Caribbean L 22 ife, October 23-29, 2020
CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
ment’s decision to impose fees for persons
going into quarantine.
He said his administration has
been paying an estimated EC$1million
monthly in the
past for state quarantine
facilities.
Chastanet told
reporters that
while the imposition
of quarantine fees was a difficult
decision for Cabinet to make, it was a
decision that was necessary.
The prime minister said the government
has basically been covering the
quarantine cost that includes the cost
of rooms, security, nurses, feeding individuals,
and renting the facilities.
Government established several
quarantine centers since March when
the island recorded its first case of the
coronavirus that has so far infected 28
people on the island.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Sharon
Belmar-George said effective Oct. 15,
fees subsidized by the government
will be applied for single occupancy is
US$95; double occupancy US$165 and
triple occupancy US$240.
Chastanet said the state quarantine
service was supposed to end last July.
He said Cabinet agreed to extend it
by one month. It then became August
and “we realize we could not end it in
August, so we extended it by an addition
month, September.”
Trinidad
Trinidad and Tobago stands to benefit
from an extension of a trade agreement
between the Caribbean Basin and
the United States, signed into law by US
President Donald
Trump recently.
The legislation
extends preferential
duty treatment
for certain
goods produced in the Caribbean Basin
under the Caribbean Basin Economic
Recovery Act until Sept. 30, 2030.
Trinidad and Tobago has been a beneficiary
since inception in 1984 which
has allowed for duty-free access of
selected commodities into the US market
.T
he trade reference was due to expire
on Sept. 30, 2020.
T&T exported US$551.8 million to
the US in 2018, which represented an
increase of 13.1 percent over its value
in 2017.
The main exports to the US were
methanol (US$449) and petroleum and
petroleum-related products (US$55.4
million).
—Compiled by Azad Ali
Continued from Page 4
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Caribbean Life's Annual Impact Awards recognizes the
achievements and contributions of outstanding
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/Nominate2020
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