Port-of-Spain – The Industrial Court of Trinidad and Tobago last week indicated it was having difficulty purchasing basic office supplies such as ink and paper due to reduced allocations. Shortly after the revelation, a similar complaint was made by the Tax Appeal Board, which indicated it too was struggling to meet its expenses.
Chairman of the Tax Appeal Board, Judge Anthony Gafoor, made the claim during the ceremonial opening of the 2019-2020 law term, telling attendees the event itself was on the brink of cancellation due to a lack of funds.
“It is common knowledge that all courts have suffered from reduced funding over the past few years,” Gafoor said.
He added: “In our case, releases of funds have primarily been given for the payment of salaries, resulting in significant delay in meeting other expenditure, even for basic services such as janitorial or security services. The Estimates of Expenditure provide for a very limited budget of some (TT) $8 million, down from approximately $10 million over the past financial year.”
Gafoor said the reduction in funding has resulted in the court being unable to upgrade its technology, used to track cases from the time an appeal is filed to final disposition. He called for funding to be provided.
“This is a plea to the powers that be that this court’s IT infrastructure is badly in need of upgrading since our miniscule budget, relatively speaking, makes it hard to implement any meaningful modernisation. This can only ensure to the benefit of all and make for more expeditious hearings and delivery of decisions, as it will allow us to monitor the progress of cases more effectively.”
The funding shortage has also prevented the court from hiring more workers, and it is now operating with a “skeleton staff”, Gafoor said. He added current staff now operate on a contractual basis.
Said Gafoor: “We are also concerned about the need to offer the genuine incentive of a stable working environment instead of contract employment, which seems to now characterise both judicial and non-judicial bodies, as a satisfied and stable staff is critical to the success of any organisation.”

Port-of-Spain – Residents at ground zero near the now active Piparo mud volcano were warned to remain vigilant as the signs may be pointing to a possible eruption, senior geoscientist and UWI lecturer, Xavier Moonan, said last week.
While the volcano appears to have gone quiet, Moonan said this could be the calm before the storm. He said a similar scenario was noticed in 1997, when there was a three-week lull followed by a major eruption.
Said Moonan: “These sort of expressions are what actually ties every well to the eruption we had back in 1997. There was a lull period of about three weeks. That’s why we are paying attention to this time period to see if this is continuing to match that. The most we can do without any further scientific data is just to see if it continues to match that, and then we will know whether we are expecting a major eruption, or if it is going to go back to slumber again.”
Moonan added the existing cracks on the ground were wider. There were also new cracks, and “a fair amount of gas” was bubbling from the main vent as well as the smaller vents.
He was part of a team from the UWI’s Department of Petroleum Geoscience conducting a seismic tomography 2D survey at the volcano site over the weekend.
Moonan noted the need for more precise data was linked to a requirement for updated and sophisticated equipment to monitor the volcano more accurately and efficiently. He said a proposal was put to the government for new equipment following an eruption at the Devil’s Woodyard in New Grant last year.
He said more sophisticated and updated wireless tiltmeters were needed, which once installed would gather and broadcast information in real time from the volcano site. There was also need for other updated equipment to facilitate more advanced data capture.
Moonan also revealed tests were conducted by the National Gas Company at the Piparo site, which determined the levels of Sulphur were not concentrated enough to be harmful to residents.
Should there be a major eruption at Piparo, Moonan said it is not expect the mud flow will proceed beyond the area covered by previous events. While the houses of nearby residents may not be covered with mud, there was the possibility for structural damage.

Port-of-Spain – The planned maintenance shutdown of the central desalination water plant by the Desalination Company of Trinidad and Tobago in Point Lisas was not meant to target the Hindu community now that Diwali preparations are being made, religious leader Pandit Atma Maharaj said last week. Water restrictions started on Monday, and is expected to end on October 16.
Said Maharaj: “[Trinidad and Tobago] is a multi-religious and multi-racial society, and something is always happening… Eid, Christmas, Diwali. But if every time there is a shutdown, and someone feels they are being victimised, then what happens?”
He added: “The shutdown is an inconvenience, but I cannot say as a religious leader that they are targeting one sector of the community. [It] is divisive to say that. If you go after Diwali, then Christians might say you are targeting them. After, there is Carnival, and that community might argue about that. There is always an event to prepare for in this country.”
Following the announcement regarding the water shutdown last week, consumers began venting on social media at WASA and Desalcott, questioning its timing being near Diwali celebrations.
Last week, WASA’s corporate communications manager Daniel Plenty said the shutdown works are projected to be completed before Diwali, which is expected to take place on Oct 27.
A release from WASA stated: “...[There] were several matters that were under consideration relative to the timing of the upcoming shutdown of the Point Lisas Desalination Plant by [Desalcott] for maintenance works, including the Diwali holiday in late October. The works are projected to be completed before Diwali with normalisation of the pipeborne water supply to permit for preparation by the Hindu community for observance of this religious event... the authority is collaborating with Desalcott to reduce the time for the works to permit normalisation of supply before the scheduled date of October 16, 2019.”

Port-of-Spain – Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley last week gave the assurance to an audience of nationals residing in New York the homeland will “continue to improve under difficult circumstances”. He told the diaspora that while the country continues to experience financial woes, the government would not subscribe to the International Monetary Fund’s prescriptions.
“As difficult as it was [and is], we will not seek our way out by accepting an IMF programme,” Rowley assured.
Rowley added: “It’s not all plain sailing. A lot of decisions had to be made.”
Foremost among the decisions was restructuring the State-owned oil company Petrotrin.
Said Rowley: “Some people are not accepting that we’re going through a very difficult period… We did what we had to do. The oil company, which we own, was not producing enough. The country was carrying this debt.”
According to Rowley, Petrotrin lost revenues of around (TT) $16 billion in the last three years.
“The company can no longer hide these losses. What we did, we broke up the company drastically. We created… created Heritage Petroleum. Since we’ve done that, it’s been doing well,” Rowley said.
His administration also accepted a proposal by the Oilfields Workers' Trade Union to take over the operations of the refinery, saying, “A lot of conversation will have to change, and a lot of investment will have to change. We have to support the union. We’ll give them… a moratorium of three years. The government will do whatever it is to support it.”
He also said despite the country’s financial woes, his administration “did not shut down a single support system”. However, he added, “When you get a loss of (TT) $20 billion every year, you had to clean house.”
Added Rowley: “Ladies and gentlemen, we have challenges, but we’re not out of the woods, but the country did not collapse. What we do in Trinidad and Tobago, we do to preserve the Republican status, because when we took Republic [status], we took a decision to paddle our own canoe.”
During a question and answer segment, Rowley responded to the audience saying his government was doing all in its power to address the spiraling crime situation. He admitted “the level of crime is a problem, but we’re working on it”.

Port-of-Spain – Questions were being raised last week following revelations the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts forked out (TT) $4,000 on a cake for one of Carifesta’s concluding celebrations. The revelation came as a shock in the wake of ministry workers claiming ongoing problems with tightened spending, so much that even basic office supplies were difficult to come by.
The 32 x 40-inch sponge cake was decorated with the Carifesta Trinidad and Tobago logo, and it was the main feature at a thank-you reception for volunteers. The event was hosted by the ministry last week at the National Academy for the Performing Arts.
An employee at the Kiss Baking Company, which fulfilled the contract, last week confirmed the $4,000 cost.
According to the reports, some members of the ministry’s staff present at the function were astonished and upset at the size and cost of the cake. However, other guests marveled at its splendor, with many taking selfies.
One attendee reported that in her speech that line minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly stated the attendees were “all a part of something big, so let’s partake of something big”, meaning Carifesta and the cake itself. Carifesta XIV was held between August 16 to 25 and cost Trinidad and Tobago $43 million to host.
A cost comparative call to PriceSmart, which also houses a bakery, revealed a full sheet cake with dimensions of 18 by 24 by 2 inches costs $320, and serves 80 to 100 people.
One ministry employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was upset at the wastage while citing the lack of basic supplies.
“Even paper clips we didn’t have,” the employee said. Staff members are now grateful for the leftover supplies bought for Carifesta, the employee said.
In March of this year, NorthWest Regional Health Authority staff received a memo warning about toilet paper usage. Last May, employees at the National Library and Information System Authority were told to bring household bathroom tissue and other supplies due to a shortage of funds.
Responding to the apparent extravagance in the purchase of such a large cake, economist Dr Indera Sagewan-Alli said the economy of Trinidad and Tobago was not very healthy at this time.
“A purchase such as this, in the context of the difficulties that people are having with respect to finding jobs or keeping jobs, the fear factor that exists in the society with respect to eking out a very basic living out of it. This is more in line with a level of consumption that we can no longer afford. Government really has a responsibility to lead the charge, and to lead the way in helping the wider society to make the necessary adjustments for times like this such as this requires.”
Sagewan-Alli added: “This does not reflect a government leading the way, and pointing the way [to] how we should be spending in difficult times.”