However he refused to say much about a house on Herreria Street, St Joseph Village, San Fernando, In concluding her statement in Parliament Persad-Bissessar made reference to the property and asked Manning to say who lives there.
The Trinidad Guardian reported Thursday that Dr Wilfred Chen is the owner of the house at Herrera Street and quoted Chen as saying he has no intention of selling the property.
"I have not sold the house to anybody. I have renovated to move into the house. Forget this. It's not even worth a story," the paper quoted Chen as saying.
The paper said Chen acknowledged that he had heard of talk that Manning had bought the home. Manning said Persad-Bissessar was out of place to dare to speak about the house.
"The question on this property is misdirected to me. I suggest Mrs Persad-Bissessar ask the owners about this property since neither I nor any member of my family have any interest in this matter."
With respect to Persad-Bissessar's statement, Manning said her response was "most inadequate, given the profoundly important nature of this issue to the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago...
"Indeed her statement clouds rather than clears the air, giving rise to very justified speculation that deliberate obfuscation could be in the works in this critical matter of national concern."
Manning said Persad-Bisessar initially claimed to have received permission for the house from San Fernando City Corporation but in her presentation to the House of Representatives Wednesday she said that approval came from the Penal Debe Regional Corporation.
"One could not help but also notice that whilst she did mention some approvals, she was very careful not to say whether construction on the building was proceeding according to approved plans from Town and Country Planning," Manning said.
"This is totally unsatisfactory and therefore I again call on Mrs Persad Bissessar to lay the documents in Parliament for the scrutiny of the Nation and of professionals in the field."
Manning also said the cost changed from $3 million to $4.5 million and noted that Persad-Bissessar offered to sell it to him for a "basement bargain" price of $30 million. "Something fishy is going on," he said.
"You owe it to the citizens of this country to be trustworthy. You need to tell us much more about your Phillipine Palace and let us hope the next time you will truly tell us all," Manning said.
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