NEWS
Kamla knocks Hinds’ “Kill them dead” remark
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has urged members and supporters of the United National Congress (UNC) to be on “high alert” as she Government Minister and PNM Laventille/West MP Fitzgerald Hinds of “inciting violence” against UNC supporters and candidates, in a speech where he was quoted as saying, “Kill them dead!” “In a meeting, Minister Hinds goes to Mayaro and what does he say? He says, ‘kill the UNC dead!,” Persad- Bissessar said on Wednesday evening at a UNC local government election campaign meeting at ASJA Girls College hall. She read to the crowd, from a daily newspaper, saying: “He said, ‘drive deep into the UNC heart and kill them dead once and for all! We seek to finish them out. Kill them dead!’.” According to the story published in that daily newspaper, the statements were made by the Minister at a recent public political meeting in Mafeking, Mayaro. The Opposition leader continued, “Given the crime situation, given the insecurity, you have a Minister of Government with this hate talk promoting violence from a PNM platform.” She called on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to distance himself from Hinds’ statements. Read more here
Less $$ but promoters still see bumper Carnival
Despite the downturn in economy and rise in unemployment, promoters are still expecting Carnival 2017 to be a success. With the recent increase in taxes and the price of alcohol and cigarettes, promoters said there had not been any major changes in attendance. Promoter Randy Glasgow said there were several upcoming events and they were already advertising next year’s. “Since the budget there was no drop-off. We got a bigger crowd than we expected at the Coca Cola Comedy festival. I wouldn’t think that there is a large degree of patrons who smoke or consume alcohol,” he said. Glasgow is the promoter of Ladies Night Out, Chutney Brass, Breakfast in South and the Alternative Comedy Festival. Read more here
Have no fear, I’m living a changed life
A deportee who served time for murder in New York City is asking Trinidad and Tobago not to fear people like him but to instead understand that most of them would be older, wiser and looking to repair their lives. Deportee Terrence Sealey, who returned home in September this year after moving to the United States as a child, said yesterday he has since become a changed man and is interested only in building a life for himself and doing something for society. Read more here
POLITICS
No more online tax confusion, Imbert
Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the population now has a clear understanding about the online purchase tax introduced in the 2016/2017 Budget. He made this comment during a news conference at the Eric Williams Financial Complex in Port-of-Spain on Wednesday. Imbert also said approximately $1 million in revenue has been collected via this tax during the first ten days of its introduction. “In terms of who it should be applied to, who it should be collected from. I don’t think that is an issue,” he told reporters. Imbert said while there was an initial confusion about the online tax, he has heard nothing further on that matter. Read more here
Sinanan on CRH extension to Manzanilla: Local firms will
Works Minister Rohan Sinanan has assured that local contractors will get work on the billion-dollar extension of the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway to Manzanilla.Local contractors had complained to the T&T Guardian that following a tender process, the lone local contractor, NAMALCO, and four other companies, including the US-based GLF Construction Company, had been eliminated and only China Railway, which is owned by the Chinese Government, had passed the first evaluation technical proposal tender stage in order to move on to the second evaluation. Contractors expressed concern that Nidco would have accepted the bid from China Railway without “any comparison and competition.” Read more here
Padarath to Rowley: Show us the evidence
Member of Parliament for Princes Town Barry Padarath is denying it cost $350,000 for roti alone at a Divali function hosted by former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. The roti bill was a claim made by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley at a local government campaign meeting on Wednesday. In a statement yesterday, Padarath challenged the Prime Minister to produce the bill showing $350,000 was spent. He described Rowley's statements as mischievous, saying the Prime Minister added several bills with respect to food, non-alcoholic beverages, service charge, delicacies, cutlery and utensils for over 4,000 attendees to arrive at $350,000. Read more here
BUSINESS
TT deep with tech innovation
There is innovation in the software and web development industry in Trinidad and Tobago after all, says Robert Martinez, policy analyst at the National Institute of Higher Education Research, Science and Technology (NIHERST) on Wednesday. This as he reported on the conclusions of a Sectoral Inno- vation Mapping (SIM) Study of the Software and Web Development Industry in Trinidad and Tobago during a function hosted by NIHERST at the Belmont Salon, Trinidad Hilton and Conference Centre, St Ann’s. Martinez said that before his SIM study, innovation was not thought to exist in the local software and web development industry. He said there are a lot of challenges in building relationships between the difference parts of the industry and a lot more dialoguing and relationship building is needed within the industry to create an environment in which it can flourish. He said industry stakehlders encountered a lot of challenges when trying to develop products or get access to capital or even in recruiting suitable candidates for their firms. Read more here
Local investment firm: Trouble for T&T with Trump energy plan
A plan by President-elect Donald Trump for an energy-independent American could worsen the economic slump in T&T. Those were among the forecasts made by First Citizens Investment Services (FCIS) in a report entitled After Trump’s Victory, the World is Left to Wonder. The investment and analytics firm said while it is too early to predict with any certainty the impact of a Trump presidency on the world economy, the expected new era of “Trumpanomics” brings with it an unprecedented degree of uncertainty for global markets. With respect to the Caribbean, the report highlighted the likely effects of an anti-immigrant stance on remittance flows and what an energy-independent America could mean for T&T. Read more here
BVI to establish an Investment Promotion unit
The British Virgin Islands will be establishing an Investment Promotion Unit to foster an environment that will help businesses realise their full potential. marlon-pennTo this end Junior Trade Minister Marlon Penn, led a delegation to Jamaica in an investment promotion study tour of the island. “Topics discussed during the tour that was held from November 6 to November 10 included choosing priority investment sectors, the role of investment promotion units, the role of regional offices, monitoring and tracking investment promotion results, business analysis research, sector development, and business advocacy,” said the Government Information Service. During the tour, Penn led the delegation in a series of meetings with the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) to learn about the structure and the services offered. Read more here
REGIONAL
Unemployment rate in Jamaica lowest in five years
Unemployment in Jamaica continues to decline, with the figure at 12.9 per cent as at July 2016, the lowest quarterly rate in five years. This is according to the latest labour force survey undertaken by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). The rate for the July quarter was 0.2 per cent lower than the figure recorded for January 2015 and 0.8 per cent less than April 2016. The youth unemployment rate also saw a decline of 1.3 per cent to 29.6 per cent. Read more here
Trump election: Baltic warning over Russian move on Nato
Lithuania has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin may test Nato in the weeks before Donald Trump becomes US president. Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said he was "very afraid" for the Baltics, as well as the Syrian city of Aleppo. Nowhere is the troubled transition of Donald Trump being watched more carefully than in the Baltic states. Lithuania believes its dark view of Russian intentions is justified by its geography and its history. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Trump offers Flynn job of national security advisor
President-elect Donald Trump has offered retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn the role of national security advisor, a transition official told CNN Thursday. It was not immediately clear if Flynn accepted. Flynn, 57, was a top adviser and high-profile surrogate to Trump during his campaign, introducing the President-elect at rallies and serving as a top cheerleader on his hyper-active Twitter feed. Read more here
Electoral violence in Haiti unacceptable, says US embassy
Just days before the elections scheduled for Sunday in Haiti, the US embassy in Port-au-Prince said that electoral intimidation and violence are unacceptable and have negative impacts on citizen participation in elections, pointing out that the US is taking note of parties involved in electoral violence. On Sunday, Haitians will go to the polls to vote for their next president and members of parliament and the US statement comes on the heels of reports that former president Jean Bertrand Aristide has been inciting violence as part of the election campaign of Maryse Narcisse, presidential candidate under the banner of Aristide’s Parti Famni Lavalas. Read more here
18th November 2016