TTMA IN THE NEWS
CAL launches in-flight Caribbean Café
Tamarind balls, fudge, preserved mango and spice bun are among the items customers of Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) will soon be able to purchase from the new in-flight snack and beverage catalogue, Caribbean Café. Launched last Friday, Caribbean Café items will be available from September 1 to those travelling on intra-Caribbean and International flights operated by CAL’s Boeing 737 fleet. CAL said customers “will have the option to purchase an array of sweet and savoury snacks, along with beverages ranging from non-alcoholic to premium alcoholic options.” Read more here
Manufacturers unpaid for Venezuelan exports —TTMA
Some local businesses have not yet been paid for goods delivered to Venezuela, said Christopher Alcazar, President, Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA). However, he added the TTMA remains “optimistic” about the energy relations between the two countries. “The TTMA has been watching these developments optimistically for our energy sector and country’s well being while with great concern as a few manufacturers who commenced trading with Venezuela are to date still left without Venezuela completing their financial contractual obligations causing great disruptions and losses to local business,” he said in a statement to Guardian Media yesterday. Read more here
NEWS
NEOC: Expect more aftershocks
The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) yesterday advised the public there will be aftershocks from last Tuesday’s earthquake and some “may be at a magnitude large enough to be felt.” In statement the NEOC said, “Citizens are reminded to stay calm.” Since the earthquake, the NEOC said UWI Seismic Centre has reported 45 aftershocks as of yesterday. At this time, there are no reports of serious injury, loss of life or significant damage to critical infrastructure. The NEOC said various government ministries continue to assess critical infrastructure and are coordinating these efforts with the NEOC. Read more here
Nurses body to monitor PoSGH rehab closely
The Trinidad and Tobago Registered Nurses Association (TTRNA) says it will be staying on top of things to ensure that money allocated for the reconstruction of the Central Block of the Port-of-Spain General Hospital is not reallocated “to some other grandiose project in the build-up to the general elections.” TTRNA president Idi Stuart told the T&T Guardian yesterday that they will be seeking details of the promise by Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh that a facility to house 500 beds will replace the Central Block, which was condemned after last Tuesday’s 6.9 earthquake. Read more here
POLITICS
Maduro offers TT help to control drug trade
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has offered TT help in controlling the drug trade, as well as initiating the possibility for increased non-energy trade between the two neighbours, as he and Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley signed off on the Dragon gas deal on Saturday in Caracas. “Together with TT, we are giving an example to the world in building bilateral brotherhood relations. Latin America and the Caribbean have everything to become a great scientific, energetic and cultural power. A region united and in peace!” Maduro said in a speech following the signing ceremony. Read more here
Griffith not out to please everyone
Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith says he intends to meet with members of the business and private sector in the coming weeks. Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Griffith said it is important to hear from everyone as he strategises and puts measures in place to deal with the crime problem. Already, Griffith has started “surprise” visits to police stations across the country, visiting nine on Saturday and he says his intention is to visit all 70 stations across the length and breadth of the country. Read more here
No secret gas deal
Energy Minister Franklin Khan said yesterday negotiated gas arrangement prices have always been kept secret and while the price of natural gas agreed to between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela cannot be disclosed, the Dragon Field deal is a “marriage made in heaven”. Read more here
BUSINESS
Collective respect key going ahead
When officials of state-owned Petrotrin and the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union sit down for talks tomorrow, economist Dr Roger Hosein says a “collective respect” is required by all the players around the table “recognising that it is not business as usual in Trinidad and Tobago, but rather business unusual has to be the operating principle moving forward and therefore a different and unusual level of cooperation and pulling in the same direction is required.” Speaking to the T&T Guardian yesterday, even as the OWTU led its membership in a protest at the residence of the Prime Minister, Hosein said the current situation requires “careful judgement by all the players involved.” Read more here
GHL profit improves, SFC net income lower
This week, we at Bourse review the performance of two insurance companies within the non-banking finance sector - Guardian Holdings Ltd (GHL) and Sagicor Financial Corporation Ltd (SFC) — for the half-year ended June 2018. While both GHL and SFC were able to grow revenues, Profit diverged owing to their geographical exposures. We discuss the performance of both companies and provide an outlook. Guardian Holdings Ltd (GHL) Read more here
REGIONAL
Fear Grips Red Hills Road - Gangsters From Park And 100 Lanes Renew Deadly Rivalry
After almost two years of relative peace, long-time rivals in Park Lane and 100 Lane off Red Hills Road in St Andrew have resumed their feud, leaving innocent residents fearful and looking to flee. The deadly violence resumed last Tuesday when 37-year-old Hafia Fowles, said to be the common-law wife of an incarcerated don, was fatally shot by gunmen in 100 Lane. That killing was said to be because some residents of the lane were celebrating the death of a Park Lane strongman who was fatally shot by the police just over one week ago. The police immediately imposed a curfew in the area last Wednesday amid reports of planned reprisals for Fowles' death. The curfew was lifted Friday evening, but the police have maintained a strong presence in the area. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
John McCain's final message for the President
John McCain and President Donald Trump are not done with one another yet. Days of mourning for the Arizona senator, including a lying-in-state in the Capitol Rotunda and the pomp of a service in Washington's National Cathedral, are certain to become about more than simply honoring a singular political leader and national hero. In Washington, even death is political -- a fact McCain well understood as a sought-after eulogizer himself, and by planning his funeral rites to exclude the President, he will be making an unmistakable posthumous statement directed at the White House. Read more here
Myanmar military leaders must face genocide charges, says UN
27th August 2018