COVID-19 plus crashing oil prices have caused the 2020 Budget deficit to balloon from $5.3 billion to $15.5 billion - and the 2020 Budget is now being recalibrated.
The borders will be temporarily opened once again to allow over 60 Trinidad and Tobago nationals currently stranded in Suriname to return home.
National Security Minister Stuart Young says he has no issue with anyone in the Barbados government.
Government will be giving churches and religious bodies $30 million over the next three months to distribute to the poor and needy - and some salary relief grants may be out by tomorrow, Finance Minister Colm Imbert announced that in Parliament yesterday.
Finance Minister Colm Imbert says “not a dollar” has yet been withdrawn from the Heritage and Stabilisation, which contains US$6.1 billion. However, he says drawdowns will be made from the fund “only as and when required, and not arbitrarily or by vaps.”
Venezuelan migrant Lucina Cortez knows the need for social distancing. However, she cannot abide by this regulation as she lives in the same house with 33 other migrants.For Cortez and her housemates, life has become miserable since COVID-19 restrictions started. Cortez said before COVID-19, she did domestic chores for three Trinidadian’s families working six days per week for $150 per day.
Government has been able to distribute 8,000 masks for protection against COVID-19 in Trinidad and Tobago recently and up to 20,000 more are being obtained this weekend, says Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh.
The Law Association of T&T (LATT) has warned Government and State officials over the T&T Police Service (TTPS)’s enforcement of ongoing COVID-19 public health regulations.
Maintaining connections and positivity are among keys to coping and for Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh, he’s found comfort in reading the Bible and listening to the music of late sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar.
The return of 33 Trinidadian nationals from Barbados could lead to a diplomatic spat between the two countries. This after Barbados Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Jerome Walcott yesterday said he was “deeply disturbed” by comments made by Minister of National Security Stuart Young over the matter.
In a release issued by his ministry yesterday, Walcott said it was “regrettable” that Young had made a public statement referring to countries which had not respected the fact that Trinidad and Tobago had closed its borders in reference to the Trinidadian nationals’ return home earlier this week after they were left stranded in Barbados. He said this gave the wrong impression on the matter.
Soft drink manufacturer SM Jaleel has reduced the salaries and hours of work of some employees at its plant at the Otaheite Industrial Estate in South Oropouche as it makes adjustments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) is projecting a 60 per cent loss in revenue as the restrictions in place for COVID-19 continue.To mitigate further losses, the company is expected to re-open its own payment centres soon in order to allow customers to pay their bills.