NEWS
NCRHA probes ‘gang’ links
The North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) has launched an investigation into reports of alleged gang infiltration in public hospitals. In a release yesterday, the NCRHA alleged it found “gangsterism”, intimidation, bullying, extortion, threats and gang affiliation within its patient escort and hospital attendant services. In a phone interview with the Express later yesterday, NCRHA chairman Dr Tim Gopeesingh said an internal probe had been launched by the human resources department and the legal team. Read more here
POLITICS
PM’s remarks prompt call for sedition probe
The First Wave Movement has called on the Commissioner of Police to initiate an investigation into Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s statements in her Independence Day message to United National Congress (UNC) supporters. In a letter dated September 1, the Movement’s founder and leader, Umar Abdullah, asked the Commissioner to determine whether the Prime Minister’s remarks warranted proceedings under the Sedition Act. Abdullah referred to statements in which Persad-Bissessar told supporters, “Do not crawl on your belly for anyone. It’s either peace or total war, nothing in between,” and said “finesse and diplomacy must be backed up with steeliness and savagery when required to defend the UNC membership”. Read more here
BUSINESS
Can T&T reindustrialise in the age of AI?
In Part One, I argued that the employment numbers are not necessarily contradictory; the politics around how we select them is. In Part Two, I asked why Trinidad and Tobago is still employing roughly 80,000 fewer people than at its 2014 peak while labour-force participation remains around 55%. That brings us to the question that matters now. What are we going to build that actually needs more workers? Read more here
REGIONAL
$41.7B channelled into hinterland development over five years
MORE than $41.7 billion in investments have been channelled into Amerindian and hinterland communities over the past five years, President Dr Irfaan Ali has said, further outlining his administration’s continued focus on expanding development and opportunities for Indigenous peoples. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Heritage Month celebrations, the Head of State argued that the real measure of development is not the absence of problems, but whether unprecedented growth is being used to tackle long-standing inequities faced by Indigenous peoples. “The real test of development is not where the problem exists. The real test is whether we are using our unprecedented economic growth to solve them, and whether the benefits of that growth are reaching you, our Indigenous peoples,” the President said. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Remarkable US oil deal puzzles analysts - and angers many Venezuelans
From the moment elite US troops swooped into Nicolás Maduro's compound in Caracas to forcibly remove him from power in January, President Donald Trump made clear that securing control over Venezuela's oil resources was a key goal of his administration. The United States would "run" Venezuela, he said at the time, and manage the sale of Venezuelan oil for the foreseeable future. The signing of a huge US-Venezuela oil deal in Caracas on Wednesday marks the fruition of that plan. The agreement grants a US-led company 100-year concessions over 17 oilfields in Venezuela, amounting to a staggering 65 billion barrels of crude. That equates to more than a fifth of the country's proven oil reserves. Read more here
2nd September 2026