NEWS
San Fernando police, municipal cops make show of force Wednesday
San Fernando mayor Junia Regrello together with members of the municipal and regular police, took to the streets on Thursday afternoon as part of a massive anti-crime exercise. As mayor and on behalf of the citizens of San Fernando, Regrello said he was happy by the response by the municipal and regular police. Regrello said, "Last Tuesday, the Commissioner of Police was in San Fernando, and he made a very strong call for both entities to work hand in hand to ensure San Fernando remains safe." Read more here
T&T reaches 49.8 per cent full vaccination
The country is now one small step closer to achieving herd immunity as 49.8 per cent of the population becomes fully vaccinated. This is according to the Ministry of Health’s daily update yesterday which indicated 508 more people were fully immunised within the last day. However, deaths continued to climb, reaching 3,501 after six more fatalities were recorded. Read more here
POLITICS
Minister responds to concerns over schoolboy in the rain
Minister of Education Nyan Gadsby-Dolly and sources at a primary school have responded to concerns that surfaced after video of a boy standing in the rain, seemingly locked out of a school circulated on social media on Thursday. They said the boy was let into the school after a very short time. In the video a standard-five student was seen standing outside of a locked gate at the northern side of the Montrose Vedic Primary School on Elenor Street, Chaguanas, while rain fell. The commentary on the video said the student was barred from entering the school and was told to seek shelter across the road. Read more here
BUSINESS
BHP finds gas in all appraisal wells at Calypso development
Good news from BHP Biliton, as the company is reporting that all of its appraisal wells in its Calypso development, north of Tobago, have encountered hydrocarbons. In its operational review for 2021 the company said, “In Trinidad and Tobago, the Calypso appraisal drilling programme concluded on December 20, 2021. All wells encountered hydrocarbons.” It also had further encouraging news saying two of the wells actually encountered zones not before seen. Read more here
Bad roads cause closure of Moruga chicken farm
Poultry farmers in Moruga are blaming water leaks for the deplorable condition of the road, which has led to the closure of their 20-year-old business. Franklyn and Joanne Mohammed said delivery trucks have refused to traverse a major landslip at Harper Trace, off Weston Trace, in St Mary’s Village, and this has led to them being unable to obtain, for almost three months, the birds and feed needed to operate their business. Read more here
REGIONAL
Landmark $552B budget passed
After a thorough five-hour budget presentation, more than 40 hours of policy debate, and in excess of 40 hours of scrutiny from the political opposition, the National Assembly on Thursday afternoon approved the landmark $552 Billion budget to drive Guyana’s social and economic transformation forward. Following the wrap-up of the consideration, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for finance, Dr Ashni Singh, reported to the National Assembly that the estimates were thoroughly considered in the Committee of Supply. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Ukraine tensions: Joe Biden says US citizens should leave Ukraine now
US President Joe Biden has called on all American citizens remaining in Ukraine to leave the country immediately, citing increased threats of Russian military action. Mr Biden said he would not send troops to rescue Americans if Moscow invades Ukraine. He warned that "things could go crazy quickly" in the region. Russia has repeatedly denied any plans to invade Ukraine despite massing more than 100,000 troops near the border. But it has just begun massive military drills with neighbouring Belarus, and Ukraine has accused Russia of blocking its access to the sea. The Kremlin says it wants to enforce "red lines" to make sure that its former Soviet neighbour does not join Nato. Read more here
11th February 2022