PM Kamla says gov't not halting all megaprojects

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar pledged on Tuesday that her Government will keep all the promises made during the general election campaign.

These include the expansion of the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) program and the establishment of a Ministry of the People.

She told reporters she will immediately get to work on an action plan for dealing with crime and cutting back on the murders in the country. She has already delivered on a promise to establish a ministry of the people, which is headed by Caroni Central MP Dr Glen Ramadharsingh.

During the election campaign the People's Partnership promised that one of its top priorities for Trinidad and Tobago would be to tackle crime in general, including white collar crime.

In that regard, the prime minister plans to convene the National Security Council Wednesday.

Persad-Bissessar also assured reporters that her government will not arbitrarily end all the megaprojects started or planned by the Manning administration, saying it would be "premature and foolish" to say which ones the government will keep since such decisions can only be made after a proper review.

"I think that will be very detrimental to our country should we take such an approach,” she said.

“We need to get a state of what is happening with those ongoing projects and those projects which can go forward will go forward. We do not really want to have a slowing down of the economy by stopping everything.

"The ones that can go forward we will take forward those we have concerns with we may have to stall them a while for review,” she promised.

Persad-Bissessar also promised a full review of all State enterprises, and a particular focus on the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT), which is one of the special purposes companies set up by the previous government.

UDeCOTT might have been the straw that broke the back of the Manning government because of allegations of runaway corruption and a lack of transparency and accountability.

Commenting on the future of members on state boards, the prime minister said members of some boards have resigned.

"I don’t know what others have done. It is up to the individual. Certainly as a government we will be looking at all the state enterprises to get the best fit and talent to those state boards.”