building to a religious group.

MPs yesterday agreed to sell the building on Malabar Road to the Faith Tabernacle Church.

Opportunity and Development Minister Jerome Dill recommended the move when he introduced the proposal on the floor of the House.

And PLP MP Stanley Morton said: "I suppose the perfect thing to say about this is `amen'.'' But Shadow Finance Minister Eugene Cox warned that the maintenance costs of old buildings was higher. And he said Government should consider a 25- or 30-year mortgage instead of the proposed 15-year deal.

Mr. Cox said: "They are a church and they're dependent on their tithes...I hope there will be more compassion extended...to ease the financial burden a little more for the Faith Tabernacle Church.'' But Minister of Health and Family Services Wayne Furbert -- a member of the same denomination as Faith Tabernacle -- said the congregation did not expect to get the church for nothing.