NEWS

$5.4m tool ‘lost in hole’ oilwell

A $5.4 million “lost in hole” lawsuit is engaging the High Court in San Fernando, between an oil services company and a contractor who has ventured into the oil business. Tucker Energy Services of Princess Margaret Street, San Fernando slapped the lawsuit on TN Ramnauth & Co, claiming US$803,577.77 for a logging tool which got lost in one of TN’s oil wells. Justice Frank Seepersad is adjudicating in the matter, in which Tucker is contending that in 2014, by agreement, the company provided wireline logging services to TN, a company based in Penal. Read more here

Four charged with violence against Chinese nationals

Po­lice have charged four men with rob­bery with vi­o­lence and pos­ses­sion of a firearm and am­mu­ni­tion against two Chi­nese na­tion­als. The Po­lice Ser­vice said in a re­lease yes­ter­day that the men were charged af­ter be­ing ar­rest­ed by of­fi­cers of the Rio Claro Crim­i­nal In­ves­ti­ga­tions De­part­ment (CID) dur­ing an an­ti-crime ex­er­cise in the dis­trict. Eliot Hamil­ton, 27, a se­cu­ri­ty guard of La­m­onte Street, Long­denville; Odell Pri­eto, 19, a labour­er of Sand Hill Road, Tabaquite; Keron Mar­tin, 25, a labour­er of Lon­don Street, Long­denville; and Omar Alex­is, 18, of no fixed place of abode, were al­so joint­ly charged with as­sault with in­tent to rob, fol­low­ing in­ves­ti­ga­tions in­to an in­ci­dent which oc­curred on Sep­tem­ber 9. Read more here

Activist: Sensitise cops to sexual harassment

Advocates for women’s rights have said stronger efforts are needed to sensitise the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) to sexual harassment. This after a Trou Macaque woman was told by a female senior superintendent she is, at least “attractive”, after complaining of unwanted advances from officers posted to her community. Read more here

POLITICS

Hold your hand on Petrotrin

Government’s decision to shut down the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery is based on inaccurate data, and the Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union is prepared to challenge that information, president-general Ancel Roget said yesterday. The Systems Application Product is the programme that stores current data for the refinery, Roget said. It requires comprehensive cleaning, but that hasn’t happened. Read more here

More licks for ‘Oreo’ comment but..

Op­po­si­tion Leader Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar yes­ter­day re­fused to apol­o­gise to Prime Min­is­ter Dr Kei­th Row­ley for de­scrib­ing him as an “Oreo” and in­stead de­fend­ed her state­ment, in­sist­ing there “was not an io­ta of racism in my state­ments.” In a re­lease is­sued last evening, Per­sad-Bisses­sar said whilst she took note of com­ments by some peo­ple that there may have been some in­sen­si­tiv­i­ty, she ac­knowl­edges that “rel­e­vant truths can be spo­ken with less sen­si­tive words in fu­ture.” Dur­ing the Unit­ed Na­tion­al Con­gress’ Mon­day Night Fo­rum meet­ing, Per­sad-Bisses­sar claimed that the “one per cent” (re­fer­ring to the Syr­i­an/Lebanese com­mu­ni­ty) “owns Kei­th Christo­pher Row­ley.” Read more here

Rowley: No apology for representing ‘one per cent’

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says he makes no apology for representing the largest block of Syrian, Arab and Lebanese in his constituency as he slammed Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar for descending into "gutter politics". Speaking at a People's National Movement (PNM) meeting in San Fernando tonight, Rowley took issue with Persad-Bissessar's reference to him as an "oreo" controlled by the "one per cent". Read more here

BUSINESS

Decline in arrivals

Bri­an Fron­tin, CEO of the Trinidad Ho­tels, Restau­rant and Tourism As­so­ci­a­tion, says T&T’s tourism in­dus­try is suf­fer­ing and it is time for the Gov­ern­ment to take ac­tion. He said the in­dus­try has been in de­cline for sev­er­al years and the Gov­ern­ment has stood idly by while the tourist ar­rivals have plum­met­ed and ho­tels are on the brink of clo­sure. He re­ferred to the de­cline in vis­i­tor ar­rivals in the 2017 and 2018 Car­ni­val sea­sons based on da­ta from the Cen­tral Sta­tis­ti­cal Or­gan­i­sa­tion (CSO). Read more here

How to save millions on refinery

Energy company efficiency experts, HSB Solomon Associates made 13 recommendations on how State-owned Petrotrin could save millions of US dollars at its Pointe-a-Pierre refinery, which would make the crude oil processing facility a reliable, efficient and effective entity. Read more here

REGIONAL

Sidelined! – Business Operators Near Three Miles Chide Gov’t For Downturn In Sales

With noticeably fewer customers turning out and observing sharp dips in earnings just five days into the planned eight-month closure of the Three Miles intersection, businesses operating within the proximity of the major crossroads are fearful that the full term might cripple their establishments. While stating that they have been ramping up alternative methods such as increasing their delivery capabilities to preserve their customer base, the business heads who spoke with The Gleaner yesterday agreed that the early signs were not encouraging, arguing that the road project was founded in poor planning, execution, and communication. Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

Typhoon Mangkhut: Millions in path of 'monster' storm

Super Typhoon Mangkhut has gathered strength as it barrels towards the Philippines, weather officials say. The storm is now packing winds of 255 km/h (160 mph) and officials say more than five million people are directly in its path. Last-minute preparations are under way before it makes landfall on the northern tip of the main island of Luzon by Saturday. Flights have been cancelled, schools shut and the army is on standby. Read more here

Hurricane Florence makes landfall in North Carolina, with plenty of destruction and suffering ahead

Hurricane Florence has made landfall in North Carolina, but its crawling pace and overwhelming storm surges are setting up hours and hours of destruction and human suffering -- with dozens desperately awaiting rescue in one flooded town alone. The Category 1 hurricane, with wind of more than 90 mph and dumping 3 inches of rain an hour, made landfall at 7:15 a.m. ET near Wrightsville Beach, just east of Wilmington. Read more here

14th September 2018

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