NEWS
Palo Seco protest over Petrotrin
The Palo Seco/Erin Justice Committee has signalled its intention to stage the “parents of all marches” to express its frustration at Petrotrin’s closure and the State’s failure to provide alternative employment as well as the decision to stop the importation of regular gasoline which has sent the fishing industry into free fall. Committee president Victor Roberts told reporters this after a demonstration at Palo Seco junction yesterday. “We are protesting the demolishing of the houses, the closure of Petrotrin without bringing anything to the table whereby people can survive. The unemployment within the community since Petrotrin closed is affecting all the businesses as well. Read more here
Desal plant back up and running
The Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) is advising customers in parts of Central and South Trinidad, who have been affected by the recent unplanned shutdown at the Point Lisas Desalination Plant, that the necessary repairs were completed and the facility was at full production of 40 million gallons daily, as at 10.40 pm on Sunday January 6, 2019. Read more here
POLITICS
Kamla: No MP de-selected
The United National Congress (UNC) is not arbitrarily choosing election candidates, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said in a statement yesterday. She stoutly denied media reports that she was taking advice from some members of the United National Congress (UNC) caucus to change certain incumbent MPs. “I strenuously deny such reports,” she said. “No advice has been sought from caucus members and none has been received about the composition of the UNC’s electoral team. Read more here
Moonilal refuses opening submission to Privileges Committee
A closed door session of the Privileges Committee meeting fell apart today after Oropouche East Member of Parliament Dr Roodal Moonilal refused to give his opening submissions. Though the attendees of the private session were bound by confidentiality, Guardian Media learned that Moonilal challenged the current composition of the Committee. Moonilal was before the Committee to answer questions on two matters: his behaviour during a Parliamentary debate last October when he allegedly told Laventille West MP Fitzgerald Hinds "that's why Snake have lead for you" and his reference to a financial triangle involving Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, AV Drilling and a Miami-based company. Moonilal said then that Rowley benefited from a financial transaction connected to A&V Drilling in Florida, which the PM refuted. Read more here
BUSINESS
Chamber welcomes plan for waterfront
Stakeholders are welcoming Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s $1 billion plan to develop the San Fernando waterfront. Read more here
REGIONAL
More Blood For Dengue - Government, Opposition Join Forces In Call For National Blood Drive To Fight Outbreak
Dr Jacquiline Bisasor McKenzie, chief medical officer at the Ministry of Health, has endorsed Dr Dayton Campbell's call for a national blood drive to assist persons who develop complications from contracting the dengue haemorrhagic fever. There is currently an outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease across the country. Addressing a press conference at the People's National Party's (PNP) headquarters in St Andrew yesterday, Campbell, the opposition spokesman on health, explained that a lot of people end up contracting dengue haemorrhagic fever because their platelet count was falling. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Prime-time Trump faces credibility crisis
President Donald Trump will face one huge obstacle when he appeals to Americans in a prime-time Oval Office address Tuesday to unite behind his crusade for a border wall: Himself. Trump has spent years exploiting immigration -- one of the nation's most divisive fault lines -- during an insurgent campaign and a presidency sustained by the fervor of his committed political base. But now, the downside of that strategy is becoming evident. In his attempt to convince the nation that a genuine crisis is unfolding at the southern border, the President's arguments face extreme skepticism from those not already in his camp. Read more here
North Korea's Kim Jong-un visits China's Xi Jinping
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has arrived in Beijing for an unannounced visit, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Mr Kim will be in China until 10 January with his wife Ri Sol-ju, according to state media reports. The visit comes amid reports that negotiations are under way for a second summit between Mr Kim and US President Donald Trump. The two met last June, the first such meeting for a sitting US president. Read more here
8th January 2019