DAILY BRIEF
WEDNESDAY 27TH MAY, 2015
NEWS
Saint Jack
Independent Liberal Party (ILP) leader Jack Warner yesterday said it was not prudent for him to expose corruption while he was a member of the Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led Cabinet.The former senior minister in the People’s Partnership (PP) Government — holding the ministerial posts of Works and Infrastructure and then National Security before his resignation in April 2013 — was testifying in his defence at the trial of a libel lawsuit filed against him by his PP former colleague, former Attorney General Anand Ramlogan SC. Under cross examination by Ramlogan’s lead counsel Avory Sinanan SC, Warner said although it was his duty as a Member of Parliament to expose corruption, he did nothing from 2010, when he was made a minister in the PP government, to 2013, when he mounted a political platform as leader of the then newly-formed ILP, addressing supporters at a meeting in Endeavour, Chaguanas, in the run-up to the local government elections. Read more...
Upset relatives turned away from Forensic Science Centre
Grieving relatives of at least 12 people killed over the weekend were turned away from the Forensic Science Centre (FSC), St James, yesterday after being told that no autopsies would be done until tomorrow since none of the two contracted pathologists were available. While most of the relatives who were given the bad news took it in their stride, one funeral agency, St Rose Funeral Home, was upset by the delay. Speaking with the T&T Guardian after getting the news, St Rose Funeral Home director Nicholas St Rose said such delays should not be happening in an oil rich country. “We need to treat the bereaved with more respect. What about the Muslims who want to bury today, they can’t now? Spiritually that’s not right and the system not right. Read more...
Health Shake-Up
Government will launch its national health card "in two to three weeks". Minister of Trade and Communications, Vasant Bharath, told the Senate yesterday the card will be for all citizens. He said the card which would enable a "positive visual identification of the patient at registration", would "greatly reduce the risk of errors and fraud", he said. "It would serve efficiency-driven purposes," he added. The minister also revealed that $20 million was written off in unutilised pharmaceuticals every year. "It is claimed that they are out of stock but because of the poor stocktaking mechanism, they (the drugs) are not out of stock, you just can't find them because they are in stored in corridors, in sheds. It is a complete and total disaster," he said. On the issue of the card, the minister said it would enhance the dispensing of prescription medications," he said. He said the card would register and record a persons' prescription medication and allow easy accessing of a person's prescription history using the secured electronic card. This, he said, would facilitate pharmacists. Read more...
POLITICS
Senators back equal pay for women
Independent and Opposition Senators yesterday endorsed calls for equal pay for women doing equal work, saying some sectors of society lag behind on the issue and more needs to be done to promote sustainable careers for women. “I definitely agree with and support equal pay for women,” Independent Senator Reverend Joy Abdul-Mohan told Newsday during the Senate lunch break. “It goes without saying it is juxtaposed with competency. It’s equal pay for the same work.” Abdul-Mohan, a clergy of the Presbyterian Church, said it was ironic that in some old religious institutions there is strict equality, while in the “secular world” the practice has lagged behind. “As an ordained minister, there is absolute equity in the Presbyterian Church,” she said. “There is no discrimination and most of the women sit on the pension management committee which I head. In the 21st century we expect gender equality, not the things that happened in the Dark Ages. You would think the secular world would be a step ahead of the old fogey church.” The 145-year-old Presbyterian Church will on Sunday install only its second female moderator Annabell Lalla Ramkhelewan. She follows the first female leader, Reverend Brenda Bullock who was installed four years ago. Read more...
$160M to fund private surgeries
THE STATE has incurred about $160 million to address a backlog of surgical procedures at public healthcare institutions through outsourcing to private institutions, according to figures disclosed by Communications Minister Vasant Bharath yesterday. The Minister gave figures relating to the External Patient Programme – which was established in 2010 to clear a backlog of procedures pending at State facilities – during debate of a private motion on healthcare reform in the Senate. Bharath said $5.2 million was allocated for cataract surgeries (with 735 procedures performed); $3.9 million for joint replacement (228); $2.3 million for radiology services (851); $10 million for angioplasty (14); $20 million for prosthetics (83); $29.8 million for cardiac procedures (489); $23.1 million for cancer treatment; $46 million for dialysis (1,900) and $20.5 million allocated for any other matters. “A lot of the backlog now is being cleared,” Bharath said. He said in 2010 the grandfather of “one of our national cricketers” had needed eye surgery but was given a three-year waiting period. Read more...
BUSINESS
Skills training programme to ease labour shortfall
The Ministry of Tertiary Education and Skills Training yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers' Association (TTMA) and ten manufacturers to address the shortfall of labour in the manufacturing sector. This will allow for job creation, a greater contribution to national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and an increase in international competitiveness, the ministry said in a statement. The MOU comes after weeks of factory tour visits conducted by Minister of Tertiary Education Fazal Karim and officials from the MIC Institute of Technology and the National Energy Skills Centre. The agreement will allow for the development of a two-tiered apprentice system for the manufacturing sector including the establishment of on the job training, manufacturing and an Export Manufacturing Apprenticeship Programme (EMAP) premised on a system of education and work-based training. This approach is being used to produce the required quantity and quality of skilled labour to satisfy the needs of the manufacturing sector, the ministry stated. Read more...
Maxi taxi drivers get incentive to switch to CNG
The NGC CNG Company Limited and the Association of Maxi Taxi of T&T (AMTTT) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to facilitate a grant for the purchase of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) CNG maxi taxis. Under the terms of the MOU, NGC CNG will provide a grant to successful applicant, of $45,000 for small diesel powered maxi-taxis or $75,000 for large diesel powered maxis. The grant represents the salvage value of each sized maxi taxi and will be used toward the purchase of an OEM CNG powered maxi taxi. The old diesel powered maxi will be destroyed and so there will be no net increase in maxi taxis on the roads. The grant will be available to any registered maxi taxi owner in T&T who meets certain criteria. Read more...
US official to address AmCham meeting
Jose Raúl Perales, Assistant Secretary for the Private Sector, US Department of Homeland Security will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming 22nd Annual General Meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago. The event is scheduled to take place on Friday at the Hilton Trinidad from 11 am to 2.30 pm. Perales currently works in the Office of Policy and advises the Secretary of Homeland Security on the impact of the department’s policies, regulations, and processes on private sector companies, universities, and not-for-profit institutions. He also enhances strategic communications in order to assist the public and private sectors jointly meet their shared responsibility for homeland security. Before joining the Department of Homeland Security, Perales held many positions including, Director for the Americas at the US Chamber of Commerce, Executive Director of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA) and Trade Policy Advisor to the Government of Puerto Rico. Read more...
TDC launches specialist programme
The Tourism Development Company Limited (TDC) has launched a T&T Travel Agent Specialist Programmeto promote awareness and visibility of the country’s product to travel trade professionals.The program is designed to identify, engage and educate travel trade professionals by covering key components of T&T’s destination profile—including accommodations, culture, festivals, cuisine and eco adventure—as well as important niche markets, such as multi-generational travel, spa and wellness, romance, diving, destination weddings and honeymoons, birding, soft adventure, and other specialized product offerings. Programme participants are then encouraged to record their bookings on the website to become eligible for prizes. All website activity will be monitored in real time, and the agents securing the most bookings to T&T per month and per quarter throughout the year-long programme will be eligible for a variety of rewards.
REGIONAL
Seaborne and JetBlue to become codeshare partners across the Caribbean
Seaborne Airlines and JetBlue Airways, the largest carrier in San Juan, have finalized terms to begin a codeshare marketing relationship, expanding upon the carriers' successful interline agreement in place since 2013. The codeshare will help facilitate improved connectivity between two of the top airlines in the Caribbean, subject to receipt of all regulatory approvals. "We are excited to expand our partnership with JetBlue. Providing improved connectivity in our common hub of San Juan will add tremendous value to Caribbean residents, visitors, and businesses," said president and CEO of Seaborne Airlines Gary Foss.
"We are honored that JetBlue, known for outstanding customer service, would recognize the same that Seaborne employees are providing throughout the Caribbean," he added. Seaborne, the largest regional operator, and JetBlue, the number one carrier by flights and seats at San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International Airport, offer a combined 50 daily flights that connect 22 destinations. Read more...
INTERNATIONAL
FIFA: U.S. arrests officials, Switzerland opens separate investigation
Soccer's powerful, polarizing governing body found itself on the defensive on two fronts Wednesday, one a Swiss investigation into World Cup bidding and the other a sweeping, stinging U.S. indictment homing in on what America's top justice official called "corruption that is rampant, systemic and deep-rooted." Swiss authorities raided FIFA's headquarters in Zurich on Wednesday, the same day they announced an investigation into the last two awarded World Cup bids -- to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022 -- both of which had come under fire. But the day's more definitive and, right now, damning action came out of the United States. That's where the Department of Justice announced the unsealing of a 47-count indictment in a federal court in Brooklyn, New York, that detailed charges against 14 people of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. Read more...
India's poor swelter as deadly heat wave kills more than 1,100
From behind her stall on the stifling hot streets of Hyderabad, Amruta Bai spends her day refilling plastic water cups. It's free for anyone who needs a drink during a deadly heat wave that's killed more than 1,154 people in the past few days. Most of the deaths -- 884 -- have been recorded in the state of Andhra Pradesh, though another 266 have died here in Telangana, of which Hyderabad is the capital. There are four more confirmed deaths in Odisha from the heat, and another 67 unconfirmed cases. People stop by Bai's stall every two minutes as the temperature slowly rises towards its peak, typically in mid to late afternoon. On Wednesday, temperatures in Hyderabad were forecast to hit a high of almost 43 degrees Celsius, or around 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Read more...
27th May 2015