Acting Police Commissioner James Philbert says many lessons were learnt and errors were noted by his officers after the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain

Hyatt Regency Trinidad, the premier hotel in T&T successfully hosted the 34 democratically elected leaders of the Western Hemisphere and their delegations during the Fifth Summit of the Americas from April 17-19, 2009.

While most people were at home glued to their television screens anxiously taking in the sights and sounds of the cultural presentation for the official opening of the Fifth Summit of the Americas, soca artiste, Tony Prescott had a first-class ticket for the gala affair.

New York City resident, David Austin Robinson, has always had a burning desire to see T&T. So, when he learnt of an essay contest for the Fifth Summit of the Americas (VSOA), which carried, as one of its prizes, a travel award to this piece of paradise, he knew he had to enter. The fact that the first black President of the United States, Barrack Obama, was also one of the 34 heads of states participating in the Summit, added some impetus.

Well, the first of the two conferences planned for T&T this year has come and gone. All the leaders have departed Port-of-Spain and T&T is left to tally up the cost of hosting the prestigious Fifth Summit of the Americas.

T&T’s cultural contribution to the world at the opening ceremony of the Fifth Summit of the Americas was considered quite a disgrace in some quarters. Expressing much ire over the assumed snubbing of the national instrument at the summit’s opening ceremony, produced by masman Brian Mac Farlane, were members of the steelband fraternity.

Managing director of Scotiabank T&T, Richard Young, has expressed disappointment about the private sector forum held in the run-up to the recent Fifth Summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain.
Young said that discussions and recommendations at the two-day II Hemispheric Private Sector Forum, which preceded the three-day summit, were “really kind of general and you got a sense that nothing specific came out.”

Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday says he has no problem with any of his UNC colleagues who attended the opening ceremony of the Fifth Summit of the Americas. In a telephone interview, Panday said the party took a decision that whoever wanted to attend the ceremony was free to do so. He said neither he nor his family attended the ceremony because they believed it was a waste of taxpayers’ money.

The 30 luxury coaches used in the Summit of the Americas effort will be offered to the travelling public on the North/South route particularly for charters and excursions, Works Minister Colm Imbert said yesterday.

Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday and Congress of the People leader Winston Dookeran are not buying the $350 million cost of the Summit of the Americas given by Prime Minister Patrick Manning on Tuesday. “After the Prime Minister’s television statement claiming that only $350 million was spent on the Summit of the Americas, we are now even more doubly intent on filing questions in Parliament, seeking a very detailed breakdown of the summit expenditure,” Panday said yesterday.