NEWS
CoP's contract end approaches
It has been a little more than a year since Erla Harewood-Christopher was appointed Commissioner of Police, taking over from then acting CoP Mc Donald Jacob in January 2023. Despite an extension in her tenure approved by Parliament in May last year, an appraisal by the Police Service Commission (PSC) is looming, one which will be instrumental in the PSC’s decision on whether or not it will suggest Harewood-Christopher as commissioner of police for another year and whether or not it will further extend her tenure as the approved extension ends on May 14. Read more here
Two local dance icons honoured on International Dance Day
In celebration of International Dance Day commemorated annually on April 29, the Secondary Schools Dance Educators Association of Trinidad and Tobago honoured two local dance icons. The association said Dance Ethnologist Hazel Franco and Dance Educator Allison Seepaul have both significantly contributed to the development of the local dance fraternity and art form and have been instrumental in forging the way forward for dance education at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. From tiny local dance studios to taking their Trinbagonian moves across the world, both Franco and Seepaul have spent decades developing, implementing, choreographing and shaping dance and nation-building through dance in Trinidad and Tobago. According to the association, the Chaconia Silver medal recipient Franco was responsible for the design, nurturing and introduction of the Certificate in Dance and Dance in Education and the Bachelor of the Arts Dance programmes of the University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus. Read more here
POLITICS
Government gives Auditor General more time to complete 2023 report
Finance Minister Colm Imbert says it has become necessary to extend the time needed for the Office of the Auditor-General to submit its report on the country's public accounts for the last financial year. He added the reason for this is because his ministry's officials have detected a variance and understatement of approximately $2.6 billion in the 2023 public financial statements. He made those comments in a statement in the House of Representatives on Friday. Read more here
Angry supporters tell UNC leader it’s time to ‘fire’ five MPs
Chants of “fire them! Where were they? They undermining the party,” echoed throughout the United National Congress’ headquarters in Chaguanas yesterday when Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar was asked by party supporters about five of her MPs who were absent in Parliament on Friday. The MPs were not there to vote on a motion to extend the period to report on the country’s financial accounts for fiscal 2023. It was while Persad-Bissessar was calling on UNC members to unite for the betterment of the country at the party’s 35th anniversary function in Chaguanas, a supporter seated in the front row asked her to talk about the “19 votes” on Friday. “You want me to talk about that? Today is a good day. I don’t want to talk about people abandoning the Parliament on Friday. You want me to talk about that?” Persad-Bissessar responded to the supporter. Read more here
BUSINESS
Chocolate makers anticipate price hikes as cocoa prices skyrocket
A huge increase in the global price of cocoa is likely to result in an increase in the cost of chocolates on the local and regional markets of between 25 and 40 per cent, T&T’s largest manufacturer of chocolates told Sunday Business last week. The Financial Times reported last week that New York cocoa futures blasted through previous highs to hit a record US$12,191 a tonne, up from less than US$3,000 a tonne a year ago. And last month, the business news network, CNBC, reported, “Cocoa futures for May delivery surged to an all-time intra-day high of US$10,080 per tonne before ending the day down 0.3 per cent to settle at US$9,622. Cocoa has more than tripled in cost over the past year and is up 129 per cent in 2024.” That report was published on March 26. Associate Brands Industries Ltd (ABIL), which produces the popular Charles Chocolates sold throughout the region, said it has already felt the impact of price increases in cocoa, one of the main ingredients in its chocolates, and is expecting further impacts. Read more here
T&T’s lower output impacts global prices
The fall in methanol production in Trinidad and Tobago is expected to help keep global methanol prices stable towards the end of the year, according to Rich Sumner, Methanex’s president and chief executive officer. Methanol is a crucial revenue earner for the T&T Government and when prices were high in 2022 it played a pivotal role in the country having its first balanced budget in 20 years. Read more here
REGIONAL
APNU consistently bamboozling Afro-Guyanese
THE People’s National Congress-Reform (PNC-R)’s/A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s constant efforts to hoodwink Afro-Guyanese are being exposed and countered by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Party General Secretary, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has said. During his weekly press conference at the party’s headquarters, Dr Jagdeo highlighted the APNU’s history of using race as a tool to gather support and cultivate fear in the minds of Guyanese to deter them from supporting the PPP/C. “Many people know we accuse APNU of racism and they managed in the past to do the converse, to accuse the PPP of racism and when Cheddi Jagan tried to broaden the membership of this party even after all the trouble in the 60s, people stayed away from us because their [APNU] campaign of racism and fear resonated with people in their communities, fear of the other, fear of the PPP, fear that we will discriminate against Afro-Guyanese. So it kept a large number of people away from us because of these fears,” he said. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
BBC Gaza correspondent: My struggle to keep family safe while covering the war
For about three months, Adnan El-Bursh reported on the war in Gaza while living in a tent, eating one meal a day, and struggling to keep his wife and five children safe. The BBC Arabic correspondent shares the harrowing moments he faced covering a war that pushed him to his limits. Read more here
29th April 2024