NEWS
Ansa Merchant Bank reports $218m profit
ANSA Merchant Bank has reported a $218.6 million profit before tax for the quarter ending September 30, 2021. This information was contained in the bank's unaudited interim results for that period. In a statement which accompaied the results, bank chairman A Norman Sabga said the bank remains in a very strong position from a capital, liquidity and balance sheet perspective. Strategic investments in information technology were seen as critical to improvement in customer service delivery in the financial services industry, for decades to come. Read more here
Rise in online robberies worry cops
The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) is warning the public about robberies related to online business transactions, something officers are calling “a new phenomenon.” At yesterday’s TTPS media briefing, acting Senior Supt Joseph Chandool said, “These are instances where people try to transact sales online and meet at a location, and are then robbed of their cash or commodity for sale.” Chandool said the TTPS is encouraging people to meet at a safe venue to conduct such activity. “The executive urges people to use the police station as their meeting place. If someone asks to do so and the other party refuses, that ought to be a red flag and that alone lets you know that everything is not above board.” Read more here
POLITICS
Minister sorry for water, power shortages, admits: ALL OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO SUFFERING
Admitting that thousands of people in many parts of the country, including in his own constituency, are suffering over a lack of reliable water and electricity services – in some cases for months and even years – Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales is urging that the issue not be one that is politicised. He made the call during the sitting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday after Tabaquite MP Anita Haynes highlighted the poor delivery of services, namely water and electricity, by Gonzales’ ministry and the need for this to be urgently addressed. Read more here
PM slams Moonilal over claim PSC member close to Govt
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday dismissed the Opposition's concern that a new member of the Police Service Commission had links to the Government and was too close to it. During the debate to approve President Paula-Mae Weekes’ nominees to the PSC on Wednesday, United National Congress MP for Oropouche East Dr Roodal Moonilal said that wealth manager Maxine King, through her company Firstline Security, was associated with a development in Buccoo which is being managed by Inez Investments, which was linked to a Government official. Moonilal questioned King’s relationship with the Government as a result of this. “The headline point is the person, Maxine King is much too close to the political executive of this country to be on the Police Service Commission by virtue of her job as the wealth manager at Firstline Securities,” Moonilal said. Read more here
BUSINESS
Stop the spin... for the sake of the children
Atlantic LNG Train 1 is dead. It is as simple as that. No amount of spin, no amount of stalling, no amount of attacking the media and citizens, no amount of blaming the multinationals, no amount of hand wringing will change that. The gas is simply not there, will not be there any time soon and the corollary of all of that is the National Gas Company’s ill-fated attempt to save Train 1 has failed and the money gone down the proverbial drain. On Saturday a forlorn-looking Prime Minister, Dr Keith Christopher Rowley held a news conference upon his return from Glasgow and effectively said what this column and newspaper has reported for almost a year, that Train 1 is effectively dead and all that is left to be done is the zipping up the proverbial body bag. Read more here
REGIONAL
Imbert: US$1.536 billion injected into forex market
The Central Bank injected US$1.012 billion into the foreign exchange market between January and October 2021, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said on Wednesday. Furthermore, the Government, through the Exim Bank, has provided access to a further US$524 million, which “led to a total intervention of US$1.536 billion in the forex market for the first ten months of this year”, he said. Imbert was responding to a question from Mayaro MP Rushton Paray in the House of Representatives on the measures taken to rectify the foreign exchange shortage in time for the upcoming peak commercial periods. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Covid: Dutch set for partial lockdown as infections surge
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is set to declare Western Europe's first partial Covid lockdown of the winter, with three weeks of restrictions for shops, sport and catering. His caretaker government is responding to record infections and rising intensive care cases in hospitals. Much of Europe is facing a surge in cases, blamed partly on low vaccine take-up in several countries. Read more here
12th November 2021