NEWS
Vessel more than adequate
David Brash, managing director of Trinity Offshore Supply and Tow Ltd, which was recently awarded a contract to transport building materials and heavy equipment to Tobago on the Trinity Transporter barge, yesterday promised to deliver to the business community on time. Read more here
79% in arrears
Seventy-nine per cent of the mortgage/rental portfolio of the Housing Development Corporation is in arrears, HDC's divisional manager, finance, Inskip Pollanais, told the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee yesterday at the Port of Spain Waterfront Centre. Read more here
Licks For Doubles
A policeman who refused to purchase doubles for a prisoner at the cell-block of the San Fernando Magistrates Court, was attacked with a metal object and stabbed above his left eye. Prior to the attack, Constable Judson Mohammed told the prisoner that it is the State which must provide him with his meals. Read more here
POLITICS
COP tells Imbert: Give proper info on property tax
The Congress of the People (COP) is reiterating its call to Finance Minister Colm Imbert to provide full, clear and unambiguous information on the property tax and how it operates since this is the first time that property owners are being required to pay it. The party’s general secretary Clyde Weatherhead said the minister has failed to inform property owners of penalties they may face if they fail to comply, and continues to provide incomplete and confusing information in his anxiety to implement the measure. Read more here
Ramdial: PNM trying to shut down agriculture
Couva north MP Ramona Ramdial said yesterday the Prime Minister and Ministers of Agriculture are making decisions that are leading our country deep down the rabbit hole following Wednesday's closure of Caroni Green. In a release, Ramdial stated: “Former CEO, Sharma Lalla defended (Caroni Green's) operational costs saying it was much less than the annual $6 million claimed by the Prime Minister.” Read more here
BUSINESS
Gas conversion complex on stream
THE Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is pleased with progress by the Caribbean Gas Chemical Limited (CGCL) and National Gas Company (NGC), on construction of a natural gas to petrochemicals complex in La Brea. This according to the NGC which issued a statement on recent discussions over construction of the Methanol and Dimethyl Ether plant at Union Industrial Estate. The plant will cost $1 billion to construct and completion is expected in the fourth quarter of 2018. Read more here
TT still has gas
This country has natural gas supplies to sustain it over the medium to long term. National Gas Company (NGC) chairman Gerry Brooks underscored this point during a public hearing held by the Public Accounts Enterprises Committee (PAEC) at Tower D of the Port-of-Spain International Waterfront Centre on Wednesday. Read more here
REGIONAL
US kills Trinidadian IS fighter, then adds him to terrorism list
A Trinidadian fighter for the Islamic State group (IS) was designated a terrorist by the United States months after being killed by American forces in Syria, Middle East Eye (MEE) has learned. Shane Crawford was added to a list of 'Specially Designated Global Terrorists' (SDGT), by the US State Department at the end of March. A day after, Trinidad and Tobago also designated him a terrorist. Read more here
CARICOM Secretariat convenes trade consultation
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat convened a private sector consultation and capacity building workshop on the WTO agreement on trade facilitation (TFA) and the CARICOM strategy for regional implementation. The meeting, intended for national business development organisations from CARICOM WTO members, took place in Kingston, Jamaica, 19-20 April, 2017, with the support of the Commonwealth Secretariat/European Union, in collaboration with the World Bank Group (WBG). Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Paris shooting casts shadow over final day of election campaign
A deadly attack on a police bus in the heart of Paris cast the shadow of terror over the final days of the French presidential election campaign. A gunman wielding a machine gun leapt out of a car and opened fire on the Champs-Elysees, Paris's most famous boulevard, as candidates were engaging in their final TV debate ahead of Sunday's vote. Read more here
MH370: New analysis reiterates plane's likely location
Fresh evidence suggests that Malaysia Airlines flight 370 is most likely located to the north of a main search zone, Australian scientists say. MH370 disappeared while flying to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board in 2014. Australia, Malaysia and China called off their hunt for the jet in January. Read more here
21st April 2017