Leave of Absence was granted to the Member for Oropouche West and Chaguanas West for today’s sitting.

Tributes were paid to former Attorney General Keith Sobion by Hon. Colm Imbert, MP, Mrs. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, MP and Ms. Pennelope Beckles, MP

Tribute was paid to former Member of the House of Representatives Wilbert Winchester by Hon. Stanford Callender, MP and Mr. Chandresh Sharma, MP. The House stood for a moment of silence.

The Copyright (Amendment) Bill, which was passed in the Senate on 12 February 2008, was read a first time in the House of Representatives

All eight (8) Papers were in the name of the Minister of Finance. Three (3) were referred to the Public Accounts Committee and one (1) to the Public Accounts (Enterprises) Committee.
See Order Paper for details.

7 Questions were answered (13, 21, 34, 38, 44, 45 and 46).
7 Questions were deferred for two weeks (12, 20, 39, 40, 49, 50 and 51).
See Order Paper for details.

The request was denied by the Deputy Speaker.

Request denied by the Deputy Speaker

The Retiring Allowances (Legislative Service) Amendment) Bill, 2008 was read a first time in the House of Representatives.

The Minister of Education (Hon. Esther Le Gendre) made her maiden Contribution in the House of Representatives. The Minister of Information began his contribution. Debate was suspended to allow for consultation with key stakeholders.

At the next sitting the House will continue debate on the Motion by the Member for Cumuto/Manzanilla on food prices.