Port-of-Spain, Trinidad (Trinidad Express):

Hours after Prime Minister Patrick Manning successfully underwent surgery to remove a malignant tumour from his left kidney yesterday, consultant urologist Dr Lall Sawh said Manning should be back to his stately duties in the next six weeks.

Sawh, who has performed similar surgeries in Trinidad, said Manning should be out of the hospital in less than a week and would require about two weeks' bed-rest.

Sawh agreed with Manning's decision to do the surgery in Cuba.

"A patient has the right to decide where he would have his surgery done. But in the case of Manning, because his medical history is in Cuba, the decision to have it done there was the correct one," he said.

Manning has also had valve replacement surgery and a pacemaker inserted in Cuba. Sawh said the fact that the surgery was successful meant the Prime Minister's heart was in a good condition.

Manning took the correct steps at the right time and this was one of the reasons for the surgery's success, Sawh added. He urged others afflicted with similar problems to take early action to correct any medical problem.

He said Manning showed confidence in having the operation and with the level of support he received from the people of Trinidad and Tobago, and otherwise, the Prime Minister was even more confident.

Chairman of Manning's San Fernando East constituency and Minister in the Ministry of Planning, Housing and the Environment, Tina Gronlund-Nunez, said she was pleased the surgery was a success.

Speaking on behalf of the constituents, Gronlund-Nunez said they had been praying for the Prime Minister and were elated over the good news.