NEWS
CoP: Police operating despite $182 million debt
Commissioner of Police (CoP) Gary Griffith said on Monday, the police service continues to function at optimal levels despite owing suppliers $182 million. He said Finance Minister Colm Imbert and National Security Minister Stuart Young are doing all they can to help deal with that debt. Griffith also said Cabinet recently approved new police uniforms which will facilitate the use of body cameras and equipment in keeping with the police's new "minimum use of force" approach (involving pepper spray and Tasers, before the use of firearms). Read more here
Savannah parade highlights call to stop gender-based violence
Even with no Carnival this year, dozens of people still flocked to the Queen’s Park Savannah yesterday. But their gathering was not in celebration of anything but actually for the opposite, as they mourned the loss of the several women who died due to violence in this country. “What we love about Carnival is the freedom. That is the string of our Carnival celebrations. However, there is no freedom if we live in a country we as women our sisters, our daughters, our mothers, our friends in constant fear of violence against us,” Keisha Als of Women in Carnival said. Read more here
POLITICS
Police: Does UNC support Nakhid's criticism of us?
The police on Monday asked the Opposition UNC whether recent criticisms made by UNC senator David Nakhid about them, are his personal views or reflect the party's position about crime and criminals. In a statement, the police said Commissioner of Police (CoP) Gary Griffith noted a recent video posted on Facebook by Nakhid. The police said in the video, Nakhid claimed that Griffith said a person in police custody fell off a chair and died. "The facts are that neither the Commissioner nor any other member of the TTPS (TT Police Service) made such a statement." Read more here
Young: Body cameras for special police units
Special units within the T&T Police Service (TTPS) will soon be equipped with body cameras. National Security Minister Stuart Young said yesterday that during a meeting with Police Commissioner, Gary Griffith, he was told that the units include the Special Operations Response Team (SORT), the Inter-Agency Task Force and Guard and Emergency Branch. “They are going to be some of the next units to be provided with body cameras by the Commissioner of Police and administrative arm of the Police Service.” Read more here
BUSINESS
New fast ferry to set off by month-end
The Buccoo Reef, the newest fast ferry purchased by Government to service the domestic seabridge, should be back on its delivery journey to Trinidad and Tobago by the end of this month, says National Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (Nidco) chairman Herbert George. Read more here
REGIONAL
Wide-ranging local content policy to be crafted
A Policy which guides and regulates local participation in existing and emerging sectors must be responsive to change and provide the ‘space’ to accommodate expansions in an economy such as Guyana’s, where there has been an increase in investors’ interest. Hoteliers, agro-processors, key players in the global energy sector and many other investors are either already in Guyana or are interested in penetrating the country’s growing economy, which has a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of about US$5 billion. Read more here
Munro anger - Administrators blamed for COVID-19 cluster
Administrators at the all-boy Munro College in St Elizabeth came under fire on Monday for reported lax coronavirus protocols and a culture of complacency that caused an outbreak of infections that has shuttered the school. Munro’s...Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Some of his followers are being sought by the FBI. It's not stopping the leader of the Oath Keepers.
The FBI is investigating some of his followers. Others are already in custody and facing decades in prison if convicted of federal charges connected to the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. But the national leader of the extremist Oath Keepers group is carrying on as before. He might even be emboldened. “You gotta declare this regime to be illegitimate," Stewart Rhodes said on Infowars on January 30 -- 24 days after the riot amid the violence that left five dead and delayed the certification of President Joe Biden's election win. "You gotta to declare everything that comes out of King Biden's mouth as illegitimate -- null and void from the inception because he is not a legitimate president." Read more here
Myanmar coup: Army promises new elections amid protests
Myanmar's military has repeated its promise to hold new elections and relinquish power as anti-coup protests continue across the country. Army spokesman Brig Gen Zaw Min Tun once again claimed that the military took control after alleged voter fraud, but did not provide any evidence. He also said a second criminal charge had been filed against the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Mass protests have been taking place since the military coup on 1 February. The military has heightened its presence on the streets and deployed armoured vehicles in several cities in recent days in further signs of a potential crackdown on opposition demonstrations. Read more here
16th February 2021