Daily Brief - Tuesday 2nd June, 2020

NEWS

Black Lives Matter in Trinidad and Tobago too

Just over a dozen people turned up outside the US Embassy on Monday to rally in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests in the US. The protesters sat and held their placards in a physically distanced line in the Queen's Park Savannah, across the road from the embassy in Port of Spain. Artiste and activist Abeo Jackson said she felt there is an obligation for people in the diaspora to support the Black Lives Matter movement in the US. There have been huge gatherings and clashes with police across the US and elsewhere since police killed George Floyd in Minnesota on May 25. “This is not the time when we are supposed to hijack black voices in America, but to listen and amplify them. Read more here

Building back better must be people-led

People feel ignored. People feel powerless. People feel helpless. This has been the common refrain that we at the Cropper Foundation heard, two years ago, as we started work on a three-year Action “CSOs for Good Environmental Governance.” In this EU-funded Action, along with our partners, we learnt just how alienated, excluded and disenfranchised our communities have felt as they try and advocate for a healthier and more sustainable environment. This initiative, which seeks to enhance the capacity of Trinidad and Tobago’s civil society for the governance of environmental transparency and accountability in the country’s extractive industries, builds on the concepts of environmental and climate justice. These communities, like the small island states of the Caribbean, have done the least to damage their environment but will suffer the most consequences. From regional sea-level rise due to carbon emissions by the ‘West,’ to flooding in the East-West corridor caused by illegal quarrying - it is usually the most marginalised and vulnerable among us that pay the price for environmental degradation. Read more here

 

POLITICS

Heritage paid Govt $883m in royalties—Imbert

Heritage Petroleum paid the Government $833 million in royalties, levies, licenses and taxes last year, Finance Minister Colm Imbert says. Imbert made the statement yesterday as he defended Government’s treatment of Heritage Petroleum. He said the current situation with Heritage was “a complete turnaround from the situation with Petrotrin in previous years, where Petrotrin owed the Government billions of dollars in unpaid royalties and taxes.” Imbert issued a release which he said was aimed at correcting what he labelled as “misinformation” in yesterday’s editorial. “In that editorial, the Guardian accused the Government of favouring Heritage Petroleum Limited over private companies by waiving the imposition of oil taxes for the company, specifically supplemental petroleum tax, “ Imbert said. Read more here

 

REGIONAL

503 more ballot boxes to be processed

WITH 1,836 of the 2,339 ballot boxes already processed, the recount of votes cast at the General and Regional Elections could be completed well ahead of the June 13 deadline — if all goes well. Some 503 ballot boxes are therefore left to be processed. On Monday (Day 27), a total of 97 ballot boxes were processed at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) where 12 workstations have been established to recount the votes cast three months ago on March 2. Of the 97 ballot boxes, 36 were from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), 33 from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), two from Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and 26 from Region 10 (Upper Demerara- Upper Berbice). Read more here

Used-Car ‘Free-For-All’ - Dealers Lament Rogue Players Profiteering While Beating Policy Rules

Used car dealers who play by the rules are now being left behind, as a flood of new operators are employing deviant strategies to sell imported second-hand vehicles, reducing the industry to a free-for-all. “We are not happy and our members at large are not happy with what is going on,” Lynvalle Hamilton, the president of Jamaica Used Car Dealers Association (JUCDA), told The Gleaner. “People are just shacking up, selling cars on sidewalk, selling cars from home, and not adhering to the motor vehicle import policy, and I do believe that something needs to be done. It’s long overdue.” Read more here

 

INTERNATIONAL

George Floyd death: Trump threatens to send in army to end unrest

President Donald Trump has threatened to send in the military to quell growing civil unrest in the US over the death of a black man in police custody. He said if cities and states failed to control the protests and "defend their residents" he would deploy the army and "quickly solve the problem for them". Protests over the death of George Floyd have escalated over the past week. Four police meanwhile were shot and injured on Monday night during unrest in St Louis, Missouri. Read more here

Floyd family urges calm protests but violent clashes continue for another night

Hours after George Floyd's brother asked protesters to abstain from violence, the Minneapolis site where Floyd died last week was being treated as a sacred memorial. The subdued scene was in a sharp contrast with what was taking place in other cities across the country overnight where protesters were undeterred by curfews, enforced in an effort to curb the unrest that has erupted in the week since Floyd's death in police custody. Read more here

2nd June 2020

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