NEWS
Police Association not happy with top cop selection
President of the Police Service Social and Welfare Association Insp Gideon Dickson said police officers are not satisfied with the way the authorities dealt with the vacancy of the Police Commissioner. In a telephone interview with Newsday, Dickson said while the imbroglio involving former police commissioner Gary Griffith and former acting police commissioner Mc Donald Jacob resulted in the top cop post remaining vacant for some time, the morale of police officers remain unshaken. Read more here
Daly: President’s statement on PSC confusion opaque
Senior Counsel Martin Daly yesterday described some of President Paula-Mae Weekes’ language in her written statement pertaining to matters to the Police Service Commission (PSC) as vague. “That is my problem with this, some of the language is opaque ...I would not say is deliberate. But some of it is opaque. But essentially, the President is telling us a merit list was delivered but withdrawn. My view is once it is delivered she did not have the option to decide that Parliament was not the appropriate forum,” Daly told Guardian Media in a telephone interview. Read more here
POLITICS
UNC: President did not act in public’s best interest
The Opposition does not think President Paula-Mae Weekes acted in the public’s best interest in the matter of the Police Service Commission (PSC) and the appointment of a police commissioner. The Opposition shared its view at its weekly press briefing on Sunday, at its Charles Street, Port of Spain office. Opposition Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial addressed the President’s full-page published statement on the matter which was printed in all three daily newspapers. Read more here
Rowley: AG going after culprits in white-collar crime
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has called on citizens to ignore Opposition Leader Kamla Persad- Bissessar and her team who are determined to get rid of Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi who has been going after those involved in white-collar crime. Speaking at a political meeting in La Horquetta on Saturday, Rowley took supporters back to last Friday’s Budget debate which he stated the Opposition MPs and their leader had no intention of participating in. “They had no interests...this was the Faris Budget because the Opposition has an obsession in trying to get rid of Faris. So they convert the whole Budget into Faris.” Read more here
BUSINESS
TTL and KLM to spend $720,000 to market Dutch/T&T flight
As T&T today welcomes back KLM Royal Dutch Airline to the country, taxpayers will spend just under $360,000 to market the flight and destination according to an agreement between the airline and Tourism Trinidad Limited (TTL). Guardian Media has a copy of the agreement between TTL and KLM in which both parties agree to split the marketing of the flight in two and will each spend US$53,000 to market the flight. That works up to a total of US $106,000 or the equivalent of TT$720,000, half of which TTL will pay for. After an absence of two decades, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will resume flights between Amsterdam and this country today. Read more here
T&T part of $m chemical disposal project
Trinidad and Tobago is participating in a US$11 million project called ISLANDS, which stands for “Implementing Sustainable Low and Non-chemical Development in Small Island Developing States,” says Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis. The global programme seeks to address the sound management of chemicals and waste through strengthening the capacity of sub-national, national, and regional institutions; strengthening the enabling policy and regulatory frameworks in selected countries, and unlocking resources for implementation measures regarding chemical waste and pollution. Read more here
REGIONAL
Disability does not mean inability
With great determination and a supportive family, Afeefa Ally, 12, of Number 76 Village, Corriverton, East Berbice, Corentyne, who is visually-impaired, has proven that being born with a disability does not mean one cannot achieve his/her dreams or have a relatively normal life. Ally, who scored 502 marks at the recent National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), is ranked second at her school, Corriverton Primary, and has secured a spot at St Stanislaus College in the Capital City. Ally was delivered prematurely at six months and was initially told she had cancer but was later diagnosed with retinopathy of prematurity, an eye disorder cause by abnormal blood vessel growth that rendered her legally blind. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
A man is on the run after allegedly killing two neighbors. Some in China hope he will never be caught
Ou Jinzhong has been on the run for more than a week. Accused of killing two neighbors and injuring three others, the 55-year-old villager in China's southern Fujian province is wanted by police. The local government has also offered cash rewards for clues to his whereabouts -- or proof of his death. The manhunt has gripped millions of Chinese people -- but not because they want to see him arrested. On the contrary, many are openly hoping he is never caught. Read more here
18th October 2021