P.M Rowley: Never Mind, There Is NO Grant Coming From Bill Gates Foundation — It Was A SCAM24/5/2022 Prime Minister Keith Rowley announced at his Press Conference on Sunday afternoon (22nd May 2022) that Trinidad and Tobago has been chosen to receive “not-insignificant” funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. However, in a most-embarrassing turn of events, the Prime Minister is now saying he was scammed — and that there is NO funding on its way from the coveted Foundation. In a statement released on Monday (23rd May 2022), the Prime Minister was forced to admit that someone “attempted to encourage me to use a foreign bank to receive this grant but there would be a significant processing fee.” He added, “My suspicion was further aroused when the person on the other end attempted to guide me towards making a substantial deposit in a Chinese bank as a prerequisite to receiving the grant. P.M Rowley later in his statement admitted said he was now “convinced that this was a most brazen scam being run in the shocking manner as described” and he also promised to get the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) involved in the matter. See the Prime Minister’s rather strange statement in full below, and let us know your thoughts in the comments section: Last Saturday whilst in Guyana the Chairman of Caricom communicated with me that the Office of the Secretary General of the UN wanted to reach me and a couple other Caricom Heads to advise us that he had received a substantial grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to be distributed among us in its ongoing poverty alleviation program. This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.
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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]
Prime Minister Keith Rowley will be hosting a Press Conference at 2pm this afternoon (Sunday 22nd May 2022) at the VIP Lounge, Piarco International Airport. Today’s Press Conference was announced by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) yesterday afternoon. Prime Minister Rowley departed for Guyana on Tuesday (17th May 2022) where he attended a regional meeting on agriculture. CARICOM leaders also gathered in Georgetown for the Agri-Investment Forum and Expo. While in Guyana, the Prime Minister engaged in bilateral discussions with His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs, Senator the Hon. Dr Amery Browne, Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Senator the Hon. Kazim Hosein and Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, Land, Fisheries, Senator the Hon. Avinash Singh accompanied the Prime Minister on this trip. Minister of Finance, Colm Imbert acted as Prime Minister in the interim. Watch the live stream of the Press Conference below when it begins at 2pm, courtesy of TTT. This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.
In a statement released on Wednesday evening (18th May 2022), Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar says that [Prime Minister Keith] Rowley and the PNM “have been caught lying about the Sabga Report” and that the Police “must step in and investigate reports of a longstanding pedophile ring operating within the PNM.”
Mrs. Persad-Bissessar said it is not surprising that “Keith Rowley is focused on the Robert Sabga report commissioned 25 years ago rather than the Justice Jones report, outlining serious sexual and physical abuse occurring presently under the Children’s Authority.” She said this is clearly “an attempt to deflect from the disclosure that high-ranking PNM members were and are still involved in a pedophile ring.” According to the Opposition Leader, the PNM is instead focused on “smearing Robert Sabga and falsely claiming that the report produced by the Sabga-led committee was somehow ‘buried.’ The idea that the report produced by Robert Sabga and the team was somehow a secretive document or was buried is a complete lie!” On the contrary, Mrs. Persad-Bissessar outlined the following: 1) The recommendations made in the Sabga Report were enacted in Parliament by the Panday Government. The following Bills were introduced in 1999 in response to the Sabga Report, sent to a JSC and passed in 2000, which the subsequent PNM Government refused to implement:
2) Minister Ramsaran has stated on Hansard that the Sabga Report was laid in Parliament. Rowley has been in Parliament since 1987. 3) Minister Ramsaran has publicly stated that he gave a copy of the Sabga Report to then COP Hilton Guy and discussed the same with him. 4) the Sabga Report and its recommendations have been referenced numerous times in relation to legislation enacted by the Panday Government to improve the care of children in State facilities, including by Camille Robinson-Regis. (i) The Sabga Report was referenced in 2002 by Independent Senator Ramesh Deosaran and Camille Robinson-Regis who are recorded in Hansard as saying; Deosaran: “Almost 5 years ago there was a report on children's homes, it is commonly called the Sabga Report. The gentleman who did the report under the then Ministry of Social Development was Mr. Robert Sabga. I would suggest that the Minister look at that report carefully”. Robinson-Regis: “In fact, that particular Sabga Report was used by the then Ministry of Social Development to examine all the issues as they related to the care of children. The issues that were raised in that report were very revealing in circumstances where our society had depended on a number of foster homes to ensure care for our young children and for children who had suffered abandonment by their families. That report did, in fact, inform quite a number of the policies that were developed during that period, especially as they related to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,” (ii) Line Minister Manohar Ramsaran also referred to the report in June 2006 in the House of Representatives and is recorded in Hansard as saying: “I remember when I first talked about the abuse of children reaching my Ministry in this Parliament, the Member for Diego Martin East laughed and asked me if I was living somewhere in Mars. We appointed a committee which was headed by Dr. Robert Sabga to investigate homes in this country, and that report is somewhere in the Parliament. It was laid in Parliament. When that committee visited homes, they found children were being abused and the Managers of these homes tried everything to prevent the committee from going into these buildings. They almost went to Court. I hurriedly went to the Cabinet and appointed an Inspector of homes who had the legal authority to visit these homes.” (iii) Furthermore, in 2008 former Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj also acknowledged the Sabga Report and was recorded in Hansard saying: “But on the same page, in 2000, after recommendations from the 1997 Task Force Report on children in institutions, a comprehensive package of legislation was enacted. The major component of this package was Act No. 64 of 2000 which provided for the establishment of the Children's Authority to act as a guardian of the children of Trinidad and Tobago. The Authority is to advise the Minister with responsibility for children on matters relating to the operation of the Act, license and monitor community residences, foster homes and nurseries after establishing standards for operation, investigate complaints relating to the care and protection of children, monitor all agencies addressing children matters to act as an advocate for the rights of all children in Trinidad and Tobago. The Act is yet to be proclaimed. So, the Ministry of Social Development was saying up to 2006 that this is the goal to implement the Act, to implement this package of legislation and it has this under the heading: “Progress achieved.” 5) Rowley has yet to hold his former handpicked Director of the Children's Authority, former PNM candidate Nichola Harvey Mitchell, to account for the crimes committed against vulnerable children under her watch. The Opposition Leader concluded her statement by saying, “The Police must also step in and investigate reports of a longstanding pedophile ring operating within the PNM. Rowley must call the names of his PNM colleagues involved in the pedophile ring alleged by Sabga.” The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) has announced that Prime Minister Keith Rowley will depart for Guyana today (Tuesday 17th May 2022) where he will attend a regional meeting on agriculture. CARICOM leaders are expected to gather in Georgetown this week for the Agri-Investment Forum and Expo.
The OPM states that the forum, themed “Investing in Vision 25 by 2025,” is aimed at reducing the region’s food import bill and helping to attract investment in the agriculture sector. The forum is also expected to address issues directly related to investment in agriculture and food production, including cross-border investment, climate change-smart agriculture and related infrastructure development. While in Guyana, the Prime Minister is also expected to engage in bilateral discussions with His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs, Senator the Hon. Dr. Amery Browne, Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Senator the Hon. Kazim Hosein and Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, Land, Fisheries, Senator the Hon. Avinash Singh, will accompany the Prime Minister on this trip. Minister of Finance, the Hon. Colm Imbert, will act as Prime Minister in the interim. Responding to questions in Parliament this afternoon (Monday 16th May 2022), Minister of Finance, Colm Imbert, said implementation of the property tax on residential properties will begin this year. He did not give an exact date of commencement but noted it would be before 31st December 2022.
Earlier this month, Minister Imbert confirmed that the required 200,000 valuation returns for residential property owners had been received. The Minister is currently presenting the 2022 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament, which you can watch live here. This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates. |
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