A cascade of resignations has completely dissolved the board of the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) in Trinidad and Tobago, a development that unfolded over the span of just two recent weeks. The exodus began with three core members stepping down: board chairman Anil Gosine, director Dr. Anand Chattergoon, and member Sinanan Dass, all of whom had received their official appointments to the body in the prior year. Gosine cited personal, undisclosed reasons for his departure when he spoke to local outlet the Express at the time of his initial resignation, declining to share additional context. Chattergoon, by contrast, noted he was stepping away to advance a national-level initiative that he argued would deliver tangible improvements to the country’s entire public healthcare network. In the days following these three exits, every remaining board member also submitted their formal resignations, leaving the SWRHA with no sitting governing body in place. Per the Regional Health Authority Act’s second schedule, a properly constituted SWRHA board must hold between seven and nine members, all formally appointed by the national President. In a recent phone interview with the Express, Chattergoon shared that he took action the moment the number of remaining board members dropped to five, well below the legal minimum quorum for valid operations: he sent a formal letter to Health Minister Lackram Bodoe and copied Prime Minister Keith Rowley via email to flag that the board had ceased to be a legally recognized entity. “I warned the minister explicitly that he was in significant jeopardy,” Chattergoon recounted. “Without a functioning board acting as a check on the chief executive officer, any unlawful or improper decisions the CEO makes will have no governing body to serve as a buffer, and the minister will be held directly liable for those missteps. I flagged that this scenario could lead to embarrassing, legally fraught outcomes that would put him in professional and political trouble.” Chattergoon emphasized that his outreach was motivated by personal regard for the minister, rather than a desire to confront or criticize, and that he did not expect a formal response to his correspondence. He outlined that under standard SWRHA governance rules, the elected board holds exclusive authority to set organizational policy, oversee long-term strategy, govern internal operations, and take disciplinary action against the CEO when required. With no board in place, the health minister will be forced to assume full interim oversight of the SWRHA’s operations. “The law clearly states the CEO reports directly to the board, so my biggest concern is who is left to hold the CEO accountable when there is no board in the room?” Chattergoon explained. “That is an extremely high-risk situation: an unsupervised CEO running the entire regional health authority with no formal oversight mechanism, and every choice they make now falls directly on the minister’s shoulders.” He also noted that the Medical Professional Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MPATT) had previously raised formal objections to a specific physician appointment at the SWRHA, a process that per internal policy requires explicit board approval. With no governing body in place, the CEO now has unilateral power to sign off on executive and senior staff appointments without independent review, a loophole Chattergoon warned could quickly expose the authority to costly legal challenges. Chattergoon clarified that there was no coordinated, collective decision for all board members to resign at the same time, so he had no insight into the personal motivations that led other members to step down. For his part, he said he had grown increasingly uncomfortable remaining in his board role, and chose to resign to dedicate his full attention to rolling out a standardized client feedback system that he hopes to implement across every regional health authority nationwide to improve patient care quality. When the Express reached out to Health Minister Bodoe for official comment on the dissolved board and the urgent calls to appoint a new governing body, no response had been received at press time.
标签： Trinidad and Tobago
特立尼达和多巴哥
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Bodoe: $33m for CDAP drugs
During a Thursday session of Trinidad and Tobago’s Standing Finance Committee, Health Minister Dr Lakram Bodoe delivered key updates on public health spending, ongoing medication access challenges, and national emergency preparedness while fielding targeted queries from Diego Martin West MP Hans Des Vignes. Bodoe confirmed the government’s fiscal 2027 budget projection for the Chronic Disease Assistance Programme (CDAP) pharmaceutical costs sits at $33 million, marking a notable uptick from the $29.9 million expended on the programme’s medications in the 2026 fiscal year. The hearing was convened to conduct line-by-line scrutiny of the Ministry of Health’s upcoming budget allocation. Des Vignes opened his line of questioning by pressing for clarity on whether the recently revised CDAP medication formulary would resolve persistent supply gaps that have disrupted care for patients managing chronic conditions including cardiovascular disease and various forms of cancer. In response, Bodoe outlined that the administration completed a full review of the long-running CDAP list to phase out older, less effective drug formulations in favor of more advanced therapeutic alternatives, while keeping the total number of covered core chronic disease treatments at 52 items. He emphasized that 49 of the 52 listed medications are currently in steady supply, with only three narrow chronic disease categories facing intermittent shortages at the time of the update. The nationwide CDAP network serves roughly 300,000 registered citizens across 289 partnered private retail pharmacies, according to the minister. Bodoe acknowledged that some patients may encounter out-of-stock notices at their nearest local pharmacy, but noted that formal cross-pharmacy coordination protocols are already active to redirect patients to nearby locations with the required medication on hand. He cited a recent case reported to his office the Wednesday prior, where a resident unable to access their prescription at their neighborhood pharmacy successfully secured the treatment at a different participating outlet through the established referral process. Bodoe also reassured the public that clinically equivalent alternative medications are available for all items facing temporary supply disruptions, to prevent gaps in patient care. Shifting to specialized care allocations, the minister confirmed a dedicated $35 million line item has been earmarked exclusively for oncology radiation therapy services, covering treatment costs for local cancer patients receiving care at designated public health institutions. When Des Vignes raised concerns over whether the $1.145 billion allocation to the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) would be sufficient to cover full staffing rosters, consistent drug stock, and uninterrupted operations at the St James oncology centre, Bodoe confirmed the budget line is structured to cover all personnel salaries, medical supplies, utility costs, security services, and operational expenses for the facility, and would be fully adequate. He extended the same guarantee of sufficient funding to the North Central Regional Health Authority, following a parallel line of questioning. The final segment of the exchange addressed emerging global public health risks, after Des Vignes referenced a recent confirmed human fatality in France linked to the Shamonda virus – a pathogen spread by biting midges that historically primarily impacted livestock populations. Des Vignes pressed the minister on whether Trinidad and Tobago has a coordinated response plan in place if the virus were to reach the country’s borders. Bodoe clarified that the national Disaster Preparedness Coordinating Unit focuses primarily on natural disaster response, while all communicable disease surveillance and outbreak response protocols fall under the oversight of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer, before confirming that the country has all required frameworks in place to mount a rapid, effective response if the virus is detected locally.
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HEAT AT THE HEARING
A tense, at times testy, session of the national Standing Finance Committee unfolded yesterday, as Opposition legislator Colm Imbert launched a rigorous line of questioning directed at sitting Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo over proposed fiscal 2027 budget earmarks for the Tobago House of Assembly’s economic portfolios, prompting committee chair Jagdeo Singh to intervene and urge Imbert to avoid overly petulant conduct during proceedings.
Imbert’s first line of scrutiny targeted a proposed 80% drop in dedicated funding for Tobago’s tourism and hospitality support sector, which would shrink from the $5 million disbursed in fiscal 2026 to just $1 million in the upcoming 2027 budget cycle. The veteran opposition MP emphasized that tourism is the lifeblood of Tobago’s local economy, framing the sharp cut as a potentially devastating blow to small hospitality operators and local tourism stakeholders, and pressed Tancoo to provide a formal, public justification for the downsized allocation.
In a forceful rebuttal, Minister Tancoo pushed back hard against the framing that the reduced line item represented a pullback of government support for Tobago’s tourism ecosystem. He clarified that the full $5 million 2026 allocation had been fully deployed to deliver a suite of targeted, time-bound pre-planned tourism initiatives that had already reached completion, and the new $1 million 2027 allocation was earmarked to roll out entirely new, complementary programming for the sector. Tancoo went a step further to accuse Imbert of deliberately misrepresenting the budget figures to manufacture a false narrative of crisis, stating that claims of a drastic, destabilizing cut were nothing more than a misleading illusion. He stressed that standard budget practice does not require automatic, identical line-item renewals for programs that have already fulfilled their mandated objectives in prior fiscal years.
Not content with questioning the tourism allocation, Imbert then turned his attention to a reported 30% reduction in the government’s small and micro-enterprise loan guarantee program, a flagship initiative designed to lower barriers for local small business owners to access commercial financing from major local banking institutions. Tancoo walked the committee through the structure of the program, noting that it underwrites 80% of eligible loans issued through partner financial institutions including Republic Bank and First Citizens Bank, with disbursements earmarked to cover critical small business needs ranging from equipment purchases and inventory restocks to core operating costs. He reiterated that, consistent with standard budget protocol, the full prior year allocation did not need to be replicated in the 2027 budget, as a large share of the 2026 guarantee commitments had already been locked in and would be carried forward to cover new loans in the coming fiscal cycle without requiring a full matching appropriation.
The back-and-forth exchanges escalated further when Imbert raised concerns over a reported 33% reduction to the Tobago Development Fund, a dedicated financing stream explicitly established to fund local entrepreneurs, expand support for existing operating businesses, and drive grassroots community development projects across the island. Imbert pressed Tancoo directly for an explanation, noting that the fund was designed to deliver widespread, tangible public benefits for Tobago’s residents, and questioning the rationale behind the steep apparent cut.
Tancoo dismissed the opposition’s critique out of hand, telling Imbert that his predictable, repeated narrative of arbitrary cuts was factually incorrect once again. He clarified that the fund’s original $10 million 2026 allocation had been boosted to a total of $15 million through a joint funding partnership with the Tobago House of Assembly, and the 2027 proposed $10 million appropriation still represented a significant ongoing commitment to the fund’s core mandate. At the close of the heated session, Tancoo confirmed that all the proposed 2027 allocations were structured to sustain robust government support for Tobago’s long-term economic growth, and committed to providing full, detailed written responses to all of Imbert’s remaining outstanding queries, including those related to public sector contract employment and line-item project expenditure breakdowns. -
Lee grilled over ministry vehicles and overtime
During the public proceedings of Parliament’s Standing Finance Committee (SFC) yesterday, Housing Minister David Lee faced a rigorous line of questioning from Opposition legislators centered on potential unvetted use of public ministry vehicles and drivers by his two fellow ministerial appointees, alongside concerns that unauthorised transportation assignments were driving up overtime costs for the housing agency. The oversight hearing was convened to conduct a granular review of the Ministry of Housing’s proposed $870 million fiscal allocation for the 2027 budget cycle. The ministry operates under a three-minister leadership structure, with Lee serving as the lead portfolio minister, supported by junior ministers Anil Roberts and Phillip Edward Alexander. Opposition MP Stuart Young first raised the red flag over the budget line item earmarked for vehicle and equipment leasing, which listed four active assigned vehicles for the ministry. Young pressed Lee to disclose exactly how many of those government-leased vehicles were currently in active use by the three housing ministers. Lee initially stated that official policy restricted use of ministry vehicles exclusively to conduct of formal government duties, and that such transport was regularly deployed when ministers visited local communities to resolve pressing housing-related constituent issues, a practice he described as standard operating procedure for the agency. When Young followed up to ask if those permitted official duties included off-site trips specifically to film political or public-facing social media content, Lee acknowledged he had no prior knowledge of any such activities being tied to government vehicle use. The line of inquiry then exposed a series of critical gaps in the minister’s oversight of his team’s operations: Lee confirmed he did not personally use a ministry vehicle for his own official duties, but said he could not immediately confirm whether Roberts or Alexander had been accessing the agency’s fleet for their work, noting he did not maintain real-time logs of every minister’s travel arrangements. He also stated he had no awareness of a longstanding formal Cabinet directive that restricts ministers from using dedicated ministry vehicles, as referenced by Young, and said he would need to cross-reference official Cabinet records to confirm if that policy remained in effect or had been formally rescinded. The unresolved line of questioning then shifted to budgetary concerns raised by Opposition MP Camille Robinson-Regis, who focused on the ministry’s noticeably expanded overtime allocation. She alleged that one of Lee’s fellow ministers, who already had a formally assigned dedicated government driver, was being chauffeured by an additional separate ministry driver, a practice she suggested could be the primary driver of the unbudgeted overtime spike for the agency’s transport staff. Lee initially pushed back against the allegation, stating he had never personally signed off on any overtime hours specifically tied to transporting a minister, but conceded he had no verifiable data to confirm no such unapproved arrangement was taking place. At the close of the SFC session, Lee formally committed to launching a full internal audit of the ministry’s vehicle usage logs, overtime records, and Cabinet policy documentation, with a pledge to deliver full, documented responses to all the Opposition’s unresolved queries at a future parliamentary sitting.
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Boost from Blue Waters
The 40th anniversary edition of Trinidad and Tobago’s iconic Divali Nagar festival has secured a critical financial lifeline, as leading local bottled beverage manufacturer Blue Waters, owned by prominent businessman Dominic Hadeed, elevates its longstanding support to become the official 2026 Diamond Sponsor, following a wave of funding pullouts from multiple state-linked enterprises earlier this month.
The National Council of Indian Culture (NCIC) confirmed the enhanced partnership during a press briefing held yesterday at the NCIC Hospitality Lounge in Chaguanas, where organizational leaders publicly expressed profound gratitude for Blue Waters’ increased financial commitment at a moment when the landmark cultural event faced significant budget uncertainty. State-aligned sponsors including National Flour Mills (NFM), First Citizens, the National Lotteries Control Board, and telecommunications provider bmobile had previously withdrawn their planned funding for the 2026 iteration, threatening the future of the beloved community gathering that draws hundreds of thousands of attendees annually.
NCIC President Surujdeo Mangaroo reassured the public that the 2026 Divali Nagar will remain a fully accessible “free gift to the nation”, with no admission fees charged for entry to the nine-day celebration, which will run from October 30 through November 7 at its longstanding venue along Narsaloo Ramaya Marg Road in Chaguanas. The 2026 event carries the timely theme “Viveka-Discerning Truth in the Age of AI”, marking four decades of preserving and showcasing Indian cultural heritage for the multi-ethnic national population.
Hosting the large-scale community gathering carries an estimated total cost of $5 million, a budget that NCIC leadership noted was at risk of falling short after the recent state sponsor withdrawals. Blue Waters’ elevated support builds on a multi-decade partnership that stretches back to the very first edition of Divali Nagar, with the brand’s involvement growing in lockstep with the event’s expanding national profile over the past 40 years.
In an official media release issued earlier the same day, the NCIC highlighted that Blue Waters’ decision to increase its sponsorship was driven by recognition of the 40th anniversary milestone and the festival’s decades of positive community impact. The statement framed the enhanced partnership as a testament to Blue Waters’ enduring confidence in Divali Nagar’s legacy, and a demonstration of the company’s commitment to backing cultural and community-focused national initiatives.
Blue Waters Chief Executive Officer Pradeep Subrian, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the briefing, explained that the non-alcoholic beverage producer was approached to scale up its contribution after organizers encountered widespread economic headwinds that disrupted previous funding streams. While final details of the exact scope and value of the 2026 sponsorship are still being finalized as teams coordinate on specific areas of event support, Subrian emphasized that the iconic cultural gathering is a core component of the country’s diverse social fabric, and aligns seamlessly with the hundreds of local community events Blue Waters supports each year as part of its corporate social responsibility mandate. He went on to extend an open invitation to other private sector firms to consider partnering with the festival, noting that participation would depend on each organization’s internal strategic priorities.
Southex CEO George Singh, who was in attendance alongside Blue Waters’ Head of Commercial Marketing Avinash Lalloo and Chief Operating Officer Rajiv Ragoonanan, noted that the NCIC has spent the past 10 years building a robust network of corporate partners, and pledged to work diligently to secure additional private sector backing to supplement Blue Waters’ flagship sponsorship. Singh highlighted that the 2025 edition of Divali Nagar drew over 322,000 visitors, representing a significant cross-section of Trinidad and Tobago’s national population, and serves as a powerful platform to showcase the country’s rich multicultural identity to local and international audiences.
Lalloo echoed this optimistic outlook, noting that Divali Nagar’s core mission of celebrating faith, family and intergenerational community connection makes it one of the nation’s most valuable cultural assets. He confirmed that Blue Waters’ commitment to the festival extends well beyond the 2026 40th anniversary, and called on fellow private sector leaders to join the partnership to help the historic event continue to grow for decades to come. -
Works Ministry employs 1,144 under recruitment drive
During a recent sitting of the Standing Finance Committee, Minister of Works and Infrastructure Jearlean John disclosed new operational details for two core government initiatives: the National Recruitment Drive (NRD) and ongoing maritime safety enforcement reforms. As of two weeks prior to the committee meeting, 1,144 NRD-hired personnel were actively employed under the ministry, against a total authorized headcount of 1,801 positions earmarked for the programme. A $20 million supplementary allocation approved by Cabinet for the current fiscal year is designated to fill all remaining NRD roles under the ministry’s purview. Launched one year prior, the national NRD was rolled out alongside Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s public commitment to create 20,000 state-funded jobs, drawing more than 100,000 applications nationwide. To date, the 1,801 positions allocated to the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure remain the only publicly confirmed figure for NRD beneficiaries across state bodies. Draft national budget estimates show the NRD was initially assigned $48.3 million under the works ministry, with an additional $20 million earmarked for 2027 bringing total cumulative funding to $69.3 million. When pressed by Opposition MP Colm Imbert to clarify the scope of the NRD roles under her portfolio, Minister John emphasized the positions are limited to her ministry’s operational needs, covering casual labourers, vegetation clearers, drain maintenance staff, site checkers and other frontline maintenance personnel. She noted the visible improvement in national cleanliness levels across the country is directly attributable to the work of these NRD hires, who are compensated at the standard daily wage rate for public sector temporary staff. John acknowledged the ministry’s maintenance service cycle had previously experienced disruptions every six months, but the expanded NRD workforce has stabilized regular upkeep operations. Imbert raised concerns over value for money, pointing out that the now-discontinued Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) employed 10,000 staff at a third to a quarter of the NRD’s current allocated budget. John countered that the previous CEPEP administration paid workers less than 50% of the current NRD wage rate, and that the new cohort of staff delivers far more consistent, high-intensity maintenance work. The committee session also addressed pressing maritime safety concerns, particularly the unregulated operation of party boats which Minister John described as a “grave concern” for public welfare. The ministry is currently reviewing updated, modernized maritime regulatory legislation to strengthen inspection protocols, in close collaboration with the national Pilotage Authority. Between 2025 and 2026, a targeted budget increase covered additional allowances for 17 maritime inspection staff, who now conduct 100% weekly checks of all high-risk recreational and commercial vessels, including targeted patrols ahead of the upcoming Tobago Carnival to crack down on unlicensed informal maritime transport operating out of coastal communities such as Toco. The ministry is also prioritizing enforcement action against unregulated offshore anchoring, which poses severe risks to subsea utility pipelines, alongside an active tender process for paid wreck removal services. Minister John confirmed a draft legislative note covering all these maritime regulatory reforms is scheduled to be tabled in Parliament shortly, and that inspection teams have not yet reported being overstretched under the current budget allocation.
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Has debt crossed $1 billion?
During a public sitting of Trinidad and Tobago’s Standing Finance Committee yesterday, Port of Spain North/St Ann’s West Opposition Member of Parliament Stuart Young launched a rigorous line of questioning targeting Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal over mounting unaddressed fuel subsidy arrears, questionable budget allocation adjustments, and longstanding non-compliant staffing practices within the energy ministry, as lawmakers reviewed the ministry’s proposed $945.8 million operational allocation for the upcoming fiscal cycle.
Young opened his inquiry by pressing Moonilal to publicly confirm whether the cumulative unpaid debt for national fuel subsidies had breached the $1 billion threshold, a figure that has sparked growing concern among fiscal watchdogs over unplanned public liabilities. In response, Moonilal disclosed that the government had disbursed two tranches of subsidy payments to local fuel retailers: $544 million to state-owned National Petroleum (NP) in April 2026, followed by a $206 million disbursement to private sector distributor Unipet in September 2026, for a total combined payout of $750 million for that period. When directly asked to verify if remaining outstanding arrears had crossed the $1 billion mark, Moonilal declined to provide an immediate, definitive figure, stating his team would cross-check all financial records and provide a formal response to the committee at a later date.
Young then flagged what he framed as a fiscally reckless pattern of underbudgeting for critical fuel subsidies, noting that the government had slashed the 2027 fiscal year fuel subsidy allocation to $700 million, even after the 2026 budget line item was revised upwards nearly 150% from an initial $300 million projection to $750 million to cover unplanned costs. He warned that the budget cut came at a time of acute global diesel supply shortages and steeply rising international fuel market prices, arguing that the reduced allocation would force the government to once again push unpaid liabilities onto fuel retailers, perpetuating a cycle of carried-over debt that would burden future public budgets. Moonilal pushed back on the criticism, framing partial deferral of subsidy payments as a standard operational practice in the energy sector, before later confirming that total accumulated fuel subsidy arrears accrued between April 2024 and March 2026 stood at $971 million. When Young demanded immediate, itemized figures for the exact outstanding amounts owed separately to NP and Unipet, Moonilal again declined to share real-time data, promising only that his team would compile fully verified, precise numbers and deliver them to the committee “in due course.”
The Opposition MP also raised questions about a series of other unusual line items in the energy ministry’s budget proposal, including a $10.5 million proposed increase to the short-term employment budget that would bring that line item’s total allocation to roughly $14 million. Moonilal explained that the adjustment was made to resolve longstanding non-compliant staffing arrangements, noting that for over a decade, the ministry had employed a cohort of full-time workers under informal third-party service provider contracts, a practice the Auditor General had repeatedly flagged as a violation of public sector human resources rules. The reallocation, he confirmed, was to transition those long-serving workers to formal short-term public employment contracts to bring the ministry into regulatory compliance. He added that the ministry was also in the process of filling 88 vacant contract and established civil service positions to reduce operational bottlenecks.
Young’s final line of inquiry focused on the $130 million revised 2026 estimate for the “other contracted services” budget line, a nearly 80% jump from initial projections. Moonilal stated that the 2027 allocation for that same line item would drop to $71.6 million, with the majority of funds earmarked for outstanding payments on behalf of state energy firm Petrotrin and a smaller portion allocated to legacy environmental site clean-up work, and committed to providing the committee a full, detailed written breakdown of the 2026 revised $130 million figure after consulting with senior ministry finance officials. -
INTERCEPTORS COMING
During a Wednesday session of Trinidad and Tobago’s Parliament Standing Finance Committee, Defence Minister Wayne Sturge laid out a slate of planned national security investments for fiscal 2027, spanning Coast Guard maritime assets, unmanned aerial systems, critical base infrastructure upgrades, and Air Guard operational equipment. In response to queries from Port of Spain North/St Ann’s West MP and former Prime Minister Stuart Young, Sturge confirmed that no new high-speed interceptor patrol vessels have been acquired to date, despite a prior cross-government initiative launched by the previous administration that included a signed financing agreement with U.S. EximBank for interceptor procurement. The current administration has earmarked $2 million in the 2027 fiscal budget for these interceptor craft, which are purpose-built for rapid maritime interdiction and coastal patrol operations. Sturge declined to disclose the exact number of vessels the funding would cover, citing that public disclosure of such operational details would not serve national public interest, noting that the ministry is finalizing plans largely aligned with the original project scope drafted under the prior government. Additional allocations outlined during the sitting include $30 million for integrated ongoing support services for all existing naval assets, which Sturge confirmed all Dutch-manufactured Damen vessels remain fully operational, with one currently deployed in Colombia. For the Cape-class patrol vessel fleet, nearly the full $65 million allocated for integrated logistics support in the previous fiscal year has been expended, with a combined $42 million earmarked for the 2027 and 2028 fiscal cycles to cover full support for both active Cape-class craft. The committee also reviewed separate lines of funding for unmanned aerial capabilities across the country’s security forces: a $5 million allocation to establish a dedicated Air Guard military unmanned aerial vehicle unit, which includes full personnel training, and a separate $2 million budget line for Coast Guard unmanned aerial systems. Sturge invoked public interest immunity to withhold specific details on the number, model, and full technical specifications of the drones being procured, noting the government is prioritizing cost-effective, field-proven platforms rather than premium, high-cost systems. He added that final specifications for the Coast Guard drone fleet have been finalized, and the procurement proposal will be submitted to the National Security Council for formal approval before any tender processes launch. The session also covered a series of critical infrastructure upgrades for defence facilities across the country. A $20 million budget allocation is proposed for a full utility overhaul of the Staubles Bay base in Chaguaramas, following the expenditure of a $396,000 revised 2026 fiscal estimate on partial electrical system upgrades. The 2027 works will cover full overhauls of the potable freshwater network, wastewater management system, remaining electrical infrastructure, and base firefighting systems, to be executed by state agency Nipdec. While Sturge confirmed procurement processes have already commenced, he could not verify if public tender advertisements have been released, advising MP Kareem Marcelle of Laventille West to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to Nipdec to access those specific records. A separate $10 million allocation is set aside for full upgrades to the shared Cedros Coast Guard station, a multi-agency facility that also hosts Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, Immigration Division, and Customs and Excise Division personnel. Sturge noted the facility was found to be severely dilapidated during an inspection in August of the previous year, posing significant occupational health and safety risks to all assigned staff, prompting a joint follow-up visit with the Minister of Works and Infrastructure to fast-track repairs. The committee also addressed long-running delayed projects at the Ulric Cross Air Station: the long-stalled sewer interconnection project, which faced 2026 delays due to extended negotiations over work scope and associated costs, is now over 90% complete, with national water authority WASA confirming full completion within six months, supported by a $600,000 proposed final payment allocation. A separate plumbing system upgrade at the station, delayed to revise its work scope, is scheduled to restart and be fully completed within fiscal 2027, while plans for a new above-ground diesel refuelling station have resolved all prior tank specification disputes, pending final regulatory approval from the Airports Authority and a formal facilities alteration permit, with the Air Guard set to execute the construction work once approvals are granted. Finally, a $2 million allocation for new Air Guard vehicles and associated operational equipment has had all technical specifications finalized, with formal procurement tendering set to launch imminently.
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Justice closer to home
During a press briefing held at Port of Spain’s Judicial Waterfront Centre, which coincided with the one-year anniversary of his swearing-in as Chief Justice, Ronnie Boodoosingh outlined a forward-thinking proposal to roll out a revamped, expanded mobile court network that would bring judicial services directly to underserved, far-flung communities across the twin-island nation. The initiative targets settlements including Toco, Cedros, Moruga, Charlotteville and Roxborough, where local residents currently face burdensome, hours-long commutes to attend scheduled court hearings at centralized urban or regional court facilities. Under the planned framework, all cases involving defendants, witnesses and claimants from a single remote community will be consolidated and heard on pre-determined dedicated dates at repurposed public spaces such as local community centres, ideally sited near existing police stations. A full complement of judicial personnel — including presiding magistrates, court clerks, administrative staff and accompanying police officers — will travel to these temporary venues, rather than requiring community members to journey to distant permanent court buildings. The model draws partial inspiration from a long-dormant pilot scheme previously operated out of Point Fortin Magistrates’ Court, which periodically deployed full court teams to Cedros to handle clustered local cases, a structure the Judiciary aims to revive and scale to cover dozens of underserved areas. Chief Justice Boodoosingh noted that the frequency of mobile court sittings for each location will be calibrated based on the volume and nature of local case loads, eliminating the need to invest in constructing and maintaining underused permanent brick-and-mortar courthouses in regions where case numbers do not justify the high overhead costs. The planned rollout may also include purpose-modified transport vehicles to carry personnel and portable judicial equipment to more isolated sites, eliminating logistical barriers to holding sittings even in the most geographically disconnected villages. Emphasizing the human impact of the policy, Boodoosingh noted that many rural residents currently face disproportionate personal and financial hardship to attend even minor court matters, a barrier that the mobile court model will directly mitigate. The mobile court scheme forms a core pillar of the Judiciary’s broader multi-pronged strategy to cut systemic backlogs and long-standing procedural delays that have plagued the national court system for years. Boodoosingh confirmed that leadership aims to advance detailed operational planning for the initiative throughout the current law term, with a full review of district-level court lists underway to identify the communities that stand to benefit most from the service. Complementary to the mobile court rollout, the Judiciary is also exploring plans to install in-person filing kiosks and dedicated virtual access hubs at existing magistrates’ court locations, designed to support residents who lack consistent, high-speed home internet access. These additional facilities will allow users to submit legal documentation and access a range of basic court services without travelling to the specific courthouse handling their individual case, further reducing geographic and digital barriers to equal justice for all citizens.
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Senator: Tobago health allocation cut over 68%
During a press briefing hosted by the People’s National Movement at the Opposition’s Port of Spain headquarters, Senator Melanie Roberts-Radgman issued an urgent formal appeal to the national government to conduct a full, transparent reassessment of Tobago’s proposed 2027 fiscal budget allocations, citing alarming, unprecedented cuts that threaten to collapse critical public services on the island. The opposition legislator laid out precise budget figures showing that the Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA) received a $750 million operating allocation for the 2026 fiscal year, but the draft 2027 budget earmarks just under $240 million for the agency, representing a $510,255,500 reduction that equates to a 68% drop in core recurrent funding. Roberts-Radgman emphasized that this entire line item covers day-to-day operational costs required to keep the public health system running, and warned that the drastic cut comes at a time when Tobago’s health infrastructure is already grappling with cascading crises: non-functional air conditioning systems at Scarborough General Hospital, widespread cancellations and rescheduling of elective and emergency surgeries, forced patient transfers to mainland Trinidad, a broken hospital waste incinerator, and long-standing gaps in reliable ambulance coverage. The senator pushed back against unofficial assurances that informal discussions between the Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary, the Prime Minister, and other senior cabinet members would resolve the funding gap, noting that no binding public commitment to adjust the allocation was made during the recent national budget debate, and that planned mid-year budget reviews would leave the TRHA operating at insufficient funding levels for months before any potential adjustments. She formally called on the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Health to immediately provide a public, actionable plan explaining how the TRHA will be expected to sustain essential care without additional resources, raising urgent questions about potential future service rollbacks, layoffs of frontline medical staff, and even partial operational shutdowns at the island’s only major public hospital. Beyond the health sector, Roberts-Radgman flagged a separate $8.619 million cut to the Tobago House of Assembly’s contract employment budget, bringing the 2027 allocation for temporary and contractual staff down to roughly $251 million. She noted that this cut follows a previously announced island-wide public sector hiring freeze, and that thousands of contract workers currently have no clarity on whether their positions will be eliminated or their employment agreements will not be renewed, a particularly devastating prospect amid a ongoing national recession. “Working families on Tobago deserve certainty about their economic future, not last-minute surprises that put their livelihoods on the line,” the senator stated. Roberts-Radgman further contextualized the funding shortfalls against the island’s recently completed milestone: the official grand opening of Tobago’s new international airport terminal just one week prior. She argued that the island is poised to unlock transformative economic growth across its priority sectors – including tourism, sustainable agriculture, the blue ocean economy, and the creative “orange economy” – to drive long-overdue national economic diversification, but that these opportunities will be squandered without sufficient public investment in supporting infrastructure, public services, and operational capacity. She concluded her remarks by calling on all relevant national and local government leaders to revisit the 2027 fiscal allocations to ensure Tobago receives equitable, adequate funding that allows the island to both sustain critical public services and deliver on its untapped economic potential for the benefit of the entire twin-island nation.