One opposition MP told Parliament Friday that it would make good economic sense to scrap the two international summits that Trinidad and Tobago is hosting in 2009 or get participating nations to help foot the bill. Now another MP is saying that the government plans to shut down the Port of Port of Spain for two weeks for the April Summit of the Americas.Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh told the House of Representatives Friday he got the information from a bulletin sent to clients of the Port by its CEO, Wieger Koornstra. Gopeesingh presented the House with the contents of the bulletin which said:
“From April 9-22 the port will have limited use of its quay, since this space will be used to accommodate additional conference and hotel requirements via the berthing of two cruise ships. It is important that port users note that we will be unable to handle any general cargo, paper or car vessels for the period April 9 to 22, 2009.”
The Information caused a stir among members as Gopeesingh demanded an explanation, saying such a development would deeply hurt the entire business community. Gopeesingh called it one of the big secrets the Government was keeping from the population.
"Scandalous" was the response from information minister Neil Parsanlal who accused Gopeesingh of creating mischief. But he did not deny the impending closure or comment directly on it. Parsanlal also denied that planning for the summits is in a state of confusion, insisting that everything is going smoothly.
Parsanlal's reference to planning was ro rebut Gopeesingh's accusations that Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s hand-picked secretariat head for both summits is collecting a salary of $161,000 a month and not doing a satisfactory job.Gopeesingh said Luis Alberto Rodriguez's "incompetence" has led to another high profile member of the planning team to quit.
He said the secretariat’s chief of protocol, Joan Massiah, resigned in frustration. “My information is she was so frustrated by inaction and inefficiency, that she has resigned from the post this week,” Gopeesingh said.
The Trinidad and Tobago government is expecting the U.S. president and other leaders in the Americas to attend the Summit of the Americas in April.Gopeesingh said the government could be embarrass the nation, contending that planning is so bad.
He said up to now there is still confusion about the leasing of cruise ships to serve as floating hotels for many of the more than 4,000 visitors for the summit. He said it it's the same story with the 200 luxury vehicles for transportation.
Gopeesingh demanded that either Manning or Foreign Affairs Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon brief the nation about these matters.
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