Speaking at a luncheon of the group, the Works and Infrastructure minister stated that is what it cost to repair and complete the "monuments" of the last regime before they could be occupied.
"Those monuments you see there, we have to find $4 billion to fix them, to complete them," Warner said. "In some cases, some floors have to be changed and so on," he added.
Warner took the opportunity to do some heavy politicing. He said Port of Spain has deteriorated badly despite its dedication to one political party for over 50 years.
"Even when there was money in the country, even when we had two economic booms, Port of Spain did not benefit," he said.
Warner was also critical of the nation's mediocrity in leadership.
"Town can burn to the ground as long as we could fete," he said, adding that the acceptance of mediocrity in leadership has allowed the People's National Movement (PNM) to "get away with mismanagement for so long".
"This is why our capital city is not in the pristine condition it ought to be in. Not enough people, not even the ones most directly impacted by the poor state of affairs, have taken the time out to demand good governance," he said.
Warner said now that the People's partnership government is trying to change that culture, there is resistance from everywhere.
"Those monuments you see there, we have to find $4 billion to fix them, to complete them," Warner said. "In some cases, some floors have to be changed and so on," he added.
Warner took the opportunity to do some heavy politicing. He said Port of Spain has deteriorated badly despite its dedication to one political party for over 50 years.
"Even when there was money in the country, even when we had two economic booms, Port of Spain did not benefit," he said.
Warner was also critical of the nation's mediocrity in leadership.
"Town can burn to the ground as long as we could fete," he said, adding that the acceptance of mediocrity in leadership has allowed the People's National Movement (PNM) to "get away with mismanagement for so long".
"This is why our capital city is not in the pristine condition it ought to be in. Not enough people, not even the ones most directly impacted by the poor state of affairs, have taken the time out to demand good governance," he said.
Warner said now that the People's partnership government is trying to change that culture, there is resistance from everywhere.
"They are threatening everywhere to shut down the country. They want pay increase now. Fix the 20-year-old landslide now. They want road, light, water now. Where was all this noise over the last decade?" he said.
The buildings in question are the Ministry of Legal Affairs tower on Richmond Street, the Government Campus, the Board of Inland Revenue building, the Customs and Excise building and the Ministry of Education tower.
UDeCOTT Chair Jearlean John told reporters, "The buildings were left in abeyance because, essentially, work was at a standstill since no board was in place. Now that the board is there, it will resuscitate the projects and the buildings would be outfitted."
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