Port-of-Spain readies to welcome Commonwealth leaders

Hundreds of billboards and welcome signs have sprung up in this capital city as Trinidad and Tobago prepares to welcome Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and 51 other leaders at the opening Nov 27 of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting(CHOGM) at an $80 million conference centre built by a Chinese firm.

The government has also announced a special drainage project to ensure that no flooding takes place in the city.

The New Performing Arts Centre was opened by Prime Minister Patrick Manning Monday and the conference opening ceremony will be the major event at the centre.

The design and construction of the hall was carried out by the Shanghai Construction Company Group of China amid a chorus of criticism from local construction companies and politicians.

Preparations are in full swing for the international conference that will take place from Nov 27-29.

Queen Elizabeth 11, titular head of the Commonwealth of Nations, will open the conference and pay an official state visit to this twin-island republic.

She will stay at the just-completed The Savannah Hotel.

Manmohan Singh and his counterparts will either stay at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Port-of-Spain or at the Hilton Hotel.

James Philbert, acting commissioner of police, said there will be additional safety measures for the conference which will attract over 2,500 diplomats, businessmen, journalists from across the world.

Philbert said: "We did one major conference this year and it came out well. Last time (at the Organisation of Americas) conference of the there were 35 heads, including US President Barack Obama, but this time there would be 51 heads coming."

This country's population is made up of 1.3 million people of which 44 percent are those whose forefathers came from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in India to work on the sugar plantations.

Last updated on Nov 11^th, 2009 at 16:17 pm IST--IANS