A few lucky Trinidadians were hosted by nearby friends for Christmas dinner before parts of Canada returned to heavy lockdowns yesterday in another bid to curb rising Covid-19 infections.
But many Trinidad and Tobago nationals sheltering in place in countries like Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, who were cut off by the closure of local borders and the global near-shutdown of airline services, spent Christmas alone.
Stranded Trinis abroadâthousands of themâhave one thing in common: they are pining to come home.
Some are in groups, such as migrant seasonal farm workers in Canada, and most are pleading for the chance to return as they are relying mostly on the kindness of people they befriended over the course of the past few months.
Have a disciplined Christmas! Gov’t offers vaccine update, schools target, and measure for UK travellers
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley pleaded with businesses and vacationers in Tobago to remain vigilant at today’s press conference, which is expected to be the last Covid-19 briefing before Christmas Day.
The government will retain current novel coronavirus protocols until 10 January at the earliest. And Rowley warned the public not to let their discipline drop in the season of merriment.
Photo: Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.
(Copyright Office of the Parliament 2020)
“We are seeing and hearing that some people are dropping their guard,” said Rowley. “I want to appeal to the business community this might be your best week, I know that [but] don’t let it be the week that we have lost the gains we have made. Continue to emphasise sanitation, distancing and the lack of congregation.
That assessment from the political leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ), David Abdulah.
Speaking to the media during a press conference on Sunday 20 December 2020, Abdulah said both the energy sector and the non-energy sector took a hit this year.
Quoting from a report from the Central Bank, Abdulah said there was a 49.6 per cent decline of methanol production in 2020 compared to 2019.
“Ammonia output declined by 16.8 per cent compared to last year. In terms of the total economy, there was a 7.5 per cent decline in 2020, compared to 2019. The non-energy sector fell by 7.7 per cent because of COVID-19,” Abdulah said.
I maintain it is our foreign reserves that have kept this economy afloat and not any wizardry of Finance Minister Colm Imbert or his Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.
They met a healthy US$10.4 billion in reserves in 2015, plus a Heritage and Stabilisation Fund of almost US$6 billion as well as significant borrowing space to finance national development.
But they squandered the countryâs economic security, paying no attention to reserves replenishment even though earnings from the energy sector had dropped permanently from a global revolution unfolding before them. Instead, they waited foolishly for boom times returning. Consequently, over the last five years, on a fortnightly basis, the Central Bank has had to inject foreign exchange from the reserves to make up for shortfalls from the 13 authorised foreign exchange dealersâeight commercial banks, four non-bank financial institutions, and the EXIM Bankâwhich purchase their foreign exchange mainly from energy companies
Daly Bread: Abstinence, abstention and absconding; sold short by procurement vote
Politicians and their satellites do not always practise abstinence from corruption. If persons populating our institutions abstain, without credible cause, from the limited opportunities to act as checks and balances, we can expect no change in the rate at which the corrupt will abscond unjustly enriched.
Last week, amidst public concern about the effect of abstentions and in the interest of fairness, I expressed my opinion that Independent Senator Dr Maria Dillon-Remy should not be targeted as the sole ‘cause’ of the government successfully diluting the procurement legislation, by being able to pass an amending bill through what is known as a simple majority.