Hansard Note-Takers Are Being Challenged Because of Your Continuous Interruptions Especially Whilst the Hon
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
97 Leave of Absence Wednesday, April 25, 2012 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Wednesday, April 25, 2012 The House met at 10.00 a.m. PRAYERS [MR. SPEAKER in the Chair] LEAVE OF ABSENCE Mr. Speaker: Hon. Members, I have received communication on behalf of Mr. Patrick Manning, Member of Parliament for San Fernando East, to be excused from sittings of the House for the period April 25 to July 24, 2012 due to continued illness. The leave the Member seeks is granted. BACTERIOLOGICAL (BIOLOGICAL) AND TOXIN WEAPONS BILL, 2011 Bill to give effect to the Convention of the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their destruction, brought from the Senate [The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Communications]; read the first time. Motion made: That the next stage of the Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons Bill be taken later in the proceedings. [Hon. Dr. R. Moonilal] Question put and agreed to. TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO POSTAL CORPORATION (AMDT.) BILL, 2012 Bill to amend the Trinidad and Tobago Postal Corporation (Amdt.) Act, 2012, brought from the Senate [The Minister of Public Utilities]; read the first time. PAPERS LAID 1. Annual audited financial statements of National Schools Dietary Services Limited for the financial year ending September 30, 2005. [The Minister of Finance (Hon. Winston Dookeran)] 2. Annual audited financial statements of National Schools Dietary Services Limited for the financial year ending September 30, 2006. [Hon. W. Dookeran] 3. Annual audited financial statements of National Schools Dietary Services Limited for the financial year ending September 30, 2007. [Hon. W. Dookeran] 98 Papers Laid Wednesday, April 25, 2012 4. Annual audited financial statements of National Schools Dietary Services Limited for the financial year ending September 30, 2008. [Hon. W. Dookeran] 5. Annual audited financial statements of National Schools Dietary Services Limited for the financial year ending September 30, 2009. [Hon. W. Dookeran] Papers 1 to 5 to be referred to the Public Accounts (Enterprises) Committee. 6. Report of the Auditor General of the Republic of Trinidad on the financial statements of the Tobago House of Assembly for the year ended September 30, 2004. [Hon. W. Dookeran] 7. Report of the Auditor General of the Republic of Trinidad on the financial statements of the Tobago House of Assembly for the year ended September 30, 2005. [Hon. W. Dookeran] 8. Annual report and annual audited statement of accounts of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago for the year ended September 30, 2011. [Hon. W. Dookeran] Papers 6 to 8 be referred to the Public Accounts Committee. 9. Ninety-fifth report of the Salaries Review Commission of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. [The Minister of Housing and the Environment (Hon. Dr. Roodal Moonilal)] 10. Ninety-sixth report of the Salaries Review Commission of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. [Hon. Dr. R. Moonilal] 11. Petroleum (Amendment) Regulations, 2012. [Hon. Dr. R. Moonilal] 12. Petroleum (Compressed Natural Gas) (Amendment) Regulations, 2012. [Hon. Dr. R. Moonilal] ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS The Minister of Housing and the Environment (Hon. Dr. Roodal Moonilal): Mr. Speaker, as we would recognize there are several questions and I just wanted for the record to state that the Government is in a position to answer the following questions: question No. 51, question No. 52, question No. 53, question No. 54, question No. 56, question No. 57, question No. 58, question No. 68, question No. 69, question No. 70, question No. 71—[Interruption]—question 99 Oral Answers to Questions Wednesday, April 25, 2012 No. 73—I believe is also on the Table—question No. 76, question No. 77, question No. 79—[Interruption]—question No. 80, question No. 82, question No. 84, question No. 85, question No. 86 and question No. 93. Hon. Member: Question No. 87. Hon. Dr. R. Moonilal: And question No. 87. Miss Mc Donald: Mr. Speaker? Mr. Speaker? Mr. Speaker! Mr. Speaker: Yes. Miss Mc Donald: Mr. Speaker, I am seeking clarification from the Leader of Government Business—could you tell us, just to clarify, which are the questions that you would not be answering? Hon. Dr. R. Moonilal: Sure. Mr. Speaker, I thought by elimination we would have arrived at that, [Interruption] but question No. 59, question No. 67, question No. 79, and I think, question No. 81— [Cellphone rings] Mr. Speaker: Could you shut off that phone! Please! Hon. Dr. R. Moonilal:—question No. 83, and I think that is it. Hon. Member: Question No. 87. Hon. Dr. R. Moonilal: Question No. 87 is it? No, we are prepared for question No. 87. Miss Mc Donald: What about question No. 85? Hon. Dr. R. Moonilal: Question No. 85 I would check from my notes, because, Mr. Speaker, as we can see several of these questions are the same questions being posed to different Ministers, so we have—question No. 85, yes, we are prepared to answer. Those questions we would ask for the Opposition support to defer until the next occasion. We are trying to answer them as quickly as we can. Dr. Rowley: Mr. Speaker, point of clarification; is the Member telling us that question No. 39 is also available, because question No. 39 has been due? Hon. Dr. R. Moonilal: Mr. Speaker, question No. 39 is a question for written answer. Could I ask that the response for that be prepared for the next sitting of the House, because it is the Ministry—Mr. Speaker, this question has been sent to the Prime Minister, however it is a question within the ambit of the Ministry of 100 Oral Answers to Questions Wednesday, April 25, 2012 [HON. DR. R. MOONILAL] Works and Infrastructure. [Interruption] I am instructed by the Minister of Works and Infrastructure that the answer would be prepared and circulated today. It is for written response, but for the record the reason that we had asked for this question to be deferred is that it was wrongly posed to the Prime Minister whereas, those matters are within the ambit of the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure— Mr. Warner: That is correct. Hon. Dr. R. Moonilal:—so they had to be moved from the Office of the Prime Minister to the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure. While the Prime Minister is the Chairman of Cabinet, these matters are really within the purview of a specific Ministry, so we have had this difficulty with the Opposition posing these omnibus type questions. [Crosstalk] Mr. Speaker: Let us proceed. Please! Leader of the Opposition. The following questions stood on the Order Paper: Construction of Community Centres (Details of) 67. Could the hon. Minister of Community Development state: (a) When community centres will be constructed in the following communities: i) Aripero; ii) Cochrane; iii) Santa Flora; iv) Rancho Quemado; and v) Quarry Village? (b) The name of the contractor who was awarded to construct any community centre in Aripero, Cochrane, Santa Flora, Rancho Quemado and Quarry Villages? [Mr. F. Jeffrey] Prime Minister’s visit to India (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Communications) 81. A. Could the hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Communications identify all the Agencies, Departments, Statutory Authorities or State Enterprises in the Ministry which participated directly or indirectly in the visit of the hon. Prime Minister to India? 101 Oral Answers to Questions Wednesday, April 25, 2012 B. Could the Minister state the total cost of the expenses incurred in each case and give details of the total sum involved and the specific purpose for which the expenditure was incurred in each case and give details of the total sum involved and the specific purpose for which the expenditure was incurred? C. Could the Minister also list all the individuals and their designations and the expenses associated with each individual? D. What are the outstanding bills which remain unpaid as of March 9, 2012? [Mr. C. Imbert] Prime Minister’s Visit to India 83. A. Could the hon. Minister of Local Government identify all the Agencies, Departments, Statutory Authorities or State Enterprises in the Ministry which participated directly or indirectly in the visit of the Honourable Prime Minister to India? B. Could the Minister state the total cost of the expenses incurred in each case and give details of the total sum involved and the specific purpose for which the expenditure was incurred in each case and give details of the total sum involved and the specific purpose for which the expenditure was incurred? C. Could the Minister also list all the individuals and their designations and the expenses associated with each individual? D. What are the outstanding bills which remain unpaid as of March 9, 2012? [Dr. A. Browne] Questions, by leave, deferred. Government Issued Credit Cards (Details of) 51. Dr. Keith Rowley (Diego Martin West) asked the hon. Prime Minister: A. Could the Prime Minister state the balance on each of the Government issued credit cards that have been issued to officials of the Office of the Prime Minister, as at March 2, 2012? 102 Oral Answers to Questions Wednesday, April 25, 2012 B. Is the Prime Minister willing to provide this House with copies of the monthly statement in each case that would have been provided to the Card Administrator, Office of the Prime Minister, for the months of June 2011 to February 2012? The Minister of Housing and the Environment (Hon. Dr. Roodal Moonilal): Acting on behalf of the Prime Minister the response to (a) is as follows: Currently there is only one Government issued credit card holder at the office of the Prime Minister. A perusal of the statements revealed that there were no transactions on the card on March 2, 2012 and as such no balances were recorded on that date.