NEWS
Wife Burnt to Death
In an act of desperation, policeman Shane Ramdath threw his two daughters out a window to save them as their home was burning, during the early morning hours yesterday. Standard Five student Shania Ramdath, 11, and sister Shanice, four, survived but the officer could not save his wife and the girls’ mother Anita, who perished in the flames. Firemen later found the woman’s burnt remains after they doused the flames which destroyed the top floor of the family’s house in Glenroy Settlement, Princes Town. On Saturday, Anita who worked as a clerk in the Princes Town Magistrates’ Court celebrated her 31st birthday. A day later, she was honoured by her family on the occasion of Mother’s Day. A little over 24 hours later, she was dead. Read more here
Burger vendor slain in front customers
The murder of Navindra “Nari” Chatoor, owner of South’s popular burger joint Chatoor’s Burgers, has been described as a “hit” by police. Chatoor was killed on Monday night while at his burger cart at Cross Crossing, San Fernando, shortly after 10 pm. A man dressed in black and wearing a hat partially covering the face walked up to him and shot Chatoor twice in the head at point blank rage in front of other customers. Read more here
Lilda Brown Park hailed as ‘haven for all’
“A haven for all” was how one Beetham Gardens resident lauded Phase IV’s new playground and promenade, named Lilda Brown Park, for one of the community’s first homesteaders. Read more here
POLITICS
Garcia: Fired staff were ‘surplus’
Minister of Education Anthony Garcia and his junior minister Dr Lovell Francis gave contradictory views on the issue of the firing last Friday of staff members of the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). While Garcia told the Senate that the UTT staff members who received termination letters, were deemed “surplus” to the university’s needs, Francis at an event in Couva, confirmed that all dismissal letters sent to UTT lecturers had been withdrawn (see story below). At no time during his talk in the Senate, did the minister reveal that dismissal letters were withdrawn. Read more here
T&T, China in talks to build dry docking facility in La Brea
T&T and China have held discussions on a possible partnership in the construction of a dry docking facility in La Brea and possibilities for foreign direct investment. The discussions took place when Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and the T&T delegation visited the China Communications Construction Company Ltd in Beijing. Chinese involvement in the construction of the dry docking facility in La Brea was first announced by the Government in August last year, following a visit to China by Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young, who is also part of the T&T delegation meeting with Chinese officials. Read more here
Jearlean fires back
While Finance Minister Colm Imbert boasts that he can see clearly now and the rain is gone, the ordinary people on the streets and along the East-West Corridor are not having bright days, they are suffering under the People’s National Movement (PNM) and in need of jobs, says Opposition Senator Jearlean John. She said the Government speaks about economic turnaround and policies, but this does not resonate to the people on the ground such as Pinky Osmand, a grandmother from Beetham Gardens who suffers from an acute respiratory disorder and who has the sole responsibility for three grandchildren. Read more here
BUSINESS
Strategy of distraction by Imbert
Economist Marla Dukharan said she was surprised at Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s comments about her since she did not make any statements about his recently presented mid-year budget review. In an interview on yesterday’s CNC 3 Morning Brew, Dukharan said it might be a case of using a strategy of distraction to get away from the real issues. She said she was out on the country when Imbert made the comment and had only returned on Monday. Read more here
WITCO adjusts to deal with new realities
After experiencing flat revenue and profits in 2016, West Indian Tobacco (WITCO) suffered a 26 per cent decline in its after-tax profits during its 2017 financial year and revenues that fell by 14.8 per cent. Read more here
REGIONAL
Pay Up Now -Time To Confront Britain On Reparation, Says Professor
The recently publicised discriminatory immigration measures by the British government against hundreds of Jamaicans and other Caribbean peoples of the Windrush Generation have energised the reparation movement, says Professor Verene Shepherd, director of the Centre for Reparation Research at the University of the West Indies (UWI). Calling for more than an apology, Shepherd has advocated that Britain should be held responsible for the plight of the Caribbean migrant who settled there to earn a honest living, but were denied their rights as British citizens. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Trump's Korea hopes thrown into turmoil
Welcome, President Trump, to the infuriating, indecipherable game of North Korean nuclear diplomacy. An unexpected series of threats from the enclosed Stalinist state threatened to nix next month's planned summit in Singapore between Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and sink White House hopes of a spectacular foreign policy success. The warning delivered a jolt of reality, underscoring that despite weeks of positive steps by North Korea and Trump's gusher of praise for Kim, the process of negotiating with the inscrutable state remains as treacherous as ever. Read more here
Ghanaian shoe seller vows to bring Yahya Jammeh to justice
16th May 2018