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SAN Fernando mayor Robert Parris has written to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar appealing to her to save him from “embarrassment” and prioritise restoration of two of the southern city’s most treasured but neglected historic buildings – the old San Fernando police station building and the Carnegie Free Library.

The letter dated October 6, 2025, follows the PM’s recent assumption of responsibility for heritage buildings, the National Trust, and the National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS) as part of a ministerial realignment.

Parris, a PNM mayor, congratulated the prime minister on her expanded heritage portfolio, describing it as “a renewed emphasis on the stewardship of our national patrimony.” He said the shift presented “a unique opportunity to bring long-standing local aspirations into tangible realisation.”