NEWS
SRC levied, equipment seized
Five vehicles, including a water tender, were seized from the Siparia Regional Corporation (SRC) yesterday after the corporation failed to pay a $750,000 judgement against it. Chairman Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh said bailiffs representing a former SRC employee, in whose favour the judgement was granted in 2017, descended on the SRC yesterday. Read more here
SRP charged with $500 station theft
A Special Reserve police officer appeared in court earlier this month charged with stealing $500 from the property room at the Besson Street Police Station. PC Hebron Ryan, 25, of Jackson Street, Curepe, was granted $20,000 bail by Magistrate Cheron Raphael, presiding in the Port-of-Spain 11th Magistrates’Court. He was charged with misbehaviour in public office and larceny of $500. Read more here
13 women killed in 2018
With the death of 29-year-old Stacy Ann Campbell in Mayaro on Monday night, the number of women killed in the country so far this year has risen to 13. This figure represents an estimated 10.56 per cent of the total number of murders recorded to date—as the murder toll stood at 123 up to yesterday. The comparative murder toll for the same period last year was 103. Read more here
POLITICS
Ameen: Root out bad cops
Rooting out bad apples from the TT Police Service (TTPS) is essential to build public trust and help win the fight against crime, urged Opposition Senator Khadijah Ameen during yesterday’s Senate debate on the Anti-Gang Bill. Saying very little success against crime can be expected if the TTPS is perceived to be corrupt, she lamented, “The Government has not taken steps to weed out corrupt police.” Read more here
Weekes meets staff, settles in nicely
President Paula-Mae Weekes yesterday spent her first day on the job settling in and getting acquainted with staff members. This was confirmed by a close friend of Weekes who visited her hours after she picked up duty as the country’s first female President. Read more here
BUSINESS
US$2M investment signals confidence in TT
Industrial Marine Services (IMS) general manager Christian Uhre has described the company’s recent US$2 million investment in a new retail outlet as “a vote of confidence” in the local economy. The company opened a new 10,000 sq ft warehouse and retail outlet at the IAL compound, Lady Hailes Avenue in San Fernando. Speaking after the official opening on Monday, Uhre said the company is investing “heavily” in the future which would also include training for customers in the proper use of its products. Read more here
Is CIBC looking to pauperise T&T investors?
One hopes that the staff of the T&T Securities and Exchange Commission can spare some time from their preparations for next Monday’s hearing into the lapsed attempt by Jamaica’s NCB Financial Group to take control of T&T’s Guardian Holdings Ltd to pay attention to recent announcements by Canada’s CIBC, one of that country’s largest banks. Read more here
REGIONAL
Land Rush - PM Promises 20,000 Titles Over Next Three Years
Charging that the People's National Party (PNP) has been tinkering with land titling for years, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said his administration was far down the track in putting in place plans to register thousands of acres of land. In his contribution to the Budget Debate in Parliament yesterday, the prime minister said the Government is moving to register and provide titles for 20,000 parcels of land in the next three years and this initiative would be partly funded by the National Housing Trust (NHT) in the sum of $2 billion. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Austin bombings: Suspect dead after detonating device, police say
'DO NOT CONGRATULATE' tells you everything you need to know about Donald Trump's psyche
When President Donald Trump called Vladimir Putin on Tuesday morning, he congratulated the Russian leader on his re-election as President. He did that in spite of the fact that he had been warned not to do so by his national security advisers -- including in briefing papers emblazoned with the words "DO NOT CONGRATULATE," according to The Washington Post. Because of course he did. The reasons why not to offer congratulations to Putin are many. Read more here
21st March 2018