Mark goes after Rahael in Senate

PUBLIC UTILITIES Minister Rennie Dumas will be a happy man when the Senate sits tomorrow because he will not be in the hot seat facing questions from his parliamentary nemesis, Senate Opposition Leader Wade Mark. That dubious honour goes to Agriculture Minister John Rahael who has to answer two questions from Mark regarding Caroni (1975) Limited.  Mark has asked Rahael to say whether 70,000 acres of Caroni’s lands have been formally transferred to the newly formed Estate Management and Business Development Company Limited (EMBDC). He also has to name the company’s directors and state their qualifications. Mark has also asked Rahael to state what those 70,000 acres will be used for and whether sugar workers and cane farmers would be given first preference in the distribution of Caroni lands.

The UNC chairman will also ask Energy Minister Eric Williams to say whether negotiations have been completed for Atlantic LNG Train Four, provide the Senate with details of any agreement signed for Train Four and how much the Government would have to pay per cubic metre for natural gas. Debate is also expected to continue on the Anti-Kidnapping Bill, which the Opposition has steadfastly refused to support until the Government initiates constitutional reform and Independent Senator Professor Ken Ramchand’s motion for Government to articulate its position on that issue. Ramchand’s motion about the creation of a Technical University of Trinidad and Tobago and his Independent colleague Professor Ramesh Deosaran’s motion for live, televised parliamentary debates will also be discussed.  The UNC will reintroduce motions asking Government to immediately have Equal Opportunity Legislation effected in Trinidad and Tobago, declare how it proposes to deal with any form of terrorism or terrorist group in the country, say how it intends to regulate the banking industry and its efforts to expedite the enactment of legislation to deal with corruption in public office. However the Opposition’s no-confidence motion against Senate President Dr Linda Baboolal is yet to be reintroduced on the Senate Order Paper. The motion was removed in April after the UNC said it was not prepared to debate it. Last week, the Opposition Chief Whip hinted of a similar motion being brought against Speaker of the House of Representatives, Barry Sinanan. However the UNC has not yet decided about following through on that motion.