No complaint from PM Gonsalves

GOVERNMENT has not received a formal complaint from St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves about TT’s foreign exchange challenges affecting Vincentians.

Responding to a question in the Senate, Minister in the Ministry of Finance Allyson West said neither her ministry nor the Foreign and Caricom Affairs Ministry has received such a complaint.

She added that if the Finance Ministry does in fact receive this complaint, “it will act approproiately. “ West reminded senators the Central Bank handles the distribution of foreign exchange in TT. She said the bank together with participants in the financial industry, determines the allocation.

Later in the sitting, Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat said Government was happy with the work of the now defunct Economic Advisory Development Board and several aspects of the board’s work were being incorporated into government policy or being brought to Parliament for further consideration. The closed-loop cycle production project, green economy scoping study and a strategic plan for the cocoa industry were some of the projects undertaken by the board.

Rambharat reiterated the restructuring of the University of TT (UTT) had been known about since last November. He said it was decided that at the top of the structure the number of vice-president posts should be reduced from seven to three. The management structure, Rambharat continued, would be reduced by approximately 40 per cent, leading to “total expenditure reductions of approximately 25 per cent within the academic body and 50 per cent within the corporate body.”

The time frame for the severance of any employee in UTT, he said, will be in accordance with the law and the appropriate collective agreement. Rambharat reiterated there is a nine-point plan to restructure the university to bring it back to its original moorings and provide TT with what it needs.

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"No complaint from PM Gonsalves"

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