NEWS
Don’t Call Us
Police are not properly trained to deal with mentally ill patients and should not be the first responders when those patients become violent or threatening towards family members. This according to Police Social and Welfare Association (PSWA) general secretary Acting ASP Anand Ramesar. In an interview with Newsday yesterday after the police killing of Colin Roopchand on Tuesday evening, Ramesar said police officers are trained to protect themselves against any impending danger. Read more here
Kunti: Frustration made me fake kidnapping
Barrackpore mother Kunti Deopersad yesterday apologised for lying about being kidnapped last month, claiming instead that frustration made her flee her home. When Deopersad, 39, called her husband, claiming she had been abducted, she said did not think it would have been "blow up like this." With her eyes puffy and red from crying yesterday, Deopersad, who was "missing" for seven days said, "I was not thinking. I know it was wrong for me to do that. I want to say I am sorry." Read more here
Venezuelan child bride in State custody
Chairman of the Children’s Authority of Trinidad and Tobago Hanif Benjamin says the 13-year-old Venezuelan child allegedly brought to this country and married to a 24-year-old man under Warao (native people of Venezuela) rites, is in State custody. Benjamin said yesterday the matter was a sensitive one and that the Authority had engaged several agencies, including the Venezuelan Embassy for assistance. Read more here
POLITICS
Info needed on Sport Ministry’s $150,000 settlement
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is standing by Sport and Youth Affairs Minister, Darryl Smith– at least for now. At yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s, Rowley said he had confidence in Smith to do his job. In fact, Rowley said there was no minister in the government he did not have confidence in. “If I do not have confidence in an individual whom I had given a portfolio to, I will withdraw that portfolio without let or hindrance.” Read more here
PM: Parliament to debate Cambridge Analytica scandal
The Cambridge Analytica scandal will soon be debated in Parliament —and a Parliament committee which will also probe the matter will be summoning foreign and local witnesses to speak about the company’s alleged work here. Prime Minister Keith Rowley revealed this at yesterday’s post-Cabinet media conference. Cambridge Analytica is currently under investigation in the UK for using massive amounts of data from 50 million Facebook users to formulate political advertising on the Donald Trump election campaign. Read more here
PM: Things not that bad in Tobago
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says Tobagonians are not starving and hotel occupancy levels on the island are not as low as some have claimed. Rowley was speaking during yesterday’s post-Cabinet media conference at the Office of the Prime Minister in St Clair. Read more here
BUSINESS
Emile Elias’ company ordered to pay for 1983 Westmoorings project
Local contractor Emile Elias has been ordered to pay $1.2 million to a land developer for delays in the construction of 92 townhouses in the upscale Westmoorings by the Sea neighbourhood in 1983. In a ruling delivered last week, Justices Peter Jamadar, Gregory Smith and Andre des Vignes, dismissed the appeal of Elias’ company Emile Elias and Company Limited (EECL) against developer Westmoorings Limited (WL). Read more here
Bank workers protest ‘as negotiations stalled’
Republic Bank Ltd workers protested yesterday after talks between the bank and the union, Banking, Insurance and General Workers Union (BIGWU) for the bargaining period July 2017-May 2020, “stalled”. The workers and the company are at loggerheads as the bank has tabled six per cent wage increase, while the union has tabled 19 per cent for the same period. In the face of the protest action, the bank stated: “Independent reviews of compensation packages, within the banking and financial services industry in Trinidad and Tobago, all confirm that Republic Bank’s salaries and benefits are among the best in the country.” Read more here
CNC signs new sales agreement with NGC
Caribbea Nitrogen Company’s (CNC) operations are expected to resume shortly as the energy plant has agreed to a new gas sales agreement with the National Gas Company (NGC). CNC shut down its ammonia plant on the Point Lisas Industrial Estate in January. Read more here
REGIONAL
Sick Of Shifts - Chang Blames System For Social Ills
Newly appointed Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang says that persons responsible for coming up with the shift system for primary and secondary schools should be "imprisoned" for doing a great disservice to the nation. In a no-holds-barred presentation at a Ministry of National Security Stakeholders Forum for Community Intervention at the Iberostar Resort, St James, yesterday, Chang said that it was clear that very little thought had gone into imposing such an atrocity on the Jamaican people, adding that the disastrous results were plain for all to see. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Park Geun-hye: South Korea's ex-leader jailed for 24 years for corruption
South Korea's former President Park Geun-hye has been sentenced to 24 years in jail after she was found guilty of abuse of power and coercion. The verdict was broadcast live and represents the culmination of a scandal which rocked the country, fuelling rage against political and business elites. Park, who was also fined 18bn won (£12m, $17m), faced a string of corruption charges. The former leader was not in court on Friday for the verdict. She has boycotted her trial hearings and has previously accused the courts of being biased against her. She has also denied all wrongdoing and has said she will appeal her sentence. Read more here
Trump threatens China with new $100 billion tariff plan
President Donald Trump ratcheted up the trade war rhetoric with China on Thursday evening, saying he was considering another wave of steep tariffs on the country's exports to the United States. "In light of China's unfair retaliation, I have instructed the [United States Trade Representative] to consider whether $100 billion of additional tariffs would be appropriate," the president said in a statement. Earlier this week, the United States announced new tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods, claiming that China is stealing US intellectual property. China responded within hours by announcing $50 billion worth of tariffs on US goods. Read more here
6th April 2018