NEWS
T&TEC: Heat causing historic spike in electricity demand in May
Citizens are beating the heat with unprecedented electricity use with May recording the highest use to date. In a statement on Thursday, the TT Electricity Commission (T&TEC) said it recorded continuous increases in electricity demand over the past two weeks with previous peaks being exceeded on five occasions. T&TEC said on September 13 2023, it recorded the then highest consumer electricity demand of 1410 megawatts (MW). However, the month of May has surpassed that with peak demands of 1422 MW on the second, 1447.1 MW on the sixth, 1448 MW on the seventh, 1455.8 MW on the 13 and 1456.2 MW on the 15. The TT Meteorological Service has announced that for the second quarter of the year, “Day and night temperatures are predicted to be above average for most of TT, with high (70 per cent) probabilities for short-duration hot spells from April to June.” Read more here
Abuse victim’s mom hopes others will benefit from Court ruling
The mother of a murdered domestic violence victim, who successfully sued the State for failing to protect her daughter from her abusive ex-boyfriend, has expressed hope that other victims will benefit from her legal victory. In a brief telephone interview, yesterday afternoon, Tot Lampkin said, “I wish it could help other women because I know other people who were in mine and my daughter’s position and are crying out for help but they are not getting any help.” She said she was elated by the outcome, especially for her ten-year-old grandson, whom she has raised since her daughter Samantha Isaacs’ murder in late 2017. “I am feeling good that justice has been served. This would not bring back my daughter but at least it will give peace of mind and pave a better way for her son,” she said. Read more here
POLITICS
Finance Minister: Probe does not affect Auditor General's status
Acting Prime Minister Colm Imbert on May 16 said the probe into the imbroglio over the submission of the public accounts to Parliament would not affect the person of Auditor General Jaiwantie Ramdass. He was addressing a post-Cabinet briefing at Whitehall, Port of Spain. Amid recently admitting a $2.6 billion error in the public accounts for 2023 compiled by the Ministry of Finance, a bill was passed in Parliament to give more time to submit corrected accounts to the Auditor General and the completion of the auditor general's report. Read more here
Imbert expects CoP Erla to do much better
Acting Prime Minister Colm Imbert says he expects to see a better performance from Commissioner of Police (CoP) Erla Harewood-Christopher following her second contract extension, noting that the Police Service Commission (PolSC) rated her last tenure as “good.” Responding to questions at yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing at Whitehall, Port-of-Spain, Imbert said he anticipates an improved tenure because of the experience Harewood-Christopher now has. “I expect to see in the second term of the Commissioner of Police a better performance because of experience and because of what I am seeing as unity within the Police Service. A very important point made by previous Commissioner of Police (Stephen) Williams, he said that she now has something that other commissioners never had: three appointed Deputy Commissioners of Police and these deputies have different functions. Some will be in administration. Some will be in operations. You now have a Commissioner of Police and three appointed Deputy Commissioners of Police so I do expect to see a performance improvement.” Read more here
BUSINESS
NY magazine: Scotiabank is Trinidad and Tobago's best bank in 2024
Scotiabank was recognised as the best bank in Trinidad and Tobago in 2024 by Global Finance Magazine. "The New York magazine selects the best financial institutions around the world annually and is a trusted standard of excellence," Scotiabank stated in a news release on May 16. Global Finance publisher and editorial director Joseph Giarraputo said, “In this ever-changing environment, the Best Bank Awards recognise the financial institutions that offer the broadest range of services, long-term reliability, and technological innovation.” Read more here
CariCRIS downgrades NiQuan to default
Niquan Energy Trinidad Ltd’s fortunes were not given a helping hand yesterday, as regional rating agency Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services (CariCRIS) announced the lowering of the company’s credit rating. In a news release, CariCRIS said it lowered NiQuan’s assigned issuer/corporate credit ratings by three notches to CariD (foreign and local currency ratings) on the regional rating scale and ttD on the Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) National Scale as well as jmD on the Jamaica National Scale. “The regional and national scale of the T&T and Jamaica ratings indicate that the level of creditworthiness of this obligor, adjudged in relation to other obligors in the Caribbean and within T&T and Jamaica, is rated default,” said the regional rating agency. Read more here
REGIONAL
Proof of employment, NIS contributions not necessary to access student loan write-off
Persons who are interested in benefiting from the government’s student loan write-off initiative are not mandated to provide proof of employment or contributions to the country’s National Insurance Scheme (NIS), People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary and Guyana’s Vice-President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has clarified. Dr Jagdeo, during a news conference at the party’s Georgetown headquarters, told reporters that the government is aware that some graduates of the University of Guyana (UG) might have been unemployed and might have not made a certain amount of contributions to NIS. He highlighted that this is not a requirement to benefit from the government’s initiative. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Ukraine's defence lines stretched as Russian troops advance
We travel at speed towards the village of Lyptsi – now under siege.
Russian forces have penetrated this border area north of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city. We are being escorted by members of Ukraine’s National Guard, among the latest reinforcements to try to halt this most recent Russian advance. They’ve gone from a fierce battle in the east to another further north – without rest. The heavy thuds of artillery grow louder when we arrive at their position, just a mile from the front line. We run past a smouldering fire towards a bunker, where we are told to take cover. In the dank, gloomy basement, a group of soldiers are watching a drone feed. They’re directing Ukrainian artillery fire towards a tree line. Read more here
17th May 2024