(Trinidad Express) Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar will not be attending the Rio+20 Sustainability Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this week even though she had accepted an invitation to participate in a specific meeting during the event.
According to Environment Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal the Prime Minister has opted to focus on the ongoing Cabinet reconfiguration exercise.
Moonilal, who was among those also scheduled to attend the event, made the disclosure during a TV6 News report last night.
“The Prime Minister did receive an invitation from the officials from Brazil to attend but the Prime Minister will not attend either so that the Prime Minister and a couple of the Ministers who were due to attend have opted to remain home to participate in what is really a very important national concern which is the reconfiguration of the Cabinet and the reorganisation of the Government to ensure optimum delivery of goods and services to the people here in Trinidad and Tobago,” Moonilal said.
The other ministers who were due to attend the Summit are Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan and Planning and Economy Minister Bhoendradatt Tewarie.
Moonilal also said the Prime Minister is now engaged in an “extensive and exhaustive process with ministers and that process continues early into next week”.
Persad-Bissessar told reporters last week that she will not make a final decision on the Cabinet reconfiguration before the Labour Day holiday on Tuesday.
At the end of the Sixth Summit of the Americas in Colombia two months ago, the Prime Minister’s Office stated Persad-Bissessar “expressed her enthusiasm towards” the Rio+20 Summit during a bi-lateral meeting she held with Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff.
The Summit begins on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister’s Office also stated in April that Persad-Bissessar “already accepted an invitation” to participate in a Side-Event on women’s empowerment, supported by President Rousseff.
That event is scheduled to take place on Thursday.
US President Barack Obama was scheduled to attend the Summit but has also decided to skip the event.
Obama had attended the Sixth Summit of the Americas along with Persad-Bissessar.
The Prime Minister has been criticised for the number of foreign trips she has taken since being sworn into office two years ago but Moonilal said her decision to cancel the Rio trip is not an unusual one.
“The Prime Minister has been very clear over the last two years to concentrate primary on national interests and national issues and there have been several occasions where the Prime Minister has either cut down on foreign travel or cancelled foreign travel to ensure that she attends matters of state here in Trinidad and Tobago and this is yet another example of her commitment to putting Trinidad and Tobago first,” Moonilal said.
He said the Trinidad and Tobago delegation attending the Rio+20 Summit will now be led by this country’s Ambassador to Brazil Dr Hamza Rafeeq.
The delegation will include officials from the Ministry of Planning and Economy, the Ministry of Housing and the Environment and m the Environmental Management Authority.
