Allen Chastanet in his desperate and futile efforts to discredit the progressive work of the Philip J Pierre administration, continues to reveal a shocking level of financial illiteracy.
His recent uninformed criticism of the Halls Of Justice (HOJ) project is a case in point.
According to Chastanet in a recent interview with Guardian News paper of Trinidad and Tobago, the rental cost of the Halls of Justice is $11.00 per sq ft, with another $10 sq ft to be added when the finance cost of the project is factored at an “interest rate of 5%”.
The following are details of the project that allows for a simple calculation of his attempt to determine the rental cost based on the construction cost of the project:
- Construction Cost of the property is $EC146 million.
2.The period for which the property will be leased to the government before it owns it is 12 years.
3.The square footage of the property is 126345 sq.ft.
The annual cost of the property is $146,000,000/12= $12,166,667
Monthly cost $121666,667/12= $1,013,888
Monthly cost per sq foot $1,013,888/126345= $8.02
So where did his $11 per sq ft come from?
And then he makes the reckless and stupid claim that with an “interest rate of 5% “ the financing cost would require another $10 per sq ft to be added to his $11 per sq.
Chastanet’s calculations, as usual, are clearly incorrect. One is left to ask, is Chastanet a financial illiterate, a purveyor of untruths or is it both? Some say in response that it is the result of earning a mixed-up degree. Not even Tsunami Frank could correct him with all his failed accountant schemes! I guess he’s only good for selling out our pensioners to Cabot!
