$50M for forests; more help for disabled

AN UNPRECEDENTED sum of $50 million has been allocated by Cabinet to reclaim over a ten year period some 33,000 acres of forests in Trinidad and Tobago. Addressing Friday’s post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall, Public Utilities and Environment Minister Pennelope Beckles announced that these funds have been allocated towards the National Reafforestation Project which will start within the next two weeks.

She said this project’s goal is to arrest the decline of the nation’s forests and deterioration of the nation’s watercourses. The Minister outlined the target areas as the Northern Range, Caroni, Penal, Palo Seco, Pt Fortin, Reform Tobago and Tabaquite. Beckles added that the project was a joint effort by her Ministry with the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Marine Resources.  The Minister disclosed that where possible, CEPEP may offer assistance to the project since the programme also fell under her Ministry’s purview. However she said overall control will be handled by a project execution unit. Social Services Delivery Minister Christine Kangaloo said all recipients of the $650 disability grants have received their grants to date and by the end of January, systems will be in place so that these grants could be afforded to persons between the ages of 18 to 65.