The Par­lia­men­tary Op­po­si­tion has re­fused to par­tic­i­pate in Prime Min­is­ter’s Ques­tions, ac­cus­ing the Gov­ern­ment of turn­ing the par­lia­men­tary ex­er­cise in­to a “shame­ful par­lia­men­tary cha­rade” de­signed to shield Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar from scruti­ny.

In­de­pen­dent Sen­a­tors Sophia Chote, SC and Fran­cis Lewis are ques­tion­ing whether the Gov­ern­ment has pro­duced enough ev­i­dence to jus­ti­fy re­strict­ing al­co­hol, to­bac­co and cannabis use among adults be­tween 18 and 25, warn­ing that Par­lia­ment should not im­pose sweep­ing age lim­its with­out stronger lo­cal da­ta.

Health Min­is­ter Dr Lack­ram Bo­doe says high lev­els of binge drink­ing among young adults and ear­ly al­co­hol use among school­child­ren show why the Gov­ern­ment can­not re­main a “pas­sive ob­serv­er” and must in­ter­vene to pro­tect young peo­ple.

The Sev­en Seas De­sali­na­tion Plant will re­main out of ser­vice for a fur­ther 24 hours as the Wa­ter and Sew­er­age Au­thor­i­ty (WASA) car­ries out emer­gency re­pairs to a 24-inch main.