VZCZCXRO1429
RR RUEHGR
DE RUEHSP #0642/01 1831850
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 021850Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8356
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO 2582
RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT OF SPAIN 000642 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SANTO DOMINGO FOR REGIONAL COMMERCIAL OFFICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR EARG ECPS EIND EINV SENV SOCI TD
SUBJECT: TRINIDAD & TOBAGO ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS - MAY 
 
The following were notable economic issues in Trinidad & Tobago 
during the month of May 
 
1)  CA adds flights to Caribbean and North America 
2)  Another airline for T&T 
3)  Goodbye State-Run Sugar 
4)  Panama Canal Project invitation 
5)  TSTT loses millions 
6)  T&T's economic growth impressive 
7)  Record nesting season for leatherback turtles 
8)  Investors in Venezuela relocate to T&T? 
9)  T&T Transport - buses, rapid rail, water taxis 
10) Saharan Dust in Trinidad contains pesticides, 
    USGS-led team finds 
11) Climate change warnings 
12) Alutrint to begin site work - or not! 
13) New Cuban medics in town 
 
 
¶1.  CA adds flights to Caribbean and North America 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
Caribbean Airlines will increase seat capacity to the Caribbean and 
North America by 25 percent.  CA will fly double daily frequencies 
to New York four days a week, maintaining daily service for the rest 
to the week.  The airline will add one extra flight to the Toronto 
route, and a morning and evening service linking Guyana, Barbados 
and Port of Spain three times weekly. 
 
¶2. Another T&T airline 
---------------------- 
 
Constellation West Indies Airways Ltd. (CWIA), T&T's newest airline, 
is scheduled to take to the skies in later this year after 
celebrating its inaugural flight to Panama and Curacao in June.  The 
airline's Managing Director and sole shareholder Mujjhtabah Mohammed 
is also the Managing Director of Constellation Travel Service. 
According to newspaper reports, the company has been in the travel 
business for 23 years and has been involved in charter operations. 
CWIA is presently in the process of applying for its local Air 
Operators Certificate.  CWIA routes will include Guyana, Fort 
Lauderdale, New York, and Toronto.  The airline's fleet will consist 
of two Boeing 757 aircraft, and it intends to acquire other craft in 
the future. 
 
¶3. Goodbye State-Run Sugar 
-------------------------- 
 
May 25 saw the last truck loads of cane brought to the sugar 
factory.  However, the State-run Sugar Manufacturing Company Limited 
(SMCL) closed it final crop with an 18,000 ton shortfall of it 
intended target of 378 tons of cane.  All the sugar produced was 
exported, with the final shipment of 7,000 tons going to the 
European Union. 
 
¶4. Panama Canal Project invitation 
---------------------------------- 
 
Chief Operations Officer of the Panama Canal Authority Manual 
Benitez extended an invitation to the local business community to be 
part of the US$5.25 billion Panama Canal extension, presently in 
progress and due to be completed in 2014.  Benitez' list of needs 
included asphalt, steel, aggregate, cement and technical expertise. 
When the canal was first built, 1,427 T&T workers were contracted 
for the project. 
 
¶5. TSTT loses millions 
---------------------- 
 
Local telecom provider TSTT is likely to declare an after tax loss 
of US$19 million compared to a post tax profit of US$41 million last 
year.  TSTT's CEO Roberto Peon said the company suffered from "asset 
impairment" estimated at US$30 million, US$16 million from fraud, 
the lost of US$14 million from it international long distance 
market, and cable theft (for copper) amounted to US$4 million.  Peon 
plans to approach Government for a moratorium on the sale/export of 
copper.  TSTT is 51 percent owned by the GOTT and 49 percent is 
owned by international telecom giant Cable and Wireless. 
 
¶6. T&T's economic growth impressive 
----------------------------------- 
 
Two credit rating agencies commended T&T on its impressive economic 
growth.  Regional agency Caricris assigned its highest 
creditworthiness rating to the government for debt size of US$500 
million, assigning ratings of CariAAA to foreign currency and 
CariAAA for local currency in its rating scale.  Analysts from 
International rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) also lauded the 
 
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government on its impressive growth but expressed concern over its 
lack of economic diversification and dependency on energy revenues. 
IMF Mission Chief for T&T here to attend the Regional Economic 
Outlook described T&T's economic growth as "quite a remarkable 
achievement." 
 
¶7. Record nesting season for leatherback turtles 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
Scientists predicted record numbers of nesting leatherback turtles 
in T&T this year as local and international conservationists ramp up 
efforts to protect this endangered species.  The north coast of T&T 
has long been the second most popular nesting destination worldwide 
for leatherback turtles, the largest turtle species and may see 
upwards of 7,000 females this year.  This unique spectacle is 
becoming a more important draw for eco-tourism, and local 
communities are getting increasingly involved in conservation 
efforts.   Dr. Scott Eckert, director of science for the Wider 
Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST), commends local 
conservation management efforts, and notes that local turtle groups, 
which monitor the beaches where the turtles nest and lead guided 
tours, have become the primary economic force in some north-coast 
villages and serve as a model of how sea turtle nesting can be used 
as a resource for community development.  Local environmental groups 
and relevant government ministries also formed a Nets Working 
Committee in 2007 to protect these turtles and other marine species. 
 
 
However, despite community-based conservation efforts, leatherback 
turtles continue to face danger in T&T from poachers as well as from 
entanglement in gill nets or shrimp trawling nets.  The U.S. 
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration is developing 
strategies for local fisherman to reduce the number of turtles 
caught in gill nets.  Post will report in greater detail on these 
strategies as well as on efforts to implement turtle excluder 
devices (TEDs) in shrimp trawling nets septel. 
 
¶8. Investors in Venezuela relocate to T&T? 
------------------------------------------ 
 
During a post cabinet press conference GOTT Trade Minister Ken 
Valley announced that two or three major foreign companies with 
investments in Venezuela have made enquiries about relocating to 
T&T.  He said the companies were not in the energy sector, but he 
declined to identify them.  Valley said that if companies decided to 
relocate to T&T, the Government would look favourably at the 
possible investment.  However, he said that the GOTT would not 
actively entice companies to pull out of Venezuela. 
 
¶9. Transport T&T - buses, rapid rail, water taxis 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
Buses: Minister of Works and Transport Colm Imbert commissioned 38 
new buses bringing the local fleet to 230 with an additional 12 
buses expected later this year. The Minister requested proposals for 
an additional 50 buses specifically for use in rural and suburban 
areas.  Twenty-five articulated buses were manufactured by Volvo, 
Brazil, and 13 tour buses were manufactured by Chinese firm Zonda 
and acquired through Champion Motors of the U.S.  Total cost was 
approx. US$8.4 million. 
 
Rapid Rail:  Imbert announced that a contractor for the rapid rail 
project final design and planning stage would be announced shortly. 
PM Manning also confirmed that final negotiations would be completed 
by the end of June. The two consortia bidding for this project are 
Trintrain consortium lead by French company Bouygues Travaux Publics 
and the T-3 Group, led by another French company Vinci Construction 
and Bombardier.  Estimated value for the total project is US$1.1 
billion. 
 
Water Taxis:  Manning announced that the infrastructure for the 
water taxis was established and the service would be in operation by 
the end of August. 
 
¶10. Saharan Dust in Trinidad contains pesticides, USGS-led team 
finds 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
A recently released report based on the findings of a U.S. 
Geological Survey (USGS) team examining the effects of Saharan dust 
in T&T found that the dust samples collected over the past two years 
contain six pesticides harmful to human, animal and plant health. 
The Saharan dust, consisting of  soil and other particles that are 
transported every year across the Atlantic from Africa to the 
Caribbean and the Southeastern U.S., has been blamed for many health 
issues in T&T, including asthma and other respiratory illnesses, and 
Environmental Management Agency chairman Dr. John Agard says Saharan 
dust has been increasing in recent years.  The USGS, along with 
 
PORT OF SP 00000642  003 OF 003 
 
 
local and international partners, is involved in a six-year study of 
the Saharan dust and its effect on humans and coral reefs. 
Currently in the middle of their third year of research, they are 
working with Post to gain access to a new dust sampling location in 
Tobago. 
 
¶11. Climate change warnings 
--------------------------- 
 
At a three-day conference on climate change, Permanent Secretary in 
the Ministry of the Environment Jacqueline Ganteaume-Farrell told 
participants (mostly school children) that reclaimed land and 
removal of mangrove for coastal development only added to the 
country's vulnerability to climate change.  She said the National 
Reforestation and Watershed Rehabilitation Programme will replace 
33,030 acres of trees over the next ten years.  A program has been 
established with energy companies to ensure that any trees they 
remove are replanted in the same area or an area approved by the 
Ministry.  The Government is also testing the feasibility of using 
solar energy to heat water in homes and will evaluate the use of 
alternative fuels through a pilot project using solar water heating 
in 11 test homes. 
 
Chairman of the Environmental Management Authority John Agard said 
that T&T was a victim of climate change, with rising sea levels from 
1.3 to 1.6 mm, warmer temperatures; the recent dry season produced 
the country's hottest temperature of 35.8 degrees Celsius, and a 
decrease in rainfall.  He also warned of the increases in 
weather-related deaths and infectious diseases.  Agard noted that 
although T&T lies outside of the hurricane belt, hurricanes are 
coming closer.  He said that the total amount of greenhouse gasses 
emitted in T&T is insignificant compared to the U.S. and China, but 
as a petroleum economy, the country has a moral responsibility to 
contribute to the solution. 
 
¶12.  Alutrint to begin site work - or not! 
------------------------------------------ 
 
The Environmental Management Authority (EMA) awarded a Certificate 
of Environmental Clearance (CEC) to majority state-owned company 
Alutrint to construct an aluminium smelter in Trinidad.  The company 
indicated that pre-construction activity on the smelter complex is 
likely to being in the second half of 2007, to be completed in the 
latter half of 2009.  However, the Civil Rights Association which is 
chaired by Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, former Attorney General under 
the United National Congress (UNC) administration, intends to file 
for judicial review to quash the granting of the CEC.  In addition, 
the Association will seek a Court order to block Alutrint from 
moving forward with construction.  A release from Alutrint 
acknowledged that it will review the very comprehensive CEC in order 
to ensure that the EMA's conditions are fulfilled within the time 
frames specified.  It also reaffirmed that Alutrint would consider 
all health, safety and environmental regulatory requirements as a 
minimum target, and continually strive to improve upon statutory 
expectations. 
 
¶13.  New Cuban medics in town 
----------------------------- 
 
A team of medical personnel from Cuba comprising 22 doctors and 18 
nurses arrived in T&T on two-year contracts to help with the 
shortage of specialized medical personal at hospitals.  The team, 
the third set of Cuban medical personnel to come to T&T, 
participated in a three-week training and orientation program 
designed to familiarize them with local conditions.  According to 
Health Minister John Rahael, another batch of 30 medics was expected 
in June.  Over the last four years, doctors employed with the United 
National Voluntary Programme and pharmacists from the Philippines 
have been recruited to provide health care at various institutions. 
 
 
 
AUSTIN