Trade and Industry Minister Mariano Browne says he does not expect major losses to be incurred by Port of Spain businessmen during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at the end of this month.

Browne, speaking to the media following the opening of the CHOGM Village at the Port of Spain Waterfront yesterday, said:

’There will probably be some loss in terms of retail sales, I don’t expect it to be major. There is ample opportunity for people to shop on the following weekend and the next week.

’The other aspect is that you have a weekend’s loss, but you have a potential for gain from 53 countries in the world in addition to which, a number of other countries (outside the Commonwealth) will be represented at the business forum.’

Security arrangements for CHOGM will take effect from midnight, November 26 to 10 p.m. on November 29.

While the Churchill Roosevelt Highway will remain open to traffic, Wrightson Road, between the Hyatt Regency hotel and Colville Street, will be closed during these days. Also, the southern perimeter of the Queen’s Park Savannah will be closed on November 27 between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m., and a special one-block perimeter will be set up around the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA).

Browne said a security outline will be published in today’s newspapers and Acting Commissioner of Police James Philbert will announce the traffic arrangements during the course of the week.

’We will expect the cooperation of the public in terms of maintaining the traffic restrictions, which will be fairly robust in certain areas,’ he said.

’There is no compromise on the business of security, in as much as we are dealing with heads of state. If we are to compromise on the security arrangements for the heads of state, we could find ourselves in international problems, and we would not want to do that.’

The minister said there will also be an announcement soon with regards to school hours for November 26 and 27.