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THE Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (Udecott) and the Gender and Child Affairs Division have been removed from the responsibilities of the Office Prime Minister (OPM).
This was reflected in an extraordinary copy of the TT Gazette which was issued on May 23, the date of the ceremonial opening of the 13th Parliament.
Copies of the Gazette outlining ministerial responsibilities after the April 28 general election were released on May 14 and 15.
Section 744 of the Gazette showed the general information on ministerial responsibilities which was provided by President Christine Kangaloo was done in accordance with the advice of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar under the Section 79(1) of the Constitution.
With respect to the OPM, all of the entities and responsibilities associated with it remain in place except for two – Udecott and Gender and Child Affairs Division.
Both entities fell under the OPM under the former PNM administration.
Udecott has been reassigned to the Works and Infrastructure Ministry.
The Gender and Child Affairs Division has been split up and placed in the Ministry of the People, Social Development and Family Services.
The OPM's other responsibilities include cabinet, the National Security Council, commissions of enquiry, co-ordination of matters relating to Tobago, state-owned TTT (Trinidad and Tobago Television), constitutional matters and parliamentary affairs.
The Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) is now the responsibility of the Public Utilities Ministry.
Under the PNM, different aspects of CEPEP were managed by the Rural Development and Local Government and Agriculture Ministries.
The responsibilities for Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal have been updated to include Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Ltd (TPHL), Heritage Petroleum Ltd and Paria Fuel Trading Company from the list of entities which Moonilal now has responsibilities for.
A copy of the Gazette on May 15 showed the names of these companies were omitted from the list of state entities which report to Moonilal as energy minister.
In a Facebook post earlier that day, former energy minister Stuart Young highlighted that omission.
"The restructuring of Petrotrin resulted in the formation of new companies and these companies are responsible for the refinancing of Petrotrin’s historical debt including the US$850 million bond that was due in August 2019 as well as a US$750 million bond.”
The restructuring of Petrotrin in November 2018 resulted in the formation of TPHL, an umbrella entity which had other companies under it. These included Heritage Petroleum and Paria Fuel Trading Company.
Young said, “TPHL and Heritage carried the legal obligations of the refinancing of the US$850 million and other significant historical debts. This was then refinanced a second time and the US$850 million bond and other significant debts are now carried by Heritage.”
He claimed the absence of TPHL under Moonilal’s assigned duties and responsibilities in the Gazette suggests that neither Moonilal nor Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo were considered, identified or assigned.
“Heritage and Paria are no where to be seen. The UNC government has failed to recognise the existence of these companies.”
Young said, “I caution that if this is not immediately rectified it may result in defaults being declared under the bond and loan agreements.”
He added this “can also trigger lawsuits based on contractual obligations, it can also lead to an immediate downgrading of our sovereign ratings.” He called on government to immediately address this matter in order to avoid any possible crisis.
At a subsequent post-cabinet news conference at the Red House on May 15, Persad-Bissessar said the copy of the Gazette which Young referred to was not an official government document.
Persad-Bissessar said she was advised that the error was corrected.
All other ministerial responsibilities remain unchanged from what was contained in a copies of the Gazette on May 14 and 15.
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