Senior Reporter
andrea.perez-sobers
@guardian.co.tt
Devising strategies to mitigate against future criminal activities, and promoting tourism, agriculture and water conservation in Fyzabad are just some of the things that re-elected Fyzabad Chamber of Commerce (FCOC) president, Angenie Jairam, intends to deal with in her new term.
Jairam was re-elected last week for a second two-year term.
She told Guardian Media yesterday that the chamber intends to work more closely with the station council, which is part of the community police division, and the Police Youth Club to help mitigate any future criminal activities from taking place.
“In addition, the FCOC will invite Crime Stoppers to address our membership and other interested stakeholders to feel the much-needed level of confidence to bring any kind of information about criminal activities to the proper authorities. Our aim also is to keep our vulnerable young people involved in constructive activities and to ensure that they continue to attend school,” the chamber president said.
She noted that other objectives are to champion economic development and community propriety, as well as strengthen the value of the membership in and sustainability of the chamber.
Projects to continue, Jairam highlighted, are tourism, agriculture, green economy, water conservation and the development of women, girls and youth.
Speaking about the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sector, Jairam acknowledged it is a crucial arm of the country’s economy.
“The FCOC will continue to lobby for the Government to continue to put systems in place to address the ease of doing business. More importantly, the FCOC will be hosting workshops for our memberships in subjects such as critical thinking, strategic negotiations, and industrial relations. In addition, the idea of the FCOC hosting more events such as expos (like what was done last year), encouraging collaboration among other southern business chambers (San Fernando, Penal, Siparia and Point Fortin) which will turn out to be valuable networking events,” Jairam disclosed.
She also questioned when the collapsed highway segment at Mosquito Creek, which happened two years ago, would be fixed.
“The area is prone to major accidents and traffic. Has the Ministry of Works and Transport completed the assessment for the Creek and when would the work be completed? What was the cause of the Creek collapse ... poor design, poor construction, or both? Why is it taking so long to re-engineer and construct a roadway on the Creek?” Jairam asked.
Other questions she asked were whether the ministry was able to get an approved design for the natural gas pipeline at Pepper Village and when would a temporary interconnector road be completed at Pepper Village.