Canadian interest in TT remains

NOTWITHSTANDING an erroneous Canadian newspaper report which alleged a terrorist presence in Trinidad and Tobago and citizens fleeing this country in droves for fear of being kidnapped, Canadian investors’ interest in Trinidad and Tobago remains strong. Speaking with Newsday on Thursday, Canadian High Commissioner to TT Simon Wade described Canadian investor interest in TT as “buoyant and growing.” Wade said this was evident in the fact that out of the recent bids for 18 offshore blocks, eight of those bids were made by Canadian energy companies.

He said claims by Chaguanas MP Manohar Ramsaran of 3,000 Trinidadians applying for refugee status in Canada and petitions from locals seeking sanctuary in Canada for fear of being the victims of racially-targetted kidnappings were false. Senior officials at the US Embassy in Port-of-Spain supported Wade’s statements and denied that locals had been seeking refugee status in the US on similar grounds. Yesterday’s security intelligence updates from the US Department of State, US Department of Homeland Security, the Central Intelligence Agency and the British Foreign and Com-mowealth Office maintain there is no terrorist presence in TT nor does the country pose a security threat to either its nationals or Western interests in the region.

TT’s High Commissioner to Canada, Arnold Piggott, has written to the editor of the Canadian newspaper in question. High-level Government sources said initial investigations into that report point towards a plan by certain individuals to tarnish TT’s international reputation. Last Friday in Parliament, Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis charged that the Opposition UNC was currently trying to pursue such an agenda.