PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - It appears that Tillman Thomas will remain leader of Grenada’s National Democratic Congress (NDC)—at least until a general membership meeting of the party. The NDC, which had been in government since July 2008, suffered a humiliating 15-0 defeat by the New National Party (NNP) at general elections on February 19. But NDC deputy chairman, Ken Joseph, said that Thomas’s leadership has not been an issue in post-election discussions held by the party’s executive.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - The newly-installed government of Grenada wants speedy agreement on lingering joint marine resources issues with T&T in order to facilitate exploration of energy resources along the countries’ adjoining borders. In an interview with T&T Guardian, economic adviser to the government of Grenada, Dr Patrick Antoine, said the Keith Mitchell administration plans to “immediately push for the finalisation of the framework agreement on oil and gas” between the two countries.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - The biggest energy challenge in the Caribbean is over-dependence on imported petroleum and petroleum products. In remarks at the opening ceremony of a Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (Coted) at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain yesterday, Caricom’s Office-in-Charge, Trade and Economic Integration, Desiree Field-Ridley said the region’s annual fuel import bill is about US$9 billion a year “with the tendency to be rising”.

The overall objectives of the Workshop were to garner feedback and finalize the Study being done to establish Regional sustainable energy targets, as well as, to build awareness about the process going forward to fully establish the C-SERMS.  Approximately Sixty persons were in attendance including Senior Energy Officials, members of the diplomatic corps, representatives from the public and private sectors of CARICOM Member States, regional Universities and technical experts.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Guardian- An increase in exports and a reduction in poverty were among the achievements highlighted when the Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development rolled out the first ever Government performance appraisal report in T&T on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E).
In delivering the performance report, Planning Minister Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie noted that the Medium Term Policy Framework (MTPF) delineates government’s five priority areas that will support improvement in the quality of lives of citizens. These areas include: