NEWS

EMA: Most TT waste recyclable

This country generates an estimated 750,000 tonnes of waste annually, with more than 80 per cent of it being recyclable. This was revealed by chairman of the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), Nadra Nathai-Gyan, in a release on Tuesday to coincide with yesterday's observation of World Environment Day. Nathai-Gyan said as a small island developing state, TT accounts for less than 0.1 per cent of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. She said the government along with industry has committed to reduce this further by 15 per cent by 2030. Read more here

St Joseph’s Convent girls push to save earth

As the world cel­e­brat­ed World En­vi­ron­ment Day yes­ter­day, the Unit­ed Na­tions called on peo­ple every­where to do some­thing to take care of the Earth. For the stu­dents of the En­vi­ron­men­tal Club of the St Joseph’s Con­vent in St Joseph, how­ev­er, every day is World En­vi­ron­ment Day. Guardian Me­dia sat down with five mem­bers of the club, pres­i­dent Sarah Ap­ple­white, trea­sur­er Kay­la-Marie Solomon, sec­re­tary Shek­inah Trim and mem­bers Liyen Sanchez and Hay­ley Valadere, along with their su­per­vis­ing teacher Sim­mi­ka Seecha­ran-Bis­s­ram, at the school on Tues­day for a dis­cus­sion on their dri­ve. Read more here

POLITICS

Civil witnesses fearful

IN addition to witnesses being afraid to testify against criminal suspects, Independent Senator Sophia Chote SC on Tuesday said witnesses in civil matters (such as property disputes) are now likewise fearful of coming to court. She spoke in the Senate on a bill to speed up trials, the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) (Amendment)(No 2) Bill, 2019, that lets the Director of Public Prosecutions DPP file a case in matters of a violent or sexual nature where a child an adult witness is subject to “threats, intimidation or elimination.” Read more here

T&TEC owed 700 million by customers

Pub­lic Util­i­ties Min­is­ter Robert Le Hunte says out­stand­ing pay­ments owed to the Elec­tric­i­ty Com­mis­sion (T&TEC) for the sup­ply of ser­vices is ap­prox­i­mate­ly $700 mil­lion—with the ma­jor­i­ty of ar­rears owed by Gov­ern­ment di­vi­sions. In con­firm­ing the fig­ure fol­low­ing a query by the T&T Guardian re­cent­ly, Le Hunte said the amount owed by house­hold con­sumers made up the small­est amount—$100 mil­lion. Read more here

BUSINESS

Business Day Editorial: Energy good news?

A few weeks ago, at the shallow water bid round announcements, Energy Minister Franklin Khan chastised the media about not reporting enough positive news in the energy sector. Media outlets, he felt, did not celebrate the Ryder Scott audit enough, that TT’s natural gas reserves had increased 14 per cent, when previously they had been dropping. Meanwhile, plastered on front pages was news that BPTT had drilled four dry infill wells, possibly compromising the future of the Atlantic train one expansion project. Read more here

Imbert: Caribbean must become energy efficient

The Caribbean must as­pire to be en­er­gy ef­fi­cient as the re­gion is one of the world’s largest un­tapped sources of re­new­able en­er­gy, with po­ten­tial in so­lar, wind, ge­ot­her­mal and ma­rine en­er­gy. This was the ap­peal from act­ing Prime Min­is­ter Colm Im­bert as he ad­dressed the open­ing of the Caribbean De­vel­op­ment Bank’s (CDB) 49th an­nu­al meet­ing of the Board of Gov­er­nors at the Hy­att Re­gency ho­tel in Port-of-Spain yes­ter­day. Read more here

REGIONAL

Probe Fury - Snail’s Pace Of Investigations Into Improprieties At State Agencies Concerns Lawmakers

The extended period being taken to complete probes into impropriety, fraud, and corruption at a number of state agencies left several lawmakers fuming at yesterday’s meeting of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) of Parliament. The committee says it could be time to summon the leaders of some investigating agencies to explain the delays in completing the investigations. This development comes after Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security Collette Roberts-Risden stunned lawmakers at yesterday’s meeting of the PAAC with news that the probe into the estimated $600-million fraud uncovered at the National Insurance Fund (NIF) 18 months ago is still ongoing. Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

D-Day 75th anniversary marked by Trump and world leaders

Politics remained largely absent from remarks given by President Trump and Emmanuel Macron by the shores of Omaha Beach. But while remembrance and recognition dominated proceedings, it wasn't hard to notice a few pointed messages from one leader to another. The French President urged international support for an "alliance of the free world," before praising the United Nations, the European Union and NATO; three transnational bodies that were set up in the wake of war with the mission of preserving peace. The only problem? President Trump, sat a few feet from Macron as he spoke, has been critical of all three bodies. Read more here

Niels Högel: German ex-nurse convicted of killing 85 patients

A former nurse has been convicted of murdering 85 patients at two hospitals in northern Germany and handed a life sentence. Judge Sebastian Buehrmann described Niels Högel's killing spree as "incomprehensible". Högel, who is already serving life for two murders, administered lethal doses of heart medication to people in his care between 1999 and 2005. He is believed to be the most prolific killer in Germany's modern history. Prosecutors said he attacked patients in order to impress colleagues by subsequently trying to revive them. Read more here

6th June 2019

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