Daily Brief - Monday 11th September, 2017

TTMA In The News

Society must collaborate in crime fight, TTMA boss

President of the T&T Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) Christopher Alcazar says the Government cannot solve the crime problem alone, and requires a partnership with society to solve the woes currently afflicting the country. His comments came in the wake of the murder of former museum curator, 80-year-old Dr Claire Broadbridge, who was killed last Saturday during an invasion of her St Ann’s home, as well as the killing of 75-year-old Ramdevi Singh at her Chaguanas home. In an interview after the media launch of TIC 2018, at the Five Star Casino on Wednesday, he said, “It’s unfortunate but I think we are all affected by crime. Read more here

 

NEWS

Hurricane Irma potentially spawns ‘zoonoses’

Hurricane Irma recovery efforts should include keeping track of potential outbreaks of zoonoses; diseases or infections that are naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans. The warning comes from Dr Makyba Charles-Ayinde, Science Policy Fellow at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “When we have situations like flooding associated with Hurricane Irma, the water may be contaminated with higher than normal levels of bacterial pathogens, parasites, things like that. “Once you have those levels of contamination, we look for it to transfer to the human and animal populations. Since we love living with our animals, we see a more fluid exchange of these diseases between both populations.” Charles-Ayinde said foodborne zoonoses; such as salmonella and E coli, are another area of concern in the recovery period as people, often unknowingly, consume contaminated food and/or water. Read more here

Woman shot in bar robbery

A 57-year-old Petit Valley woman is fighting for her life after she was shot in the abdomen during a shootout between a retired police officer and two bandits on Saturday afternoon. Read more here

Rescue Crie

Stories of isolation and horror continue to emerge from territories decimated by Hurricane Irma, including the British Virgin Islands, where “a lot” of Trinidad and Tobago nationals are desperate to return home. The Express yesterday received a plea to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on behalf of an elderly Trinidadian couple stuck in Tortola, BVI, both of whom are diabetic and depend on insulin. Read more here

 

POLITICS

Kamla alleges lease operator selling ‘fake oil’ to Petrotrin

UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has alleged that a lease operator contracted by Petrotrin to supply its Pointe-a- Pierre refinery with crude oil has defrauded the company of almost TT $100 million by inflating its oil production figures. Addressing a meeting of the party’s National Congress at the Couva South constituency auditorium yesterday, Persad-Bissessar also alleged that the lease operator was a financier of the ruling PNM administration and had close ties with senior Cabinet officials. Before a hushed crowd of supporters, which hung on her every word, Persad-Bissessar claimed that the information was contained in an internal audit report from the state owned oil company. Read more here

No probe into Rambarran, say AG, cops

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi is distancing himself from claims by former Central Bank governor Jwala Rambarran that there is a conspiracy between the Office of the Attorney General and the Police Service to make him the subject of a politically-motivated police probe. Over the weekend Rambarran, in a posting on social media, claimed he was contacted by a journalist from a daily newspaper who had informed him that she was in possession of documents from the AG’s office which indicated that Rambarran was the subject of a criminal investigation by the Fraud Squad. The allegations, Rambaran said, are related to his former duties as chairman of the Deposit Insurance Corporation while Central Bank governor. He claimed to believe the journalist as she had close ties with senior PNM officials. Read more here

Only Carolyn, Sharon in November 19 COP race 

The Congress of the People (COP) will now hold its leadership elections on November 19, deputy chairman Jamison Bahadur disclosed yesterday. This follows months of bacchanal over the candidacy of former chairman Nicole Dyer-Griffith, who was last month kicked out of the leadership race through a court action. Read more here

 

BUSINESS

Imbert: Budget to be read by Oct 30

The date for the country’s 2018 budget will be announced next week by Finance Minister Colm Imbert. But Imbert assured the budget will be delivered in the House of Representatives before October 30. “I will be announcing the date soon. Maybe, not today. Maybe some time next week I will be announcing the date for 2018 budget, which will be before 30th of October. Next week I will let you know the date,” said Imbert, who is acting as Prime Minister. He made the disclosure at a press conference at the Parliament building in Port-of-Spain yesterday. Read more here

 

REGIONAL

State of emergency declared in Turks and Caicos as premier criticised for late response

A state of emergency has been declared for the island of Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), which suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Irma, as Premier Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson came under fire for her perceived dilatory response to the dire situation in the islands. The director of tourism Ramon Andrews reported that the TCI experienced flooding, structural damage, roofs blown off, downed trees, no loss of life and all visitors are safe. Many roads have been flooded and power lines and transformers are down, according to the emergency management agency. Read more here

Heroic Rescue - Trench Town Labourer Makes Valiant Save Of 12-Y-O Boy

Twenty-four-year-old Tremayne Brown was yesterday hailed as a "God-sent hero" by residents of Trench Town and Arnett Gardens, Kingston, following his valiant rescue of a 12-year-old boy who was swept away in a gully on Collie Smith Drive last Friday. Twelve-year-old Renaldo Reynolds, a student of Jones Town Primary, was on his way home from school when he and friends decided to play in the gully's rushing waters. He, however, got into difficulties and was swept away by the currents from Seventh Street on Collie Smith Drive, bobbing and weaving in the fast-moving water as panicked residents called out for help on the banks. Several residents made attempts to rescue the boy, some suspending body parts from overhead bridges for the boy to grab on to. But Brown wasted no time. He ran from the Boys' Town Vocational Training Centre, where he works part time as a labourer, and jumped into the water, clutching the boy. Read more here

 

INTERNATIONAL

Rohingya crisis: UN sees 'ethnic cleansing' in Myanmar

The security operation targeting Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar "seems a textbook example of ethnic cleansing", the UN human rights chief says. Zeid Raad Al Hussein urged Myanmar to end the "cruel military operation" in Rakhine state. More than 300,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh since violence erupted there late last month. The military says it is responding to attacks by Rohingya militants and denies it Is targeting civilians. The violence began on 25 August when the Rohingya militants attacked police posts in northern Rakhine, killing 12 security personnel. Rohingyas who have fled Myanmar since then say the military responded with a brutal campaign, burning villages and attacking civilians in a bid to drive them out. The Rohingya, a stateless mostly Muslim minority in Buddhist-majority Rakhine, have long experienced persecution in Myanmar, which says they are illegal immigrants. Read more here

Cuba cleans up after Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean

As recovery efforts begin in Cuba and other parts of the Caribbean after Hurricane Irma, some islands are bracing for the potential impact of another storm churning in the Atlantic. Irma made landfall in Cuba overnight on Friday as a Category 5 storm, blasting into seaside towns and causing flooding in low-lying areas of the capital Havana. Hurricane-force winds of 125 mph (over 200 kp/h) whipped roofs clean off buildings, ripped trees from the ground and forced evacuations along the coast. Read more here

11th September 2017

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