Trinidad and Tobago’s Air Guard is expected to receive $5 million to establish a military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Unit, according to allocations outlined in the Public Sector Investment Programme for fiscal 2027. The proposed investment forms part of a wider programme covering national security, forensic services and public infrastructure.<\/p>\n
The programme, published this week following the 2027 budget, earmarks $9.7 million for equipment and infrastructure development at the Ulric Cross Air Station during fiscal 2027. The planned UAV unit is intended to enhance the Air Guard’s intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance capabilities.<\/p>\n
The programme also includes funding for the Trinidad and Tobago Forensic Science Centre. An allocation of $1 million is expected to support the initial procurement of equipment, including a scanning electron microscope to improve the detection of gunshot residue and a drugs-of-abuse testing system for toxicology screening.<\/p>\n
Other equipment identified for procurement includes a mobile C-arm digital X-ray machine, a mass spectrometer, a Maxwell RSC 48 instrument and a gas chromatograph equipped with dual mass spectrometry and nitrogen phosphorus detection. The proposed purchases cover several types of forensic and laboratory work, although the published figures do not establish when each item will be acquired or operational.<\/p>\n
A further $2 million is allocated to continue work on a new forensic laboratory and pathology services facility. Planned activities include completing designs, paying project-management fees to the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT), obtaining contract-administration consultancy services, securing statutory approvals and carrying out engineering reviews and technical support.<\/p>\n
The existing Forensic Science Centre is also expected to receive $1 million for modifications. The listed work includes procuring a customised refrigerated mortuary container and carrying out associated civil, mechanical and electrical works.<\/p>\n
The investment programme extends beyond security and forensic services. It allocates $25.4 million to projects and programmes for the Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service in fiscal 2027, while substantial sums are also earmarked for school repairs, resilient school infrastructure and digital education.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Public Utilities is expected to receive $311.1 million for the Vacation Repair Programme and Emergency Repair Programme. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Utilities are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding establishing a framework for delivering those programmes. Another $70 million is allocated to the Resilient Schools Infrastructure Programme, which is expected to begin reconstruction, modernisation or expansion work at seven school facilities.<\/p>\n
The figures represent planned allocations in the fiscal 2027 investment programme rather than confirmation that the projects have been completed. The proposed Air Guard unit and forensic equipment purchases will therefore depend on implementation of the programme and the associated procurement processes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A proposed $5 million drone unit would strengthen the Air Guard’s surveillance capabilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trinidad-and-tobago"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}