Daily Brief - Wednesday 3rd October, 2018

NEWS

OWTU injunction against Petrotrin in court today

With weeks before state-owned Petrotrin begins laying off some 5,000 workers, the pending action was yesterday threatened with an injunction, the hearing for which is carded for today in the Industrial Court, Port of Spain. The Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) filed the injunction yesterday and sought an urgent hearing, citing the April 3 memorandum of agreement as the ground on which the union is asking the court to halt Petrotrin’s planned retrenchment. Read more here

OWTU seeks to block Petrotrin firings

While Gov­ern­ment has be­gun pro­cess­ing a $2.6 bil­lion re­trench­ment pay­out to 3,400 Petrotrin re­fin­ery work­ers the Oil­field Work­ers’ Trade Union (OW­TU), in a sur­prise move yes­ter­day, filed an ap­pli­ca­tion at the In­dus­tri­al Court, Port-of-Spain, to bar the ter­mi­na­tion of the com­pa­ny’s work­force. The mat­ter will be heard at 10 am to­day in court. The hear­ing will co­in­cide with the start of the OW­TU’s three-day protest march be­gin­ning in San Fer­nan­do and end­ing in the cap­i­tal city on Fri­day. Read more here

PDA: 'Gas stations will be forced to shut down'

Gas stations will be forced to shut down because it is too costly to operate given the hike in super fuel, says president of the Petroleum Dealers Association (PDA) Robin Narinesingh. Read more here

 

POLITICS

Imbert: No taxes for two years

Finance Minister Colm Imbert has promised no new taxes for at least the next two years. “What we’ve tried to do this year is consolidate. That’s why we have not raised taxes and we have no plans in the next two years to increase taxes. I just want to let you know that now because we think we have increased taxes to the point that is a stable level; there would be diminishing returns if we sought to increase income and corporation taxes,” Imbert told the audience at the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce’s annual post-budget forum. Read more here

UNC joins union protest march today

From court­room to high­way to­day. Af­ter the Oil­field Work­ers’ Trade Union (OW­TU) filed In­dus­tri­al Court ac­tion yes­ter­day to block Petrotrin’s ter­mi­na­tion of work­ers, the union hits the road to­day on a three-day march from south to north. OW­TU Ed­u­ca­tion/Re­search of­fi­cer Ozzi War­wick yes­ter­day said those un­der­tak­ing the march will large­ly be OW­TU gen­er­al coun­cil mem­bers plus labour lead­ers. The first leg be­gins at 9 am from the Pointe-a-Pierre round­about. Read more here

Imbert: Diesel increase would hurt more

The Finance Minister has defended the Government’s increase of the price of super gasoline by $1 per litre, saying yesterday the subsidy money saved for 2019 will instead beef up social assistance programmes that benefit lower-income brackets. Read more here

 

BUSINESS

Why is Moruga being favoured?

Moruga has certainly been in the news recently as just last week, the hardworking Minister of Trade, Paula Gopee Scoon, Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat and the MP for the area Lovell Francis hosted a function to celebrate the company behind Moruga Hill Rice, which received $317,500 from the Ministry of Trade’s Research and Development Fund. Read more here

 

REGIONAL

End Assault On Students - Authorities Vow To Stem Robberies, Sexual Attacks And Violence Against Kingston Central Schoolchildren

Terrified students who attend schools within the Kingston Central region can soon breathe easier, as the relevant authorities are moving quickly to protect them from robberies, as well as sexual and physical assaults on the streets. Student leaders and principals from eight Kingston high schools yesterday converged at St George's College on North Street to urgently address safety concerns and find solutions to protect the youth while travelling. The meeting was prompted by a recent spate of robberies and other serious offences against students in the capital city. The introduction of covert security personnel, especially along the North Street corridor, is one of the methods that will be employed. Read more here

 

INTERNATIONAL

Sanctions on Iran: International Court of Justice rules against US

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered the US to ease sanctions it re-imposed on Iran after pulling out a nuclear deal last year. Siding with Tehran, it said exports of "humanitarian" goods, such as food and medicines, should be allowed. The US argued the court had no jurisdiction in the case as it concerned its national security. The rulings of the ICJ - which is based in The Hague - are binding but the court has no power to enforce them. It is the main judicial organ of the UN and settles legal disputes between member states. But both nations have in the past ignored the court's rulings. Read more here

Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded for pioneering work in evolutionary science

The 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Frances H. Arnold and the other half jointly to George P. Smith and Sir Gregory P. Winter on Wednesday for their work harnessing the power of evolution to develop new proteins used in drugs and medical treatments. In announcing the award, the Royal Swedish Academy said that this year's prize "awards a revolution based on evolution," and goes to scientists who "applied the principles of Darwin in the test tube." Read more here

3rd October 2018

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