because of the many variables on such a large project.”

And neither could he give any figure on cost overruns, which have become a feature of every government project. The Scarborough hospital comes to mind.

But in trying to explain the cost and delay he raised another important issue. "It is a large and complicated project on challenging soil type and a myriad of challenges have been encountered on developing this facility," Hunt said.

Indeed it is.

Any farmer who worked the land around there would have told you that long before the government embarked on the project.

But surely, before undertaking such am ambitious and costly project someone would have had some kind of engineering report to determine, first, whether such a facility should go there, and more important, if the soil structure could support it.

That is what we expect from a responsible government that understands the need for planning. A previous government built a high school in a cane field in Waterloo in nine months by driving hundreds of piles into the earth.

Perhaps the Manning administration could have checked the files to understand how such a feat is possible.

Five hundred million dollars is a lot of money, especially when the nation is facing a food crisis and government is not taking any decisive action to deal with it other than make promises and blame other factors, including local supermarket owners.

What is happening in Tarouba is a reminder of many other projects that the Manning administration past and present have undertaken without proper accountability. The abandoned Labidco project in La Brea, with millions being wasted, in one example.

But it is not alone. How long has the Scarborough hospital been under construction? And hundreds of millions later, it's still not finished. Then there is that Oncology unit that has also cost millions and led to a legal battle with Ellis Don, one of the most reputable construction firms in the world.

It is time to tell the government that it cannot spend taxpayers money without accountability. It is not good enough for a government minister to just brush away an issue feigning ignorance about the details.

A half a billion dollars might be pocket change for a leader who lives in a $148 million mansion, protected by private security guards, having lavish gourmet meals every day and flying around the place in a private jet.

But it is a lot of money for the masses who are clamouring for some relief, living in poverty and trying to eat and save their families from starvation. The people of Trinidad and Tobago deserve better and it is time they start demanding it.