NEWS
CoP: 1,260 cops to get first covid19 vaccine doses
Police Commissioner Gary Griffith announced on Thursday that he, along with over 1,000 police officers from different frontline units, will be getting the first doses of the covid19 vaccine when it becomes available. Griffith announced that officers from different special units and task force teams will be among the first to get the vaccine. He was responding to questions from reporters at the police media briefing at Sackville Street, Port of Spain. Read more here
WASA exploring option to buy Desalcott as Govt owes plant $210M
As part of its attempt to prevent further blackmail, the beleaguered Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) is exploring an option to purchase the Desalination Company of T&T (Desalcott) as a way of writing off its multi-million-dollar debt. The confirmation came from Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales after the Cabinet Sub-committee appointed to look into the operations of WASA in its recent report advised cash-strapped WASA that the utility can extricate itself from the contractual agreement with Desalcott by exercising its right to purchase the Point Lisas plant. Read more here
POLITICS
Rowley: Caricom to seek US help for vaccines
The Prime Minister said Caricom will ask the United States if it can share any of its stock of covid19 vaccines with the region. Dr Rowley, who is also Caricom chairman, made these disclosures at a virtual news conference at the end of the 32nd Inter-Sessional Caricom Heads of Government meeting on Thursday. He added that Caricom would seek to obtain additional vaccines from India and the African Union and ask any of its member states who acquire vaccines to share some of them with those states which had been unable to do so. Read more here
Venezuelans stranded: Govt denies sanctioned repatriation aircraft
Scores of Venezuelan nationals were stranded at the Piarco International Airport last night after a repatriation flight that was due to arrive in T&T from Venezuela was blocked from coming. The aircraft belonged to Conviasa, a Venezuelan State airline that has been sanctioned by the United States. The 97 Venezuelan nationals were forced to sleep at the airport as a result. Read more here
BUSINESS
We must fix its institutional problems first
The Government has spoken to several international lenders on the issue of funding the transformation of debt-ridden water supplier WASA. Read more here
REGIONAL
CARICOM appeals to US, says being ‘squeezed out’ by rich countries
The Dr Keith Rowley-chaired Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will write to the Biden administration in a matter of days appealing to Washington to share with states within the region supplies of COVID-19 vaccines. Rowley, who is also prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, contended that if the CARICOM region were deprived of vaccines for too long, variants could spread further and undo the efforts of the United States to inoculate its own population from the highly contagious virus. Read more here
CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting
Capitalising on the potential of agriculture in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has been a target for years, and while there have been many reports which have outlined the path to progression in this area, the community has taken a firm decision to establish an action plan which will outline vividly the bloc’s strategic approach. The community has decided that the plan, moving forward, entails working through a ministerial taskforce, the private sector and the sub-committee on the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), to establish an action plan to remove barriers affecting intra-regional trade and also identify specific areas where a strategic approach could be developed. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
North Korea: Russian diplomats leave by hand-pushed trolley
A group of Russian diplomats and their families made an unusual exit out of North Korea on a hand-pushed rail trolley due to strict Covid measures. The eight people travelled by train and bus before pushing themselves across the Russian border for about 1km (0.6miles) over train tracks. North Korea has blocked most passenger transport to limit the virus' spread. The country maintains it has not had any confirmed cases, but observers dispute this claim. Since early last year, trains and wagons have been forbidden to enter or leave the country. Most international passenger flights have stopped as well. Read more here
US carries out air strikes in Syria targeting Iranian backed militias
The US military on Thursday struck a site in Syria used by two Iranian-backed militia groups in response to rocket attacks on American forces in the region in the past two weeks. "Up to a handful" of militants were killed in the strikes, a US official told CNN. The strikes, which mark the US military's first known action under President Joe Biden, swiftly drew criticism from a Democratic lawmaker. The site was not specifically tied to the rocket attacks but Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he was "confident" it was used by the same Iranian-backed Shia militias that had fired rockets at US and coalition forces. Read more here
26th February 2021