At least 25 State Boards to be in place by Thursday

At least 25 State boards would be in place by Thursday, including the boards of state-owned Petrotrin and the Regional Health Authorities, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told reporters Monday during a media scrum at the Trinidad Hilton.

She reiterated that the delay in appointing boards has been the need for ensuring that members who serve are the most suitable for the positions. Persad-Bissessar added that persons who serve must be committed to transparency and accountability.

She said she would be very cautious about how people spend money in state boards. “It is something I would continue reviewing but I am not of the view at this time that Trinidad and Tobago should go along that route to allow persons to have access to really huge sums of money in the State boards.”

The Prime Minister leaves for London next Tuesday to attend the Commonwealth Economic Partnerships Forum (CEBF), which takes place on October 13 and 14. She will be back on October 15.

She is attending the CEPF in her capacity as chair of the Commonwealth. The discussions will focus on: 

• Global growth through economic partnership 
• accessing Commonwealth financial markets 
• the Americas: Leveraging the Commonwealth.

The CEPF meeting will identify areas of action to for economic co-operation in relation to trade and investment within the Commonwealth.

This is the Prime Minister's fourth overseas visit since taking office in May this year. Her first trip was to Jamaica for the CARICOM summit. The two others were to New York. 

The last visit included an address to the UN General Assembly. She also attended the UN Millennium Goals conference and participated in several high-level meetings with world leaders.

Cabinet will decide on Thursday who will be acting Prime Minister during Persad-Bissessar's four-day trip. Works Minister and UNC chairman Jack Warner acted for her in July during her first trip overseas. 

The others who held the post are Finance Minister and COP leader Winston Dookeran and Labour Minister and MSJ leader Errol Mc Leod.

The other leaders of her People's Partnership do not hold executive positions and are not members of Parliament.

Some critics have said the Prime Minister is spending too much time on overseas travel. However, our research shows that her predecessor, Patrick Manning, had a busier - and costlier - travel schedule.

Read the story: Manning spent more than $4M for private jets in 27 months