As the coun­try braces for a di­rect hit from Trop­i­cal Storm Karen, Prime Min­is­ter Dr Kei­th Row­ley an­nounced in a state­ment this morn­ing that he is leav­ing to­day to par­tic­i­pate in the Unit­ed Na­tions Gen­er­al As­sem­bly and has left Fi­nance Min­is­ter Colm Im­bert to act as prime min­is­ter.

Here is his full state­ment:

"Fel­low Cit­i­zens,

The Gov­ern­ment of Trinidad and To­ba­go is work­ing through its var­i­ous agen­cies to take all nec­es­sary steps to pre­pare for the im­pact of Trop­i­cal Storm Karen.

Cit­i­zens are urged to re­main vig­i­lant and heed the warn­ings and alerts from the Of­fice of Dis­as­ter Pre­pared­ness and Man­age­ment and the Me­te­o­ro­log­i­cal Of­fice.

To­day I will de­part for New York where I am sched­uled to par­tic­i­pate at the Unit­ed Na­tions Gen­er­al As­sem­bly.

The Cab­i­net re­mains alert to the de­vel­op­ing sit­u­a­tion and stands ready to re­spond.

The Min­is­ter of Na­tion­al Se­cu­ri­ty and Min­is­ter in the Of­fice of the Prime Min­is­ter, the Hon. Stu­art Young will host a me­dia con­fer­ence at 10 am to share per­ti­nent in­for­ma­tion re­gard­ing the pro­ject­ed move­ment of Trop­i­cal Storm Karen.

Min­is­ter of Fi­nance, the Hon. Colm Im­bert will act as Prime Min­is­ter un­til I re­turn."