The Water and Sewerage Authority (the Authority) is advising customers in parts of Central and South West Trinidad that there will be a disruption in their pipe borne water supply from 9:30am on Tuesday (24th May 2022), due to the shutdown of the Point Lisas Desalination Plant for emergency repairs to the communication control system at the facility.

The Desalination Company of Trinidad and Tobago (DESALCOTT) owned and operated facility, normally supplies WASA with 40 Million gallons of water per day (mgd). DESALCOTT’s management has indicated that operations at the Plant will be stopped for a maximum period of eight (8) hours, in order to conduct the necessary repairs.

Areas affected include the following:

Central

• Caroni
  
• Warrenville
  
• Cunupia
  
• Chaguanas
  
• Caparo
  
• Chase village
  
• Couva
  
• Point Lisas
  
• California
  
• Claxton Bay
  
• Plaisance Park
  
• Pointe-a-Pierre
  
• City of San Fernando
  
• Vistabella
  
• Marabella
  
• Gasparillo
  

South West

• Union Hall
  
• Pleasantville
  
• Palmiste
  
• Phillipine
  
• Duncan Village
  
• Esperance
  
• Gulf View
  
• Bel Air
  
• La Romain
  
• South Oropouche
  
• Otaheite
  
• Rousillac
  
• Aripero
  
• Parts of La Brea
  
• Avocat
  
• Fyzabad
  
• Parts of Siparia including De Gannes Village and Quarry Village
  
• San Francique
  
• Debe
  
• Syne Village
  
• Lowkie Trace
  
• Sunrees Road
  
• Mora Dam Road
  

Customers are asked to manage their water use efficiently, as it may take up to forty-eight (48) hours for the supply to normalize to some affected areas, after the Plant returns to full operation.

For further information or assistance, customers are encouraged to contact WASA's Customer Call Centre toll free at 800-4420/800-4426. A limited truck-borne water service will be available with priority given to special homes, healthcare and Government institutions.

The Authority apologizes for the inconvenience caused as a result of this shutdown at the Desalination Plant.

Prime Minister Keith Rowley held a Press Conference at 2pm yesterday afternoon (Sunday 22nd May 2022) at the VIP Lounge, Piarco International Airport, following his return from a week in Guyana.

​Below are the key points discussed at that Press Conference:

- Prime Min­is­ter Kei­th Row­ley an­nounced that Trinidad and To­ba­go has been cho­sen to re­ceive “not-insignificant” fund­ing from the Bill & Melin­da Gates Foun­da­tion, which is led in part by one of the world’s richest men.

- He not­ed that re­la­tions be­tween Trinidad and To­ba­go and Guyana are good and said he al­so had good re­la­tions with Guyana’s Vice-Pres­i­dent Bhar­rat Jagdeo, who had raised the ire of some when he de­scribed T&T’s econ­o­my as “falling apart” ear­li­er this year. “He will tell you and I will tell you we get along very well.”

- The Prime Minister said the con­cerns raised by Guyana’s busi­ness cham­ber on the non-tar­iff bar­ri­ers were a case of their busi­ness com­mu­ni­ty want­i­ng the best for their coun­try. He said there should be no issues as long as bar­ri­ers do not hurt T&T’s econ­o­my and added that the Treaty of Ch­aguara­mas, re­gard­ing trade, should take prece­dence if the in­ter­ests of CARICOM and the in­ter­ests of the free mar­ket and econ­o­my are to pre­vail.

- P.M Rowley said, “I have been in Guyana for a week and I’ve had noth­ing but a warm wel­come and a clear un­der­stand­ing and en­thu­si­asm from the Gov­ern­ment and peo­ple of Guyana.”

- He added that Trinidad and To­ba­go con­tin­ues to work with Guyana’s en­er­gy sec­tor and that the Na­tion­al He­li­copter Ser­vice has con­firmed its third con­tract to ser­vice the off­shore Rep­sol fields in Guyana.

- The Prime Min­is­ter al­so an­nounced that the month of June will be a very busy month for Trinidad and To­ba­go and CARICOM in­ter­na­tion­al­ly.

- He said he has made a de­ci­sion to at­tend the Sum­mit of the Amer­i­c­as in Los An­ge­les from 6th June to 10th June 2022 and that the ma­jor­i­ty of CARICOM mem­bers will at­tend. CARICOM had ob­ject­ed to the Unit­ed States’ po­si­tion to­wards Cu­ba, but Prime Minister Row­ley said that with the U.S. mak­ing some con­ces­sions, it was felt that CARICOM need­ed to at­tend to ad­dress is­sues that are im­por­tant to the re­gion.

- P.M Row­ley said a T&T con­tin­gent, led by For­eign Af­fairs Min­is­ter Dr. Amery Browne, will al­so at­tend the Com­mon­wealth Heads of Gov­ern­ment Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwan­da be­gin­ning on 21st June 2022 and that T&T will vote for Ja­maican For­eign Af­fairs Min­is­ter Kam­i­na John­son Smith as the new Sec­re­tary Gen­er­al of the Com­mon­wealth.

- Prime Minister Row­ley will not at­tend CHOGM but will be at­tend­ing a world sum­mit called by the Eu­ro­pean Union on 21st June and 22nd June 2022 to dis­cuss mat­ters of de­vel­op­ment that T&T and the re­gion are in­ter­est­ed in. He will rep­re­sent CARICOM to­geth­er with CARICOM’s Chair­man, Prime Min­is­ter of Be­lize John Briceno, and Ja­maica Prime Min­is­ter An­drew Hol­ness. Three (3) Latin Amer­i­can lead­ers will al­so at­tend, to­geth­er with the lead­ers of E.U. coun­tries, the Pres­i­dent of the Unit­ed States of Amer­i­ca and lead­ers of Asian coun­tries.

- The Prime Minister noted, “So June is a very busy month for me, T&T and CARICOM be­cause sig­nif­i­cant de­ci­sion-mak­ing is to be had.”

If you missed Sunday’s Press Conference, you can watch it below in its entirety.

[Source: T&T Guardian]

The Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service (TTMS) says that Trinidad and Tobago can expect partly cloudy and hazy conditions this afternoon (Monday 23rd May 2022) with occasional showers over a few areas. There is a low (30%) chance of the odd isolated Thunderstorm.

The Met Office notes that a significant concentration of Saharan dust is present in the area. Sensitive persons are advised to take the necessary precautions.

The forecast maximum temperature is 30°C for both Piarco in Trinidad and Crown Point in Tobago. ​

Prime Min­is­ter Kei­th Row­ley an­nounced at his Press Conference yesterday afternoon (Sunday 22nd May 2022) from the VIP Lounge in Piarco that Trinidad and To­ba­go has been cho­sen to re­ceive “not-insignificant” fund­ing from the Bill & Melin­da Gates Foun­da­tion, which is led in part by one of the world’s richest men.

The Prime Minister said, “To­day I have been ad­vised that we are lucky to be iden­ti­fied for a not-in­signif­i­cant share of some fund­ing to be made avail­able from the Bill Gates Foun­da­tion. I spoke to the Sec­re­tary Gen­er­al of the Unit­ed Na­tions who has iden­ti­fied us for that gift that we will ac­cept and put to good use in T&T.”

​P.M Rowley gave no details on the amount the country will receive or what requirements were met to qualify for the gift.

​Read about the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation below:

[Source: T&T Guardian]

The Ministry of Health revealed in its daily COVID-19 update this afternoon (Sunday 22nd May 2022) that there are 345 new COVID-19 cases in Trinidad and Tobago plus three (3) additional deaths. T&T’s total active positive cases is currently at 9,228.

The number of new cases represents a 33.27% decrease in reported cases from yesterday. This is the fourth consecutive day in which the level of hospitalizations has been decreasing.

There have been 10,358 new cases and sixty-four (64) deaths so far in the month of May.

The Ministry reported 517 new cases yesterday and zero (0) deaths. The country’s death toll has increased to 3,893. As of 18th May 2022, 276 deaths were fully vaccinated persons while 3,217 deaths were not fully vaccinated. 390 deaths were recorded prior to 24th May 2021 (date at which the first group of vaccinated persons became fully vaccinated).

A total of 712,263 persons have been fully vaccinated, representing 50.9% of the population. Meanwhile, 687,737 persons are not fully vaccinated (only received a first dose or no doses), representing 49.1% of the population. 154,205 persons in total have taken a booster shot.

Based on data from 22nd July 2021 - 18th May 2022, 3,453 patients in the parallel healthcare system (Hospitals and step-down facilities) are fully vaccinated, representing 18.7%, while 15,046 are not fully vaccinated, representing 81.3%.

The Ministry states that the number of positive cases reported reflects the samples taken during a 4-day period between 18th - 21st May 2022 and not the last twenty-four (24) hours.

The Ministry also notes that there are currently 197 COVID-19 positive patients in total being treated at Hospitals and step-down facilities (down 1.01% from yesterday). Four (4) are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and three (3) are in the High Dependency Unit (HDU).

This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

A 21-year-old woman tragically lost her life in a car crash in Icacos early this morning (Sunday 22nd May 2022). She has been identified as Sherine Sherwood, of Southern Main Road, Cedros.

​According to reports, Sherwood was the front seat passenger of a black car, when the driver allegedly lost control around 2:30am, causing it to skid off the roadway. The vehicle overturned several times before crashing into a coconut tree off the side of the roadway.

Sherwood sustained significant injuries and died at the scene, while the driver suffered multiple injuries and was taken to Hospital.

​This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

​[Source: Trinidad Express]