NEWS
Karen leaves ‘Bago in a mess
Clean up efforts in Scarborough began in earnest on Monday, a day after heavy rainfall from tropical storm Karen triggered extensive flooding in the capital's downtown commercial area. Wearing rubber boots and armed with shovels, business owners and their employees removed thick slush from within their businesses as they tried to come to terms with the effects of the deluge. Backhoes also were used to clear the roadway of mud and debris. Businessmen said the damage caused by the severe flooding still had not sunk in. Read more here
Police investigate river bank theft, which led to flooding
Police are now investigating the theft of equipment and infrastructure at river banks which is being blamed for some of the flooding now being experienced. Yesterday several areas around the country were inundated with water after hours of rain caused by the inclement weather due to the passage of Tropical Storm Karen. Read more here
POLITICS
Bharath: Refinery heading for catastrophe
The Government’s proposed deal to sell the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery to an OWTU company is clearly a case of petty politicking which will end in catastrophe, former trade minister Vasant Bharath told Newsday yesterday. Last Friday, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the mothballed refinery will be sold for US$700 million, with a three year moratorium after which the OWTU firm, Patriotic, will have 10 years to make payments. Bharath said, “I’m very passionate about it because of how much money this country has squandered in the past 50 years in shady deals that the population has had to swallow and it is the citizens who ultimately pay for it.” Read more here
Weekes: T&T stands united
While experiencing its own “growing pains”, Trinidad and Tobago has been spared many of the perils facing other young nations in the region and around the world, President Paula-Mae Weekes has said. Read more here
BUSINESS
Full transparency on refinery sale
The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce (T&T Chamber) is calling on the Government to ensure there is full transparency with regard to the sale of the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery to a company that is wholly owned by the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU). The company is called Patriotic Energies and Technologies Company Ltd (PETCL). Read more here
REGIONAL
JUTC Urges Calm - Buses To Roll Out Today On Phased Basis Following Drivers’ Strike Over Colleague’s Killing
As its drivers withdrew their services to protest the killing of a colleague and death threats reportedly made to other workers, the state-owned Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) has appealed for calm. The transport sector in the Corporate Area and sections of St Catherine was thrown into a tailspin as hundreds of stranded commuters were greeted with the unwelcome news of the bus drivers’ strike action from as early as daybreak. Tensions have been running high following the deaths of a taxi driver and a JUTC employee in separate incidents in the Corporate Area between Monday night and early Tuesday morning. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Trump sets out to undercut Pelosi's impeachment gamble
President Donald Trump is wasting no time in attempting to torch House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's impeachment gamble in a battle that will define his presidency and the 2020 election. Trump has pledged to publish an un-redacted and declassified transcript on Wednesday of a phone call with Ukraine's leader at the center of what Democrats allege is his abuse of presidential power. The White House is also planning to release to Congress a whistleblower's complaint that triggered the week-long crisis that has rocked the Trump presidency. Trump's decision marks a departure for a White House that has a record of obstructing oversight and bending fact. So his critics will await events on Wednesday with particular interest. Read more here
Supreme Court: Government 'acted in good faith' over suspension, says Cox
25th September 2019