TTMA IN THE NEWS
Manufacturers' Association vaccination drive off to good start
Three hundred vaccines an hour – 2,500 by 4.30 pm, Sunday. That is the rate of vaccination being rolled out at the Divali Nagar site on Sunday morning, on day one of the Ministry of Health’s collaboration with the private sector to undertake mass vaccination. Read more here
4,416 vaccines administered in one day
The country’s first public/private mass vaccination drive has exceeded expectations with 2,697 employees in the manufacturing sector being vaccinated yesterday. While Health Minister Terrance Deyalsingh estimated that 2,500 citizens a day could be serviced at the Divali Nagar in Chaguanas, 197 more were able to benefit from yesterday’s event which was a partnership between the Ministry of Health, the Ministry Trade and Industry, and the T&T Manufacturers Association (TTMA). Sources said that impressive numbers achieved set a local record for the most number of vaccines administered at a single location over a day. Read more here
2,500 manufacturing sector workers receive jabs in first public/private sector drive
More than 2,500 manufacturing sector workers showed up at the Divali Nagar site in Chaguanas to receive their first dose of the Sinopharm Covid-19 injection at the start of a public/private sector vaccination drive. The Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association (TTMA) collaborated with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Trade to facilitate the process. When the Express visited the Divali Nagar site at 10 a.m., workers were spaced out and volunteers and doctors were supervising the process for people to be vaccinated. Read more here
NEWS
T&T Energy conference starts today
With the annual T&T Energy Conference starting today, Economist Gregory McGuire believes the issue of natural gas shortages, its competitiveness and a new formula for natural gas pricing for petrochemicals must be front and centre. In an interview yesterday with Guardian Media McGuire said while he does not expect the conference to deal with the price of natural gas it is a major issue facing the sector that he hopes the value chain study being done by Gas Strategies finds a solution to. Read more here
POLITICS
Entrepreneurs embrace e-commerce
SHOPCaribe director Roxanne Colthrust said local entrepreneurs must explore opportunities in e-commerce to grow their businesses during and after the covid19 pandemic. She expressed this opinion during a webinar hosted by the Trade and Industry Ministry on Friday. Colthrust explained that her business focuses on Caribbean-made products, specifically art and craft, fashion and beauty products. She said since last June, during the height of the pandemic, ShopCaribe's website has received 185,000 visitors, looking for Caribbean made products to buy. Read more here
Hinds: SOE measures bearing fruit as cases slow
After weeks of urging citizens to adhere to the public health regulations and observe the parameters set out by the State of Emergency (SOE) which took effect on May 15, health officials have reported that it is bearing fruit as emerging patterns indicate there has been a slowing in the number of cases being recorded between mid-May to present. Speaking during the media briefing at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann's, on Saturday, epidemiologist Dr Avery Hinds said data showed the virus peaked around the middle of May. Data collected between May 30 and June 3 indicated a ten per cent decrease overall in the number of cases recorded, over the previous week. Read more here
BUSINESS
ANSA McAL buys into solar park
ANSA McAL is part of a multinational equity consortium that on Friday announced the signing of an agreement to acquire 100 per cent of the operational Monte Plata solar park in the Dominican Republic. In a statement, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy Ltd, which is listed on the T&T and Jamaica stock exchanges, said its investment company, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy Fund LLC, led an equity consortium comprising itself, ANSA McAL and two minority investors from the Dominican Republic and Canada. Read more here
REGIONAL
Media workers continue to brave COVID-19
When COVID-19 hit Guyana in March 2020, it abruptly threw everyone’s world into a frenzy with the impromptu changes. Among those most affected were those persons deemed “essential workers” who were required to still be out in public when others were required to be at home. For many, when they think of essential workers, professions such as nurses, doctors and police officers come to mind. Not many have considered the sacrifices made and challenges being faced by media workers during the period. Read more here
UTech says MP no longer chief internal auditor but sidesteps details
Dwight Sibblies, the member of parliament for Clarendon Northern, has stepped aside from his role as chief internal auditor at the University of Technology (UTech) amid deepening enquiry into whether his political role and other public-sector job...Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Merkel's party wins final Saxony-Anhalt vote by big margin
Germany's centre right has fended off a challenge by the far right in the last regional test before national polls in September, partial results show. The Christian Democrats (CDU) of Chancellor Angela Merkel won 37% of the vote in the state election in Saxony-Anhalt, in the former East Germany. It did much better than opinion polls had predicted. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) took 21%, after nearly equalling the CDU in the opinion polls. Read more here
US senators took a military aircraft to Taiwan to announce vaccine donation. To Beijing, that is a major provocation
Taiwan is finally getting much-needed help from the United States to fight its spiraling coronavirus outbreak. But to Beijing, the offer is a major provocation that risks escalating both cross-strait and US-China relations. A delegation of US senators visited Taiwan on Sunday morning local time to announce the donation of 750,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen called the vaccines "timely rain" for the island, which has only vaccinated 3% of its population and on Saturday recorded its highest daily Covid death toll of 37 fatalities. Read more here
7th June 2021