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Promenade Lime: Newsday photographer Sureash Cholai, captured this group of men who usually gather everyday to play cards and make a lime on the Brian Lara Promenade in Port of Spain in January 2021. No social distancing was observed with some opting to wear their face masks incorrectly.

PAULA LINDO

REPORTING BY NICHOLAS BAYLEY

There is growing nervousness among medical professionals about the lifting of mask mandates both locally and regionally, with the growing presence of the omicron BA.5 variant in the Americas. CMO Dr Roshan Parasram said the BA.5 variant had been detected among 20 samples sent for genomic testing at the University of the West Indies last week, meaning it is present in the TT population.

Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) director Dr Carissa F Etienne, speaking at PAHO’s media conference on Wednesday, said a growing proportion of cases in the Americas are being caused by the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages and this is driving new.

“In the US, BA.4 and BA.5 are the predominant sub variant strains, and an increasing number of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are also reporting these sub-lineages. Omicron BA.5 has been detected in at least 22 countries and is likely to become predominant in all territories in the sub region in the next few weeks. The emergence of BA.4 and BA.5 is yet another reminder that the virus keeps evolving every time it is transmitted and that we must remain vigilant.”

PAHO health emergencies director Dr Ciro Ugarte said transmission is faster when public health measures such as the use of masking have been relaxed.

“People begin to have a false sense of security thinking that everything is back to normal, but when a virus is transmitted from person to person, this leads to more mutations, generating other variants that may be transmitted more quickly. For example, when we have mass events, they need to think of additional measures to mitigate the risk of transmission.”

Speaking at the Health Ministry’s covid19 media conference on Wednesday, Parasram said data suggests that while the BA.4 and BA.5 variants may be more transmissible, meaning that they spread easier, none of the sub-lineages of omicron have been shown to be more virulent, meaning that they don’t cause more severe disease.

“What we are mostly concerned with at this point in the pandemic is the impact on the hospitalisation and the impact on the number of people who have passed away due to the disease itself. Currently there are only 91 people in various hospital facilities in TT, which is lower than April 2021. We may expect an increase in the number of positive cases but once that doesn’t result in a concomitant increase in hospitalisations and death then the concern will be a little less.”

He said lifting the legislation relating to masks did not mean that masking is no longer required but the onus is transferred to the individual. He reminded people that wearing or not wearing a mask is now a personal choice which should be respected.

“It doesn’t have the force of law anymore except in certain places and a list of high-risk places will be uploaded to the ministry’s website. There is always a sense of trepidation when we do a change in a public health restriction but we expect after two years that people would have learned how to manage and live with covid19.

“I don’t expect that the day after the mandate is lifted that everyone will take off their mask at the same time. It’s something we don’t want to see happen and we hope people will determine their risk accordingly. it is a time of nervousness to see what will happen after that particular date, but from a health perspective we expect the lessons learned over the last 2.5 years will not be lost.”

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the new public regulations coming out on July 16 would indicate that masking is now mandatory only in health care settings. He said business places and entities would still have the right to enforce mask mandates in their places of business.

“There are now little or no other public health regulations. We are putting forward to the population an easy to understand and common-sense approach to risk mitigation at the personal, family, workplace, community, and social levels. Mitigation strategies are now squarely in the hands of the public.”

The CMO said choosing to wear a mask should be informed by each person’s level of risk in a particular setting. He advised that people base their risk assessment on the interplay between the three factors of environment, agent, and host, which determines the outcomes of getting and spreading a disease.

“We look at the virulence or severity of the agent pathogen and its infectivity; the host – vaccination status, medical illness, types of medication; and the environment- air flow, household, healthcare facility, or if it’s a travel-related environment. We take a three tiered assessment of risk: the population in which you reside and/or are going to visit, your individual level of risk, and the site- or event-specific risk.”

He said the population level risk could be estimated through the ministry’s covid19 update, which would list the numbers of new positive cases, deaths, active positive cases, and circulating variants.

Parasram said there were special groups which were at greater risk of becoming ill and should continue wearing their masks. These included immunocompromised people, those with underlying medical conditions, obese people i.e. those with a body mass index (BMI) over 30, pregnant women, people 60 years and over, and unvaccinated and not fully vaccinated individuals.

He said site-specific considerations included whether the venue was indoors or outdoors, whether there was adequate ventilation, how long people would be there and whether they knew the other people present, if the place was crowded, whether there were vulnerable people in the setting, and whether other people were complying with public health measures.

Parasram said places where masking was recommended included all retail establishments inclusive of supermarkets, groceries, and malls; public transportation and transportation hubs; ports of entry; mass gatherings; pharmacies; schools and educational establishments; workplaces, especially crowded ones without adequate ventilation; places of worship; beauty salons and barbershops; spas where possible; cinemas and theatres; buildings with high concentrations of people; and other congregate settings such as children’s homes, geriatric homes, and correctional and detentional settings.

Some parts of the US are rolling back mask mandates, including Los Angeles County, which will bring it back if transmission of the B.4 and B.5 strains has not dropped by July 29. Alaska has also reinstituted mask bans. Cyprus reinstituted its mask mandate a month after removing it in June.

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PARAMARIBO — Uiterlijk in oktober moeten twee nieuwe waterbronnen, die in district Nickerie worden aangeboord, volledig in productie worden gebracht.

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PHILIPSBURG — MPs Rolando Brison (UP) and Hyacinth Richardson (NA) fled a meeting of Parliament on Wednesday to prevent the handling of a motion of no confidence against Minister Egbert Doran (Public Housing, Urban Planning, Environment and Infrastructure – VROMI).

The meeting was called to discuss the advice of the Council of Advice on article 50, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the constitution, but MP Raeyhon Peterson (PFP) asked to add another point to the agenda: Parliament’s confidence in the Minister of VROMI.

The constitutional articles 50.2 and 50.3 deal with rules for the suspension of parliamentarians and their replacement. According to remarks made by MP Brison the discussion about this topic was apparently “to find a solution” for the situation of suspended MP Claudius Buncamper. But the nine MPs who were present in the meeting never got to handling this agenda point.

MP Brison reacted irritated to MP Peterson’s request to add the confidence-issue to the agenda. “It is so cute when political parties claim to be beyond political games and the first thing we see is a political game,” he said. “We came here to debate a topic for a colleague member of parliament to find a solution to his situation. You called an urgent meeting in the middle of recess knowing full well that a number of MPs s off island. And then this shenanigan is played. I am not entertaining this nonsense any further. We came here to debate the constitution but now we know the real reason why this meeting was called.  I just want to leave you with this: article 61 of the constitution.

The article Brison referred to reads: “Parliament is only allowed to debate and to take decisions if more than half of the sitting members are present in the meeting.

Brison asked for a roll call before theatrically walking out of the meeting, together with National Alliance MP Hyacinth Richardson. With the absence of the two MPs, the meeting was left without a quorum and the chair of parliament, MP Grisha Heyliger-Marten had no other option than to adjourn the meeting until further notice.

Read more: PFP: Walkouts Becoming the Norm to Keep Accountability in the Dark

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Related articles:
Opinion piece: Political games

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PHILIPSBURG — Members of Parliament (MPs) Rolando Brison of United People’s Party (UP) and Hyacinth Richardson of National Alliance (NA) walked out of Wednesday’s parliament meeting because Party for Progress (PFP) MP Raeyhon Peterson introduced an additional agenda point to discuss the parliament’s confidence in Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (VROMI) Egbert J. Doran. This move left the meeting without the required quorum of 8 MPs, further demonstrating the lengths to which some coalition MPs will go to prevent Minister Doran from being held accountable to the people of Sint Maarten because of a long history of questionable decision making.

“It is not a surprise that the PFP faction in parliament is presenting a motion of no confidence against this Minister. We were transparent in making it known at the urgent Parliament meeting to discuss the matter at the end of June. At the time, Minister Doran said he would need at least two weeks to answer the 21 questions posed to him by Parliament, due to the delay tactics by some coalition MPs. Well, two weeks have passed and the Minister has not indicated when he will be ready to return, nor has he submitted the answers in writing to Parliament,” said MP Peterson on Wednesday afternoon.

Photo caption: MP Rolando Brison saying “And then this shenanigan is played.“

“One MP spoke of political shenanigans being played, but there is no game being played here. I, along with the rest of the MPs, were promised answers within a given timeframe. Given the seriousness of the Ombudsman’s damning report, one would think that this would have his utmost priority, as the report alludes to creating the conditions for nepotism and the mismanagement of the people’s hard-earned tax guilders. The real shenanigan is thus the blatant stalling tactics being displayed by the coalition MPs in order to protect the VROMI Minister, who refuses to be held accountable in this matter, just as he avoids dealing with the missteps he made in Vineyard Heights and in handling the management and operational issues at NV GEBE,” added MP Peterson.

Wednesday’s meeting was also set to discuss suspended MP Buncamper’s letter to Parliament, with a potential vote to forward the letter to the Council of Advice. With MPs Brison and Richardson’s swift exit from the hall, this agenda point could not be deliberated. In his point of order, MP Brison made a comment that implied that the public meeting was called by the President of Parliament as a “surprise” in the second week of Parliament’s official recess.

“There was a central committee meeting last week where it was agreed that MP Buncamper’s letter would be sent to the Council of Advice,” said MP Gumbs. “In fact, the same MP suggested even sending it to the Council of State. Those present were informed that the public meeting would be called this week, so it’s interesting that this is the route the MP took in justifying his walkout.”

“This motion stems from two years of the Minister’s poor performance, and it is based on evidence, including the most recent report from one of the country’s High Council of State. There are some who still want to believe that this is a witch-hunt, that the PFP faction is out to topple a Minister because we supposedly don’t like his last name or his party. But this faction stands for accountability and transparency and putting the proper procedures in place. Sint Maarten has a long history of certain people getting land, permits, and positions because of who they kept close to them, and others being left in the dark. In this week’s Council of Minister’s press briefing, the Minister implied that his policies are seeking to break this cycle and create an objective and progressive path forward. But how can anyone believe this when the names of his close relatives keep appearing in virtually everything that his Ministry does? It’s like when you tell a kid to clean their room and they just put the toys and clothes in the closet and say ‘but look, I cleaned’,” added MP Gumbs.

The faction, which is still awaiting responses to questions they have asked the Minister in writing, says that it will wait to see if the walk-out trend will continue after Parliament’s recess concludes in August. This, they say, would further cement the already-obvious ploy to help the Minister avoid being held accountable to the Parliament and the people of St. Maarten.

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Related news: MPs flee Parliament meeting to frustrate motion of no confidence

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FILE PHOTO: The site of the HDC’s North Grove Housing Development on land that used to form part of the St Augustine Nurseries in Curepe. – SUREASH CHOLAI

GOVERNMENT’S proposal to use the St Augustine nurseries for housing hit a snag when a High Court judge granted an injunction restraining the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) from starting any work on the site.

On Tuesday, Justice Robin Mohammed gave permission to environmentalist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh and livestock farmer Shiraz Khan to challenge a decision by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) to grant a certificate of environmental clearance (CEC) to the HDC.

The judge also granted the temporary injunction to prevent work from starting or continuing on the site until the judicial review application is determined in court. The matter comes back up for a virtual hearing on September 13.

Mohammed allowed the judicial review application, giving permission for the two men to seek an order to quash the September 14, 2018 decision by the EMA to issue the CEC to the HDC to build a 504-unit multi-family residential development at Farm Road, St Joseph, on seven acres of land.

The proposed site is part of the St Augustine nurseries.

The two men will be asking for a declaration that the EMA’s decision is unlawful and a further order to compel the EMA to demand an environmental impact assessment (EIA) be done before the project can move forward.

Shiraz Khan. –

In his ruling, the judge said, “My primary concern must centre on the decision-making process and not the decision itself. I must consider whether the EMA’s decision was illegal, irrational, or procedurally improper.”

In determining if the men’s argument had a realistic prospect of success, the judge said he found the report submitted by the men’s experts to be useful.

One in particular as it related to the shortcomings and inconsistencies in the HDC’s application was referred to by the judge.

“Such (shortcoming and inconsistencies) include the error of HDC that there were no springs or aquifers in or adjacent to the site and that there were no rivers, streams, or drainage as well as its omissions with respect to the assessment and treatment of domestic solid waste.

“In fact, significant doubt was cast on the reliability and accuracy of the scope of works provided by HDC, particularly with respect to its revised plans including drainage site plan and calculations and the stormwater management plan.

“These inconsistencies and contradictions suggest the EMA’s assessment of the information provided by the HDC with respect to the impact on the aquifer and the hydrological system was insufficient. This raises questions as to the rationality of the decision to grant the CEC.”

He said it was submitted by the EMA its role was not to encroach on the HDC’s division of the land, for which it received approval, but to determine if the development would pose a threat to the surrounding environment, including the St Joseph Farm and the St Augustine nurseries.

“I do not consider this argument of the EMA to be relevant.”

Judge: EMA should have asked more questions

He said Kublalsingh and Khan were not challenging the use of the land but questioning the EMA’s failure to enquire from the HDC on the impact of the project on the micro-climate of the farm which borders the proposed development.

He also said the lack of evidence of engagement with the Ministry of Agriculture, which controlled the lands, also cast doubt on whether the EMA had a fulsome picture of the potential adverse short-term and long-term environmental impact on the propagation station contiguous to the development, the potential risks to the St Joseph farm and St Augustine nurseries, and other likely adverse effects.

“There is also no evidence that the EMA engaged the ministry otherwise.”

He also said it was evidence the environmental risks identified by the applicants spoke to long-term impacts of the proposed development and no such impacts were identified by the EMA.

Environmentalist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh. FILE PHOTO –

“In fact, limited evidence and detail are provided by the EMA in its assessment of the impact on the nursery.

“…In the circumstances, I am not satisfied that these grounds have no realistic prospect of success.”

It was proposed that the North Grove development would be located on seven acres of agricultural land being used for experimental crops.

The application said the HDC cited an August 2017 Cabinet Minute #1376 which stated that “although the parcel of land is presently used for agricultural purposes, it is located in a densely built-up urban area, surrounded to the south, north, and east by built development, including commercial and residential uses.”

The men are represented by attorneys Dinesh Rambally, Kiel Taklalsingh, Stefan Ramkissoon, and Arya Mahabir while Ian Benjamin, SC, Tekiyah Jorsling, and Maurice Wishart represented the EMA.

In their application, the two men said the EMA acted illegally and failed in its statutory duty to consider all relevant matters before deciding to issue the CEC.

They accused the HDC of providing false and misleading information to the EMA when it applied for the CEC in October 2017. According to the application, the men alleged the HDC said there were no springs or aquifers at the site or near to it. However, they claim the project site lies over the Valsayn aquifer.

The application also contended that the EMA was aware that the land on the St Augustine nurseries is agricultural land and part of a larger enclosed parcel.

“It failed to request information of the HDC and/or to require a study of and/or require an examination of the impact of an extensive piece of housing infrastructure, namely the construction of twelve high rise buildings, each eight stories high, on the microclimate of the farm upon which the valuable tree and plant stocks of the contiguous St Augustine nurseries rely.”

The application further accused the EMA of failing to ask for information or demand a study be done to determine potential risks or negative impacts on the propagation station which dispenses plant and tree crops to farmers and the general public.

EMA: We did our job correctly

The St Augustine nurseries is part of the St Joseph Farm which was established in the 1930s and was part of an economic plan for the collection, conservation, and dissemination of tropical plant species and products.

The plan included agricultural education and large tracts of land were allocated for research and conservation the lawsuit contends.

“Part of the farm, the St Augustine nurseries collects, conserves, and propagates plant material, germplasm. It keeps integrated a unique bank of plasm and technical expertise developed and preserved over nine decades. The farm also houses a herbarium. Both the nursery and herbarium are directly west of the proposed housing scheme,” the application added.

FILE PHOTO: St Augustine Nurseries, Farm Road, Curepe. –

In resisting the application, the EMA contended Kublalsingh and Khan did not act with promptitude in making its application and cited the delays it would have in the national development of housing,

The EMA also argued that the grant of leave would be prejudicial and detrimental to good administration by further delaying a much-needed public project which will benefit middle and low-income families.

It was argued the EMA properly considered the environmental impact of the development and was satisfied that the impact was minimal and could be properly mitigated and its approach was reasonable and consistent with the precautionary principle as it took a hard look at the adverse impacts prior to granting the CEC.

It also maintained an EIA was not a mandatory requirement under the EMA Act and in this case, it was not necessary.

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