tidings
Members of the House of Representatives observe a minute’s silence in Parliament on Friday in honor of Queen Elizabeth’s death on Thursday. – Suresh Cholai
GOVERNMENT ministers fielded a series of final questions from opposition MPs as the House of Representatives held its final sitting of the current parliamentary session on Friday.
The session ended at midnight on Friday.
The new parliamentary session begins at the Red House in Port of Spain on September 12 from 13:30 with a ceremonial opening.
This event will feature an address by President Paula-Mae Weeks to a joint session of the House and Senate.
Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture Avinash Singh said the approval of MPs is being sought from the Toxic Chemicals and Pesticides Board to get the pesticide metaldehyde to kill the giant African snail. He said recent heavy rain had created an environment for the snails to thrive and the ministry was moving from an eradication strategy to management.
While there has always been a task force in the ministry to deal with the problems presented by snails, Singh said for the first time, the ministry is involving expertise from the private sector.
“This is really an issue we need to deal with.”
Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George did not allow a question from Couva North MP Ravi Ratiram about the losses farmers may have suffered due to the government’s alleged incompetence in dealing with the snail.
Housing Minister Camille Robinson-Regis dismissed claims by Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh that every Cabinet member had bought or leased land owned by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) in his constituency.
Minutes later, Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales reminded Indarsingh that a TSTT board, not the Cabinet subcommittee appointed to review its operations, was responsible for decisions on TSTT’s restructuring.
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Annisette-George disallowed a question from Barataria/San Juan MP Saddam Hosein about an unnamed TSTT official earning a salary of $75,000 a month.
Sports and Community Development Minister Shamfa Cudjoe said a question from Couva North MP Ravi Ratiram about accommodation for a tennis academy had not been properly researched. She told Ratiram that the academy has used tennis courts at Nelson Mandela Park in Port of Spain and courts at the police barracks in St James.
While the academy has told the ministry it would seek assistance in finding another location to operate, Cudjoe told Ratiram that the request has not yet come to the ministry.
“The English language is a specific thing.”
Rural Development and Local Government Minister Faris Al-Rawi reiterated his criticism of a UNC boycott of a recent forum with local government representatives as he said two landslides in Naparima constituency will be repaired at a cost of $5.5 million . Al-Rawi told MPs that if everyone accepts the KBB’s approach to local government reform, “we are not going anywhere”.
The House later approved motions to continue work on several pieces of legislation before Parliament in the new session. Among them are the whistleblower bill and the Tobago autonomy bills.
