TTMA IN THE NEWS
New Wave Marketing: Model for export growth in the Caribbean
In the competitive world of manufacturing and exports, New Wave Marketing Ltd exemplifies the potential of regional and international trade missions. Under the leadership of Emil Ramkissoon, who also serves as vice president of the TT Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) and vice-chair of its Export Marketing Committee, New Wave Marketing has expanded its reach through strategic participation in trade missions across the region and beyond. Founded in 1983, the company has grown from humble beginnings in the hardware industry to become a leading manufacturer of PVC pipes and fittings in the Caribbean, with export markets throughout the region. The company supplies high-quality PVC pipes, fittings and waterworks items such as hydrants, valves and sanitary ware. Read more here
NEWS
Children kept home until Mayaro school gets furniture
Mayaro Secondary School PTA president Nathalie Chattergoon has promised daily protests until the Ministry of Education rectifies the school's furniture shortage and infrastructural issues. Parents picketed the school on September 4 over the issue. Chattergoon told Newsday there is not enough furniture for the estimated 400 students registered at the school. "The country is run through Mayaro/Guayaguayare because the oil industry is in Mayaro/Guayaguayare, and for our school to be like that, it is very very sad to know our children have to go through this." Read more here
Worker gunned down at St James Medical Complex
For the second time this year, gunmen disregarded the sanctity of a medical institution and murdered someone on the compound. The latest killing took place at 10.30 am yesterday, when two men approached St James Medical Complex worker Jamaal Watts and one of them shot him. Eyewitnesses told Guardian Media that Watts, a daily paid worker from Belle Eau Road, Belmont, was cutting grass on a field at the back of the complex when he was shot. The men reportedly drove into the compound, parked, came out and looked at Watts for some time before approaching him. One of the men and Watts had a brief scuffle before he was shot. The two men then ran off, jumped in the car and escaped. Read more here
POLITICS
UN report: Regional governments' efforts to fight crime backfiring
Criminal gangs are being fuelled not only by social isolation and corrupt officials but also by the backfiring of certain actions of the State aimed at curbing crime. These were the findings of a recent report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) titled Caribbean Gangs: Drugs, firearms and gangs networks in Jamaica, St Lucia, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. The report said "Cure Violence" initiatives have generated some success when deployed, using a "public-health approach" to curb gang violence. Read more here
PM Rowley wins defamation lawsuit against Moonilal
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has won a defamation lawsuit brought against him by Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal. Justice Carol Gobin made the ruling in a written judgment delivered yesterday. The case stems from an article in the Express newspaper on January 6, 2020, under the headline “Rowley vs Waithe … Terse Text Exchange”. Express Editor-in-Chief Omatie Lyder was also listed as a defendant. The newspaper had printed the following alleged exchange of text messages between Dr Rowley and Fixin T&T leader Kirk Waithe: Waithe: “Politicians serve their party best when they put their country first” - Author unknown. Read more here
BUSINESS
Port of Spain Shopping Centre, NEDCO sign MoU
The director of the Port of Spain Shopping Complex Ltd (POSSCL) Belinda Charles says the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing between the POSSCL and National Entrepreneurship Development Company Ltd (NEDCO) will bring added benefits – economically and socially – to the tenants and business community in Port of Spain. Additionally, 20 tenants from the POSSCL, located at 41 Independence Square and 32 Charlotte Street, received certificates after completing NEDCO's seven-day Improve your Business Programme. Charles spoke at a joint ceremony at the Government Campus Plaza, Port of Spain on September 4. Read more here
Expert fears declining internet revenues
The internet is the current backbone of the telecommunications industry of Trinidad and Tobago.
However, one industry expert has expressed concern that a slight drop in revenue from fixed-line internet subscriptions could signal major challenges for an industry that has been in consistent decline across most segments. According to the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) annual report for 2023, the telecommunications sector generated $4.2 billion of which the Internet market generated 53.6 per cent of sector revenues, while the second largest share, 24.7 per cent, came from the mobile voice market. The internet market (including both mobile and fixed services) saw an increase in revenue from $2.244 billion in 2022 to $2.254 billion in 2023. Read more here
REGIONAL
‘We will come after you’ -President Ali warns, vows to dismantle drug operations
The illegal smuggling of drugs poses a deadly risk to national security and Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, has vowed to further collaborations with international partners to destabilise criminal networks. The Head of State’s comment came just days after the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) officers, in collaboration with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Special Forces Unit and the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) unearthed a massive drug operation in Region One (Barima Waini). President Ali, while addressing stakeholders at the launch of the National Defence Institution here in Georgetown on Wednesday declared: “We have every intention working with our partners to destabilise and break the back of all criminal networks, especially in drug trafficking, operating within our territorial space and in our airspace.” Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei dies days after being set alight by ex-boyfriend
Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei has died days after being doused in petrol and set on fire by a former boyfriend. The 33-year-old Ugandan marathon runner, who competed in the recent Paris Olympics, had suffered extensive burns after Sunday's attack. The authorities in north-west Kenya, where Cheptegei lived and trained, said she was targeted after returning home from church with her two daughters. Read more here
5th September 2024