NEWS
Browne: Dragon deal is dead
Former minister in the Ministry of Finance Mariano Browne said Finance Minister Colm Imbert in his mid-year budget review showed growth in monetary data but not necessarily in the real sector. Speaking via a telephone interview, Browne said the real sector is the production of gas, oil and manufacturing. He added that with the situation worsening in Venezuela, the cross-border Dragon deal is dead in the water. He pointed out that less cement being sold and less cars sold notwithstanding the buoyancy in the price. “There is a huge among of liquidity in the market.” Read more here
Driver: Gas shortfall could affect growth
The fate of T&T’s continued economic growth could be partially hinged on the success of BPTT and Atlantic finding a solution to the shortfall in gas supply that is projected in 2020/2021, as failure could hurt the country’s revenue stream. Asked about the worst-case scenario following BPTT’s recent disappointing drilling at two infill wells yesterday, Energy Chamber CEO Dr Thackwray Driver told Guardian Media that it could lead to Atlantic’s Train 1 being mothballed. BPTT’s production is estimated to decrease by up to 300 million standard cubic feet per day in 2020 and 2021, a 15 per cent drop in production, the company has confirmed. It comes after a well in the Cannonball field turned out to be wet, resulting in there being no production and another well in the Cashima field being found to have a lesser volume than expected. Read more here
POLITICS
Hinds highlights judiciary improvements
Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General Fitzgerald Hinds has boasted about what the ministry has accomplished to date during the “Empower Me” open house recently. He welcomed a number of stakeholders and schoolchildren to the forum and said when the PNM took office, a major part of the challenge facing the country was the economy and the burgeoning issue of crime and criminality. So government, he said, decided to use its office to improve law and justice to combat these burning issues. Read more here
BUSINESS
PM: Govt not ‘panicked’ over economy
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley leaves at the end of May to meet with energy executives in Holland, England and the United States. He knocked the Opposition for rejoicing over “fake” negative news as he urged them to get rid of the “bad vibes” and wish the country well in the interest of all the people. Read more here
REGIONAL
Dead End - Myrie Fingers Late Councillor As Man Behind Petrojam Sponsorship Request
Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) director Lionel Myrie has pointed the finger at late Councillor Owen Palmer as the person who asked him to forward two requests for donations totalling just over $19 million to the state-owned oil refinery Petrojam on behalf of two citizens’ groups in St Catherine. Palmer died in a motor vehicle crash on March 4 last year. Myrie, who faced a grilling by opposition members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament yesterday, steered clear of questions about whether he was acting in his capacity as a PCJ director when he emailed the requests to then Petrojam General Manager Floyd Grindley or whether he was acting as an assistant to then Energy Minister Dr Andrew Wheatley. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Putin smiles as Washington ties itself in knots over Russia
Vladimir Putin keeps on getting the last laugh, and he knows it. The Russian leader and former KGB officer could not resist some sardonic trolling on a day when the tortured legacy of the 2016 election sowed fresh mistrust and discord in Washington and the US President's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., got caught in the fallout. "Despite the exotic nature of the work of special counsel Mueller, we must give him credit," Putin said during a visit from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Sochi on the Black Sea. Read more here
Alabama passes bill banning abortion
15th May 2019