PM gets down to business

PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning started his official engagements in the United States today with a meeting with Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon and five other Commonwealth Prime Ministers. The purpose of today’s meeting is to discuss the format of future Commonwealth Heads of Government Summits. The Prime Minister will address the 59th United Nations General Assembly on Friday at 4 pm and is expected to use a significant part of his speech to lobby the international community to assist Grenada and other Caribbean nations that were recently battered by Hurricane Ivan.

Manning is also scheduled to hold private talks with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan tomorrow.  The Prime Minister contacted Annan immediately after Hurricane Ivan struck Grenada, and Manning said Annan agreed with him about the need to internationalise relief efforts for Grenada. When Annan held informal talks with Manning at Whitehall in January, the Prime Minister hinted at the possibility of more United Nations Volunteer doctors coming to TT to assist in certain areas of the local health sector. On Sunday, the Prime Minister will address the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC about TT’s strategic importance to the US’ future energy security and its pivotal role in Caribbean development. Manning meets with US trade representative, Ambassador Robert Zoellick, on Monday in Washington, and returns to Trinidad Tuesday.

The Prime Minister is being accompanied on his trip by Community Development Minister Joan Yuille-Williams and Foreign Affairs Minister Knowlson Gift. A release from Whitehall on Monday incorrectly stated that Education Minister Hazel Manning had accompanied her husband on his trip to the US. Public Administration Minister Dr Lenny Saith has been appointed to act as Prime Minister during Manning’s absence from TT.