Leave of Absence was granted to Hon. Camille Robinson-Regis, MP for Arouca/Maloney from Sittings during the period May 17-22, 2016.

Eleven papers were laid in the names of the Minister of Finance and the Attorney General. Papers 1-5 were referred to the Public Accounts Committee and Papers 6-10 were referred to the Public Accounts (Enterprises) Committee. See Order Paper for details.

Ten (10) questions were posed to the Prime Minister. See Order Paper for details.

Two (2) urgent questions were posed and answered. See Order Paper for details.

Twenty eight (28) questions qualified for oral answer. Fourteen (14) questions were answered. Twelve (12) questions (from Question #115) were unanswered to be answered at the next Sitting. A deferral of two (2) weeks was granted for answers to questions 100 and 104. See Order Paper for details.

One request was made by the Leader of the Opposition to move the adjournment of the House on a definite matter of urgent public importance namely the failure of the Government to curb the unacceptable increase in numbers of murders in Trinidad and Tobago. The Speaker was not satisfied that this matter qualified under Standing Order 17.

A statement was made by the Minister of Finance on Trinidad and Tobago’s credit rating. He shared that the Standard and Poors Rating Agency lowered its long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit rating for Trinidad and Tobago from A to A minus, primarily due to a sharp fall in energy sector revenues.

The Member for Diego Martin North/East, Hon. Colm Imbert, moved the motion to adopt the Report of the Joint Select Committee on the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Amendment) Bill, 2015 . Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie was first to enter the debate. The motion was approved.

The Minister of Finance moved the second reading of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Amendment) Bill 2015. The House then resolved itself into committee to consider the Bill clause by clause. The Bill was considered and passed without amendment. It was then read a third time and passed.

Dr. Surujrattan Rambachan raised as a matter on the adjournment the failure of the relevant Government agencies to deal with the indiscriminate dumping of tonnes of garbage from the Claxton Bay flyover to the Forrest Park Landfill. The Minister of Public Utilities responded.

The Sitting concluded at 9:27 p.m. and adjourned to a date to be fixed.