On Thursday March 10, Cabinet agreed to the following:
To support the recommendation of the Law Reform Commission and the Legislative Review Commission to amend the Strategic Services Agency Act. The amendment will broaden the mandate of the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) to include the surveying of serious crimes. The aim of this amendment is to create a coordinated approach to the management and suppression of criminal activity. The objectives are to centralise the management of all state assets and to improve the efficiency of information sharing among intelligence agencies to increase detection and conviction in the criminal justice system.
To debate the Families and Children Division Bill 2015 and to the establishment of the Families and Children Division under the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago. The Family and Children Division Bill seeks to vest jurisdiction for all family matters and children matters in a Division of the High Court for increased protection of the children of Trinidad and Tobago.
Task Force to review the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses Programme (GATE). The Task Force was established to review the effectiveness of the programme. Some duties of the Task Force include:
o To review the policy guidelines that govern GATE
o To review mechanisms for reducing the overall cost of GATE funding
o To set criteria eligibility of programmes and institutions The Task Force has been mandated to submit a report by July 2016 to the Minister of Education.
- The establishment of a Child Protection Unit in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), Ministry of National Security. With the increase in crimes against children, the Minister of National Security and the Acting Commissioner of Police saw the need to establish a focused entity to deal with the incidence of crimes against children. The entity will be positioned in the eight divisions across Trinidad and the one division in Tobago.
Sugar Diversification Programme
The Government will review the Performance Indicators stipulated by the European Union for funding of the Sugar Diversification Programme. The second tranche of funds was not received as previously stated by the Member of Parliament for Caroni Central because the Performance Indicators were not satisfactorily implemented in keeping with the criteria specified by the European Union for funding.
President’s Award Ceremony
The award ceremony for recipients of the President’s Award will be held on Tuesday 15th March at the Southern Campus of the National Academy for the Performing Arts. The President’s Medal Gold and Silver will be distributed to students who excelled in the 2015 CAPE and CSEC examinations.
For more information please contact:
Levels 5 & 6 Nicholas Tower,
63-65 Independence Square,
Port of Spain
Tel: 1-868-623-4541