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‘Long-overdue national registry will benefit disabled persons’
By Camille Hunte
Story Created: Sep 3, 2014 at 10:30 PM ECT
Story Updated: Sep 3, 2014 at 10:30 PM ECT
Port of Spain
A national registry for persons with disabilities is long overdue in Trinidad and Tobago, says Charlene Ford, advocate of the local chapter of Disabled Persons International (TTDPI) and president of the T&T Association for Differently Abled Persons.
Ford spoke with the Express yesterday during a stakeholder consultation to discuss a proposed register for disabled persons, held by the Ministry of the People and Social Development at the Hyatt Regency hotel, Port of Spain.
The ministry proposes to establish a registry to keep record of the number and needs of persons with disabilities living in Trinidad and Tobago.
The registry will provide data on areas such as causes, types and incidences of impairment and disability, as well as the economic and social conditions of persons with disabilities, their families
and caregivers. Several countries around the world including Australia, Guyana and Jamaica, have already adopted similar registries.
Ford, who uses a wheelchair, says the registry is a step in the right direction.
“Persons with disabilities are at risk. If anything happens, there is nothing in place to protect them. Having a registry will create more awareness of different types of disabilities and the needs of each person.”
Delivering the feature address at the consultation, permanent secretary in the Ministry of the People and Social Development Angela Edwards noted the importance of establishing the registry.
“At present, there is no mechanism to gather information on disabilities in Trinidad and Tobago, and this initiative is a meaningful first step to ensure that socio-economic planning for this community becomes evidence based. This will
allow for greater precision in targeting, improved
allocation of resources, an elevated standard of
living, and effective disaster management for citizens with disabilities,” Edwards said.
President of the Consortium of Disability Organisations Bhawani Persad said the registry would be useful but said the word disability must first be accurately defined.
“Because there is no proper definition, there has been an abuse of the benefits to be derived by some persons who are bent on living free off the State, even with the access of food cards, etc, while persons who really need it are sometimes denied.”
A number of persons with disabilities attended the consultation to voice their support for the registry.
Speaking with the Express, 28-year-old Shamla Maharaj, who suffers from cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, said she was in full support of the initiative.
“This will help the Government to make proper decisions concerning persons with disabilities,” The University of the West Indies graduate said.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Lon ... 68631.html
shake d livin wake d dead wrote:since when expectations and visions are achievements?
RASC wrote:shake d livin wake d dead wrote:since when expectations and visions are achievements?
Dude. Leave him
Minister Karim opens COSTAATT Campus in Sangre Grande
September 4, 2013:
“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance” said Senator the Honourable Fazal Karim, recalling a profound quote by Dr. Derek Bok at the formal opening of the College of Science Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (COSTAATT) in Sangre Grande on Wednesday 4th September. This was his response to questions about the amount of money invested in education in Trinidad and Tobago.
Karim stated that for the first time ever in the history of the country, tertiary education has been brought to Sangre Grande, which according to the Human Atlas since 2008, has had the lowest rate of enrollment for Secondary and Tertiary education in the country. With the introduction of the Sangre Grande COSTAATT Campus, this will change. The new campus is also linked to the El Dorado Nurses Facility, where graduates of COSTAATT can further their training if necessary.
It was also revealed that subsequent to the 2013/2014 budget, COSTAATT will begin construction of a new main campus, on 30 acres of land in Chaguanas. The Minister also noted that Tobago will not be left behind and will experience the integrated campus of the University of the West Indies, the University of Trinidad and Tobago and COSTAATT.
Karim declared that his aim is to increase the participation rate in tertiary education to 60%. He stated that his aim is to not only focus on the participation rate, but also the graduation rate and finally the employment rate. “This is the only way we will reduce crime and criminality.” he stated, “By moving from education into employment.”
http://www.news.gov.tt/content/minister ... gre-grande
New port advances plans for regional growth
Radica Sookraj
Published:
Saturday, September 6, 2014
T&T’s first energy port, which was officially opened yesterday at Point Galeota, Guayaguayare, advances government’s plans to form a regional link with energy companies in Suriname, Guyana and north Brazil. So said Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine who added that US$85 million port was opened to facilitate south-south co-operation, an initiative recommended by Persad-Bissessar in the People’s Partnership 2010 manifesto.
Port of Galeota comprises 1.2 kilometres of new access road, an energy port with five berths and eight hectares of backland with 78.6 metres dredge depth. Ramnarine said construction of the second phase of the port will begin next year at a cost of $110 million once detailed designs are completed.
“It will accommodate an additional seven berths which will enable T&T to participate in logistics activity in the wider Caribbean region,” the minister said. He added that it has already become a “dedicated berth for the T&T Coast Guard” and will benefit energy companies.
“Ninety per cent of natural gas is being produced in the east coast. Right now many companies have their base in Chaguaramas, so they have to sail around the island to get to their rigs. This port will reduce the amount of time it will take to get on their rigs and platforms and so reduce the cost and make the entire east coast energy sector more competitive,” he said.
“The port will facilitate the efficiency of upstream operators as well as facilitate our companies to do business in Suriname, Guyana and North Brazil.” Ramnarine said Galeota was the first port to be opened in T&T in 17 years. Mayaro MP Winston Gypsy Peters said 80 per cent of the labour for construction of the facility came from the Guayaguayare region but when the project started “disruptive elements” tried to stymie the work.
“This is the only energy port in T&T and I am glad that these disruptive elements did not get the opportunity to disrupt this project. I want to say to those people that they must qualify themselves and then come to look for work,” Peters said. National Energy chairman Roop Chan Chadeesingh said the South American mainland had vast potential for T&T’s energy industries.
“The Guyana/Suriname basin is considered to be one of the region’s emerging energy markets. As part of the National Energy’s mandate to promote T&T, a delegation recently visited Suriname for discussions on areas of co-operation in the development of their mining, energy and petroleum industries,” he said. Chadeesingh said Suriname’s extractive industries are diverse, unexploited and full of potential for investors.
“It is anticipated that NE’s recent mission to Suriname will serve as a spring board for future partnerships and interventions with stakeholders in their energy industry and that port will be integral to some of those initiatives.” He said four upstream operators are already using the port facilities—bpTT, BHP Billiton, Trinity Exploration and Production and Repsol. President of National Energy Dr Vernon Paltoo said the port will generate revenue and improve efficiency for upstream exploration and production operators.
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2014-09- ... nal-growth
Austrian firm nominated to build Point hospital
By Anna Ramdass anna.ramdass@trinidadexpress.com
Story Created: Jun 25, 2014 at 10:26 PM ECT
Story Updated: Jun 25, 2014 at 10:26 PM ECT
Austrian engineering company Vamed has been nominated for the execution of the Point Fortin hospital says Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan.
Khan was responding to a question on the Order Paper from Point Fortin MP Paul Gopee-Scoon at the Parliament Chamber, International Waterfront Centre, Port of Spain, yesterday.
Khan said construction on the hospital will begin at the end of the year or early 2015.
Khan said construction equipment for the hospital was approved by Cabinet in August 2013 and a Government-to-Government arrangement was entered into with Austria to construct the hospital.
He said the Austrian government advised that Vamed Engineering was nominated for execution of the project.
Khan said UDeCOTT has already completed a due diligence exercise and both the Health Ministry and the South West Regional Health Authority held a series of meetings with Vamed Engineering in February this year.
He said a functional and architectural concept was presented for the hospital.
Khan said geo-technical reports, cadastral and topographic surveys have already been completed and application for a certificate of environmental clearance was submitted to the Environmental Management Authority (EMA).
The minister said Vamed submitted its cost proposal to UDeCOTT as the project developer for approval by its board.
He said once the UDeCOTT board approves, Cabinet approval will then be sought for a total estimated budget for construction and equipment.
Subject to Cabinet approval, Khan said it was expected that Vamed will be given its contract next month and following that it may take four to six months for a detailed construction design to be completed.
He said construction was therefore earmarked to begin at the end of the year or early next year.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Aus ... 80401.html
rabiesebola wrote:U-Unidentified
M- Madras
L- Lanatedrinker
Page 5 of 92
the fiscal deficit is on course to meet our 2016 objective of bringing the
fiscal accounts into balance; notwithstanding the budgeted deficit of
$6.357 billion for fiscal 2014, a surplus of $1.967 billion had been
realised as at the end of June 2014;
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/The ... 73341.html
UML wrote:Page 5 of 92
the fiscal deficit is on course to meet our 2016 objective of bringing the
fiscal accounts into balance; notwithstanding the budgeted deficit of
$6.357 billion for fiscal 2014, a surplus of $1.967 billion had been
realised as at the end of June 2014;
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/The ... 73341.html
UML wrote:desifemlove wrote:shake d livin wake d dead wrote:so allyuh comfortable with that huge food import bill?? comfortable with sending all we money to Guyana for rice and sugar(which we could produce here)..year after year agriculture get the smallest allocation..
as long dasheen and okro cheap...i ent balling....
our food inflation rate is 3% the LOWEST IN 21 YEARSSSS!!!rfari wrote:16 cycles wrote:Who we borrowing money from and at what rate to finance the budget?
What going on with the stabalization fund?
Hsf get a hardluckboidanboy
actually the PP govt passing legislation to control when money can be withdrawn from the HSFrfari wrote:UML wrote:for the misinformed PNMites among us
we had a $1,900,000,000 budget return/surplus (i think return was the term that was used) in June 2014.
Source?
Ramona Ramdial mentioned it on a talk show this morning.
looks like a BUDGET SURPLUS is the norm under the PP GOVTDeficit budget records small surplus
Sunday, September 15 2013 @ 12:00 AM AST
Contributed by: AleemKhan
The fiscal year (FY) 2013/2014 budgeted deficit amounts to $6.357 billion or 3.6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), down from the $7.7billion or 4.6 per cent of GDP budgeted for FY2012/2013, RBC Caribbean said in its T&T budget report released on Tuesday. "The overall fiscal deficit budgeted up to Q3 FY2012/2013 was $5.75 billion, but in reality a surplus of $375 million was recorded for the period October 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, being the first three quarters of the FY2012/13, on a pro rata basis. This result is based primarily on the combined effect of non-energy and capital revenues higher by $1.6 billion and $409 million respectively, and total expenditure $4.13 billion less than budgeted for the same period on a pro rate basis," the report said.
RBC noted that Finance Minister Larry Howai broke from tradition and gave status updates on various initiatives announced in previous budgets. "The minister acknowledged that many projects were not as far advanced, were still in the planning stage, or took longer to complete than expected. This acknowledgement in itself represents progress, alongside the goals of a balanced budget by 2016, and a top 30 ranking on the Global Competitiveness Index by 2018," RBC Caribbean said.
The bank said "the fiscal budget has grown almost steadily, from roughly $12.22 billion in 2000 to $61.4 billion budgeted for FY2013/2014, which represents an increase of 5.12 per cent over the FY2012/13 budget. Up to Q3 FY2012/13, total expenditure reached $39.67 billion, which is $4.14 billion lower than budgeted (for the period October 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, being the first three quarters of the FY2012/13, on a pro rata basis)." RBC Caribbean Group Economist Marla Dukharan, who authored the report said said this was based mainly on capital expenditure coming in $1.98 billion below target, and spending on goods and services $2.5 billion below budget for the same pro-rated period.
With regard to revenues for FY2013/2014, RBC noted that total revenue is budgeted at around $55 billion - $23.4 billion from oil and $32.7 from non-oil.
"This represents an increase of roughly 8.5 per cent over the FY2012/13 budget. Most notably, the minister announced that property tax will be implemented on a phased basis from July 2014-2017. Up to Q3 FY2012/2013, total revenue reached $40 billion—almost $2 billion more than budgeted for the pro-rated period. Oil revenue was on target at roughly $20 billion, but non-oil revenue came in at $19.4 billion—about $1.6 billion above budget for the same pro-rated period. Capital revenues also exceeded targets, by $409 million over the same period.
Similar to previous budgets, the FY2013/2014 budget is based on an assumed oil price of US$80 per barrel and a natural gas price of US$2.75 per million British thermal units (MMBTU).
The bank noted that for FY2012/13 year-to-date, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) averaged $92 and the Henry Hub (natural gas price) averaged US$3.62.
RBC Capital Markets has forecasted an average WTI price of US$91 and Henry Hub at US$3.75 in 2013, and prices are set to increase further in 2014.
In the FY2013/2014 budget, a growth rate of 1.6 per cent is assumed for 2013, rising to 2.5 per cent in 2014 and throughout the medium term. In the FY2012/13 budget, GDP was projected to reach $166.7 billion in 2012, showing real growth of 1.2 per cent.
"GDP actually grew 0.2 per cent in 2012 to $153.5 billion, which is $13.2 billion short of the target. The economy is reported to have grown by 1.6 per cent year-on-year in Q1 2013, driven by a 2.5 per cent expansion in the non-energy sector, and 0.5% growth in energy output," the bank said.
On the fuel subsidy, the RBC Caribbean report said: "Incidentally, Norway (an oil producer with no fuel subsidy) has the highest premium gas price globally, but out of 148 coun-tries, ranks 11th on the Global Competitiveness Index, while T&T ranks 92nd despite our hefty fuel subsidy. Spending on the fuel subsidy should decline as Caribbean Airlines will no longer benefit from the subsidy for all non-domestic flights, effective October 1, 2013."
In addition, the leading economist wrote, the National Gas Company (NGC) will spend in excess of $2 billion during a five year period to construct over 22 new CNG fuelling stations and convert over 17,500 vehicles. Further, effective January 1, 2014, a tax credit of 100 per cent of the cost of conversion up to $40,000 per vehicle will be granted to individuals and companies. Finally, the bank noted that the penalties for illegal exporting of fuel have been increased substantially, and will also include seizure of the fuel and vessel in question.
http://news.co.tt/public_html/article.p ... 0194218173
UML wrote:Maxi owners on $35m tax rebate: Wives already counting cash
Tweet
Gail Alexander
Published:
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Maxi taxi operators who purchased 25-seater vehicles in previous years will be getting $35 million in rebates from the 2015 budget, as the People’s Partnership (PP) Government seeks to honour a tax-waiver commitment made by the former People’s National Movement (PNM) administration but which was outstanding for the last nine years.
Trade, Industry and Investment Minister, and Minister in the Ministry of Finance Vasant Bharath confirmed the situation yesterday, after Finance Minister Larry Howai announced the concession for such maxi operators in Monday’s budget speech. Howai had said the outstanding payment was owed to drivers since 2005 and would be made.
Allocation by the Finance Ministry of $35 million to make the payment is contained in the draft estimates of recurrent expenditure, one of several budget documents. The document states the payment is in lieu of remission of taxes. Bharath told T&T Guardian that a commitment had been made by the PNM government in 2005 to waive taxes and VAT on purchase of 25-seater maxi taxis.
However, Bharath said the Finance Ministry’s information was that the refunds owed to the operators of such vehicles had never been paid. He said the move to deal with the outstanding issue was made in response to representations by six maxi taxi associations.
Yesterday, the Finance Ministry received from Eon Hewitt, representing executive members of the Association of Maxi Taxi operators of all the routes, thanking Government for the rebate and seeking a meeting to work out the logistics of the payments.
In the e-mail Hewitt stated: “The last 48 hours has been a wonderful experience for us as executive members of the Association of Maxi Taxis in this bless (sic) twin island. The journey was long and bitter but as we come to the end, the roses start to bloom, hearts racing and wives counting.
“Gentlemen, can we look forward to sitting down and working out the matrix to bring this issue to a satisfactory conclusion in the near future? On behalf of all six routes and the association executives, we wish to thank you all for bringing nine years of uncertainty to this point of success. All the best for your future endeavors. Much thanks.”
Contacted yesterday on why the PNM, during its tenure, had not met the commitment to the maxi operators in 2005, former PNM Works Minister Colm Imbert said “a lot of things.” PNM deputy leader Marlene McDonald said she didn’t know anything about the arrangement the PNM had with the maxi owners in 2005 since she had entered the government in 2007.
Caribbean airlines gets $718M
Meanwhile, budget documents also lists transfers from the Finance Ministry for Caribbean Airlines to the tune of $718 million, a $465.2 million increase over the transfer level for 2014. Funds include $11.3 million for CAL’s debt servicing in 2015. Documents on draft estimates of development programmes list an allocation of $75.3 million for the Police Service, which has its own funding.
Recurrent expenditure for the National Operations Centre, which co-ordinates security operations, has also been placed under the Prime Minister’s Office. Its 2015 level is $355.6 million. Recurrent expenditure is also listed under National Security for the Implementation Agency for Crime and Security to the tune of $13 million and $135 million for the Strategic Services Agency. A new item, the Cyber Security Programme, is also being introduced in National Security with a $3.8 million injection.
New bodies being established in the budget for 2015 include the Finance Ministry’s supervisor of insolvency, with $669,000 for recurrent expenditure. A further $1.8 million and $1.5 million are listed for the office of the supervisor and equipment. Another being established in the Energy Ministry is a quarry authority to oversee activities on quarrying. Some $1.7 million is allocated as start-up funding. There are decreases in recurrent expenditure for all regional corporations.
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2014-09- ... nting-cash
rfari wrote:UML wrote:Page 5 of 92
the fiscal deficit is on course to meet our 2016 objective of bringing the
fiscal accounts into balance; notwithstanding the budgeted deficit of
$6.357 billion for fiscal 2014, a surplus of $1.967 billion had been
realised as at the end of June 2014;
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/The ... 73341.html
And what happens for the during 2nd half of the fiscal year?
Edit: financial quarter
PoS port gets scanner to beef up efficiency
Rapheal John-Lall
Published:
Friday, September 12, 2014
A new scanner installed at the Port of Port-of-Spain will improve efficiency and increase trade levels, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday. Unlike the previous system which examined two containers an hour, the new scanner examines 15 containers an hour. “This scanner will provide for port efficiency, border security and the personal security of the men and women who work hard on the port. “The system can detect illegal contraband and prohibited goods in containers rapidly. “It is mobile and can be relocated for quick deployment and is very effective. This will be functional as we go into the Christmas season,” the Prime Minister said at the commissioning ceremony for the Linear Accelerator X-Ray Scanning and Detection System at Dock Road, Port-of-Spain.
Persad-Bissessar said more scanners would be coming in the future. She added: “We have also had four container scanners being donated by the United States Government. “Those are second-hand and they are being refurbished and we should have those coming in and will roll them out in Tobago and other ports.” The People’s Republic of China provided the scanner under a $25 million grant funding agreement.
Although it had been made available since 2003, Persad-Bissessar said serious work to access the grant began only last year when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited T&T. “The grant funding is not a loan and only recently we discovered it was sitting in our coffers. We do not need to repay the grant funding. I said this was free money in a sense,” she said. The Prime Minister said the container scanner would lead to the reduction of clearance time and “will increase port traffic and competitiveness, better and faster detection of irregularities, increase revenue generation capacity and more modern and efficient use of human resources.” She said her administration was taking a multipartite approach to include not only government, business and labour in the running of the port but also other sectors of society. “In the past we spoke of the tripartite approach, now we are looking at the multipartite approach,” Persad-Bissessar said.
‘Initiatives to modernise the port’
Transport Minister Stephen Cadiz said the challenges on the port did not begin during the tenure of the People’s Partnership but had been around for decades. “We have had many issues, including the infrastructural organisation and human resources but these issues have been around for decades. “It has taken this Government to start the renaissance of the Port of Port-of-Spain,” he said.
Cadiz said several short and medium-term initiatives were planned to modernise the port. “Any commercial port which cannot compete in the world, the work will go elsewhere and when that happens there is a problem. “The only way to solve that is to bring the port up to efficiency, like the replacement of outdated equipment,” he added.
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2014-09- ... efficiency
WASA to spend $1.2b to beef up waste plants
Kalifa Clyne
Published:
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Contracts have been awarded in a TT$1.2 billion investment in the rehabilitation of T&T’s waste water treatment plants to allow for a centralised sewerage system. This was announced at a press conference yesterday at Radisson Hotel, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain. The funds, which have been acquired by the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) through two loans from the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), will go toward constructing new plants in Malabar, San Fernando and Maloney.
T&T already has over 200 waste water treatments plants but head of Wastewater Projects at WASA Denise Lee Sing-Perreira said “quite a few” of those were not functioning properly and would be decommissioned. “A lot of the facilities we have are non-functioning or not operating effectively as in some cases waste water will enter the site before being released into the open environment,” she added.
Lee Sing-Perreira said that did not comply with the Environmental Authority’s Draft Pollution Rules. “The new system will be better for the environment and align itself with the EMA’s rules,” she said. Lee-Sing-Perreira said T&T had not seen any improvement in waste water plants in over 50 years. The project, which is essentially a complete restructuring of the country’s current system, will take between five and eight years to complete and will be completed in three phases.
According to WASA CEO Gerard Yorke more than 200,000 people would benefit from the work. He said the projects would seek to expand T&T’s sewerage system to satisfy the increasing demand by citizens. “With respect to sanitation, it is estimated that only 30 per cent of T&T’s population is serviced by centralised waste water facilities, with the remaining 70 per cent being serviced by on lot systems which are mainly septic tanks and pit latrines,” Yorke said.
Contractors have already been chosen to execute the work which is expected to begin by the end of the year. Head of WASA’s strategic planning and investment Alan Poon King said the nature of the work to be conducted would entail excavation and underground infrastructure work. He anticipated that while work continued, residents in some areas would be negatively affected by disruption to traffic but added part of the process would be to consult with residents.
More info
Phase one of loan 2890/OC-TT of US$246.5 million will focus on the construction of two new plants in the Malabar and San Fernando. Phase two will continue integration and expansion of the sewerage network for connection to the new regional plants and phase three would expand the wastewater collection in communities to cover the population in catchment areas.
The other loan—2600/OC-TT of US$50 million—will be used to facilitate the takeover, refurbishment, upgrade or decommissioning of the plant in Maloney. Chinese company Sinohydro Corporation Limited has been chosen for construction of the Malabar wastewater treatment plant and collection system at a total cost of US $96 million. Spanish firm Acciona Agua SAU and Mexican company Atlatec SA de CV will construct the San Fernando plant at a cost of US$101.6 million.
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2014-09- ... ste-plants
nervewrecker wrote:I may have missed it but what do they intend to do with the treated wastewater?
All this talk about agriculture and not a word of using the fertile dewatered sludge? That's maybe for next 5 years budget.
Singh unhappy at SWMCOL’s pace
Tense mood at tour of proposed recycling plant
Rhondor Dowlat
Published:
Thursday, September 11, 2014
The Solid Waste Management Company (SWMCOL) came under fire yesterday from the Minister of the Environment and Water Resources Ganga Singh. Singh threatened to scrap its contract should it fail to meet its deadline for building a warehouse for the new state-of-the-art US$1 million recycling facility. He was speaking to reporters during a tour of Namdevco’s Port-of-Spain compound, the site for the Beverage Container Collection Project.
Singh said SWMCOL had been failing to keep deadlines for certain projects, but said it will deliver with this latest project. “SWMCOL’s excuses are procurement issues, with respect to they have to conform to the Green Fund Procurement requirements, which is very transparent and open. “The warehouse is being built in the Beetham Landfill. The projected date is January 2015 and I hope SWMCOL keeps their deadlines. If they don’t, business would be moved on to someone else.”
Speaking with T&T Guardian, SWMCOL’s general manager of operations Ronald Roach said equipment had already been ordered from New York. “It will be a state-of-the-art facility based on simple technology. Bottles will be converted into a half-inch shredded PET (polyethylene terephthalate) which will help close the loop with respect to the recycling of PET in the country.” Roach believes the recycling plant, the first in the country, will create more downstream industries.
“It will take us much closer to having an established recycling system in T&T.” But he could not give a date of completion. Singh said since the beverage container project was launched in March over 521,000 kilogrammes of beverage containers had been collected, adding that the Beverage Container Bill will go before the Parliament soon. He said there is also a need for a recycling authority for T&T.
“We are hoping that on the bedrock of SWMCOL we create that T&T Recycling Authority. We are still at an incipient stage of the beginning of a recycling authority.”
Engines found in city drains
Government has received a loan of US$120 million for its Sustainable City Programme. According to Singh, part of that loan will be used towards the drainage package plan of the capital city. He said currently they were clearing the drains at South Quay and will soon complete the design for the underground drainage. On Tuesday, Singh visited the PTSC compound to witness the cleaning of the underground drains.
“You would see from 2x4 to 4x4 plyboard and an engine block being vacuumed out from the underground drains,” he said. He also said focus was being given to the mouths of the underground drains.
“The cove area, right next to the lighthouse, we have begun dredging in that area in order to clear the area and beautify it and allow for runoff. The cove ought to be a marina barrage so that it will collect the fresh water and purpose be found for it, but, at this point we are dredging and beautifying.”
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2014-09- ... 0%99s-pace
Army happy with $m for slain servicemen
Gail Alexander
Published:
Thursday, September 11, 2014
The T&T Defence Force has welcomed Government’s move to establish a fund from which $1 million can be drawn to add to the estate of any serviceman or woman killed in the line of duty. The TTDF issued an immediate response after Finance Minister Larry Howai announced it. Chief of Defence Staff Major Gen Kenrick Maharaj said he was pleased.
He said: “The T&T Defence Force commends the Government for acknowledging the magnitude of the contribution and the level of sacrifice made by members of the Defence Force and state protective services.” He said the proposal “underscores the State’s recognition of the risks faced daily and the ultimate sacrifice men and women of the Defence Force and the protective services are called upon to make and have made to protect and ensure the safety of each citizen of this country.
“While this allocation can in no way compensate for the loss of a soldier, sailor, airman or woman, it will go a long way in easing the financial burden that goes along with the loss of a breadwinner and will also provide a brighter future for those loved ones left behind.”
While he hoped no member of the force would ever have to access these funds, he added: “The reality is that our troops live and operate in an environment where we need to prepare for the worst. This gesture by the State is indeed welcome and we are most grateful.” Maharaj said the many roles of the Defence Force included providing operational and tactical support to the police through joint patrols, protecting the borders and ensuring peace and stability in the country.
“This requires a constant and consistent level of dedication and loyalty to promote the peace and stability within our society,” he pointed out, saying the proposal was a necessary initiative, given the environment in which the protective services worked.
“The threats and dangers which these members face on a daily basis are both unpredictable and unprecedented. We as servicemen and women have pledged our lives to the service of the nation and this initiative is certainly in keeping with international best practice,” he added.
He said similar initiatives had been established in the United States and Canada and those countries “and now ours, have recognised the value in persons who dedicate their lives in protecting the state and ensuring stability, peace and a sense of freedom that can be enjoyed.”
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2014-09- ... servicemen
hustla_ambition101 wrote:nervewrecker wrote:I may have missed it but what do they intend to do with the treated wastewater?
All this talk about agriculture and not a word of using the fertile dewatered sludge? That's maybe for next 5 years budget.
How will their financiers with chemical companies who import tons of fertilizer survive
Moonilal also aroused the ire of PNM’s Marlene McDonald, who began shouting at him and pointing her finger (so much so that Rowley had to put a hand on her arm to restrain her) after Moonilal told her the Government had built a police post in her constituency.
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2014-09- ... y-mcdonald
Government to increase local rice production
12 June, 2012 05:22:00
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June 11, 2012:
Rice production in Trinidad and Tobago is expect to triple from $83 million a year to $249 million a year.
Minister of Food Production, Lands and Marine Affairs, Vasant Bharath said his Ministry will do all in its power to make that a reality.
Speaking at the launch of the third annual Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture and Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Centre media awards for Excellence in Agricultural Journalism, Bharath noted that his Ministry recently launched a new booklet called Investment Opportunities in Agriculture.
In an attempt to increase rice production by 2015, Bharath said 2,000 acres of land would be distributed for rice production.
The Minister noted that this country has a food bill of over $700 million and the majority of the country’s staples, such as rice and wheat were imported.
He noted that rice was being produced locally but not enough to satisfy demand. He added that approximately 95 percent of locally consumed rice is being imported.
The current market size of rice, as outlined in the booklet, is 33,000 tonnes which has a value of $83 million per year. He said the opportunities along with the incentives available for investors were outlined in the booklet.
http://www.news.gov.tt/archive/index.php?news=11120
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