Daily Brief - Tuesday 14th August, 2018

NEWS

Anti-Corruption Bureau wants whistleblowing law

The Anti-Corruption Investigation Bureau has called for legislation to better protect whistleblowers and the implementation of laws to enforce the production of documents and information from government agencies. The call was made as the bureau updated the nation of its current activities during last week’s press briefing at the Police Administration Building in Port of Spain. ASP Alva Gordon, of the bureau told Newsday that sometimes a police warrant is not enough to solicit vital information from government offices under probe. Read more here

Traffic chaos after flash flooding

Under the grim skies and persistent rainfall, thousands of commuters rushed for transportation to get home as flood waters rose across the country. According to the Meteorological Service, the Adverse Weather Alert #1- Yellow Level issued at 11.15 am yesterday was expected to continue today. The adverse weather came as a result of a low-level trough that is interacting with the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ICTZ), which brings with it, chances of floods, gusty winds and landslides. Read more here

Teen mom in police custody

A 19-year-old mother is currently assisting the police in their investigation after her two-year-old daughter drowned on Sunday afternoon during a family outing. Read more here

 

POLITICS

PM explores national housing bond

The Prime Minister has floated the idea of a national housing bond as an investment where people can deposit money which could then be used to buy houses from the Housing Development Corporation (HDC). At a key-distribution ceremony at Lake View Housing Development, Reid Road, Point Fortin, yesterday, Dr Rowley said discussions were still taking place with the Minister of Finance to determine the feasibility of such a programme. People who wanted to participate and who hoped to buy a house soon through the HDC programme, he explained, “could pay into a savings bond which would give a pool of funds to drive the housing programme.” Read more here

Flack for Rowley over ‘imps’ remark

Not so, Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Keith Rowley is getting flack from some PNMites for referring to certain members as “imps” at last Sunday’s PNM Family Day function—and for making reference to mosques in his speech. Rowley at PNM’s Family Day, in Chaguanas, reportedly attacked—among others—someone whom he referred to as a particular “imps who spent the last four years before elections going to every mosque in T&T” saying Rowley was against Muslims. He said that person now wanted to contest party office. He also waded into other members about making statements about him, adding he had to protect PNM from “imps” entering the party’s executive to run it. Read more here

Australian boats above board

The Trinidad and Tobago Government has apologised to the Australian government over Devant Maharaj’s letter to that country’s attorney general calling for an investigation into the process used to secure two patrol vessels for the T&T Coast Guard. Read more here

 

BUSINESS

Massy profits improve

Massy Holdings Ltd yesterday reported after-tax profit of $390 million for the first nine months of its 2018 financial year—some 23 per cent higher than for the same period in 2017. The improved profit picture for the group was mainly as a result of the charges for discontinued operations that Massy took in 2017 that did not recur this year. Read more here

 

REGIONAL

Standing Orders Still Stand- Charles

Speaker of the House, Pearnel Charles Sr, has made it clear that despite the suspension of the no-sleeveless policy for government buildings there will be no changes to the operations at Gordon House until he is guided by the Standing Orders. The Office of the Prime Minister issued a release last Friday indicating that the Cabinet had ordered the suspension of the long-standing practice of prohibiting women from wearing sleeveless attire on entering government buildings. But Charles said while he has no problem upholding any directive from the Government, he believes that he should be instructed by the committee of the House. "As speaker of the House, I am guided by the Standing Orders. So any changes (at Gordon House) would have to come from the committee of the House, which is made up of members of both sides, and until I am so directed, I go by the Standing Orders," he stated. Read more here

 

INTERNATIONAL

Genoa motorway bridge collapses in Italy 'tragedy'

A major bridge has collapsed near the northern Italian city of Genoa, leading to vehicles falling some 100m (328ft). Italian Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said it was likely to be "an immense tragedy". Adnkronos news agency reports the head of the local ambulance service as saying there are "dozens of dead". Photographs from the scene show huge sections of rubble on the ground underneath the middle of the bridge. The collapsed section had mostly fallen on rail tracks below, officials told the AFP news agency, adding that cars and trucks had also fallen. One image shows a truck perched at the end of the surviving bridge section immediately before the drop. Read more here

White House paranoia deepens after Omarosa tapes

Secret tapes. Nondisclosure agreements. A lot of name calling. The revelations surrounding Omarosa Manigault Newman's new memoir, and the ensuing fallout, are underscoring a level of dysfunction many now see as just part of life under President Donald Trump. On Monday, the former senior aide revealed a recording she'd made of the President phoning her on the day after she was fired. Earlier, Manigault Newman released a tape of chief of staff John Kelly doing the firing in the White House Situation Room. Neither contained outwardly embarrassing language. But the tapes' mere existence confirmed a longstanding reality: in Trump's White House, there are few norms or expectations of decorum that cannot be shattered. Read more here

14th August 2018

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