NEWS
TV presenter’s mother found murdered
THE body found in bushes off the M2 Ring Road in La Romaine on Wednesday was yesterday identified as Christal Ramlochan, 69, mother of CNMG news presenter Verna Bharath. Bharath went to the Forensic Science Centre (FSC) in St James where she identified her mother’s body and was later comforted by a female friend as they left the FSC. Police believe Ramlochan who lived in South Oropouche may have been abducted, beaten on the head and robbed of cash, while on her way to pay bills in San Fernando. Officers of the Southern Division were alerted to a call that the body of a woman, clad in a blue top and black tights, was seen along a grassy, gravel road off the M2 Ring Road. Officers led by ASP Rawle Ramdeo and including Insp Don Gajadhar went to the scene. Read more…
Lawyer seeks isolation in jail
Reeshie Surajbally, who was allegedly caught with two naked intoxicated girls in his van, was jeered and taunted by a large crowd when he appeared in the Princes Town Magistrates’ Court yesterday. Surajbally, through his lawyer, later expressed fear for his safety if he were to be taken to prison when he appeared before Senior Magistrate Rajendra Rambachan on six charges, including two counts each of kidnapping, sexual indecency and serving alcohol to a child, and was denied bail. As a handcuffed Surajbally was being escorted by police officers to and from the courthouse, scores of onlookers, including schoolchildren, gathered opposite the court shouting: “Rapist,” and “Jail him for life” among other derogatory remarks. Read more…
More churches knock IRO stance
CHURCHES that are members of the Inter Religious Organisation (IRO) of Trinidad and Tobago and other religious groups yesterday denounced the IRO’s support of child marriages. The Anglican Church, Presbyterian Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints distanced themselves from the IRO’s stance that it would not support an amendment of the Marriage Act. Read more…
POLITICS
Young: UNC being irresponsible
STATEMENTS made by the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) pose a greater risk of adversely affecting the Dana Seetahal murder case than anything said by Attorney General (AG) Faris Al-Rawi. This was the argument advanced by Minister in the Ministry of the AG and Legal Affairs Stuart Young, in defence of Al-Rawi at yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing. Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar claimed statements by Al-Rawi in the Senate on May 10, and at a UWI forum on Wednesday, about the Strategic Services Agency’s (SSA) work could result in a mistrial of the Dana Seetahal murder case. Commenting on Persad-Bissessar’s claims, Young said, “To be honest, there is not much concern with it.” Supporting Al-Rawi’s statement that he is not in possession of any information that he is not supposed to have, Young stated, “He certainly did not receive any information from the Minister of National Security.” Saying both of Al-Rawi’s statements were unsurprisingly being taken out of context, Young said it was clear there is a concerted attack against the AG, “who we have the highest levels of confidence in.” “That comes from none other than the leader of Cabinet (Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley).” Read more…
No set timeline to reduce crime—Dillon
National Security Minister Edmund Dillon says “abating of the crime rate cannot be sticking to any timeline.” He said it has to be based on operations and an integrated approach to deal with the issues that confront us. He was responding to questions from journalists at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain, on Wednesday. “You can’t pin crime to a timeline because you never can tell what can happen in any one day. So you can’t pin it to a timeline,” Dillon insisted. He said recent incentives implemented, including joint police/soldier patrols in Laventille, by the Government to deal with crime were having a positive effect. Read more…
BUSINESS
Support local businesses
The launch of the Chaguanas Chamber’s Membership Discount Card was cited as an example of the private sector being proactive in promoting business, while also being sensitive to new realities of the consumers who support and patronize them. This was the view expressed by Karlene Roach, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry at a media launch on Wednesday of the Chamber’s membership discount card. She called on the private sector to look beyond its typical modus operandi and be prepared to adjust their business models to the new economic realities of their consumers. She said that in addition to the responsibilities of the corporate sector, consumers too, have a major role to play especially in supporting local businesses. The Government is redoubling its efforts, the deputy Perm Sec said, to promote locally sourced and produced services and products; to create local networks and relationships; to encourage locals to buy local alternatives which do not deplete local foreign exchange reserves; and to incentivize local firms to raise their standards and meet the demands of local consumers. This initiative by the Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce is an ideal way to support the local community and create avenues whereby people are encouraged to buy from local firms within the community, which in turn creates jobs and a cycle of positive returns at the local, national and regional levels’. Read more…
Smart to be re-appointed First Citizens chairman
Incumbent Anthony Smart will be re-appointed as chairman of the First Citizens Bank Ltd board of directors while Courtney Williams will also be re-appointed to the board, to serve in the position of deputy chairman. Read more…
REGIONAL
Venezuela rejects 'interventionist statements' by OAS
In a statement released through the Venezuelan embassy in St Vincent and the Grenadines on Thursday, the country’s foreign minister Delcy Rodríguez rejected what were described as “interventionist statements” by Organisation of American States (OAS) secretary general Luis Almagro. "Every time he [Almagro] speaks, his hatred against Venezuela and its legitimate authorities is exuded. You are part of the imperial scum,” Rodríguez said. In an open letter published on Wednesday, Almagro referred to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as a petty dictator, a traitor and a liar. Rodríguez added on Twitter that the word of the people will not fit in the mouth of one who only repeats scripts that their imperial masters dictate. "You will never give orders to Venezuela!” she tweeted. Read more…
'Tax-Perity' - Simpson Miller Takes Government To Task On Budget
Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller yesterday declared that the Government has veered dangerously out of kilter on a path that she described as "tax-perity", with education and national security already taking a battering. "Jamaica is now at a delicate stage of recovery, and the Budget being presented threatens to derail that recovery," asserted Simpson Miller during her contribution to the 2016-2017 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives. She charged that the Government has imposed a huge tax package to finance its election tax plan and echoed Opposition Spokesman on Finance Dr Peter Phillips' sentiment, during his contribution to the Debate, that another tax plan would be forthcoming before the end of the financial year. Simpson Miller said many of the programmes in the current Budget are familiar, but with gaping differences. "We left them there - and with adequate funding," she said. She told the House that the Opposition was concerned that important aspects of the proposed Budget are a deviation from what was left by her administration. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
EgyptAir crash: Debris found from flight MS804
Hillary Clinton: Donald Trump not qualified to be president
Hillary Clinton labeled her Republican rival Donald Trump "divisive and dangerous" and "unmoored" on Thursday, saying his recent behavior shows he's not qualified to be president. The Democratic presidential front-runner unleashed her sharpest attacks yet on Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, in an exclusive interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo in Park Ridge, Illinois. She pointed to Trump's attacks on British politicians, his willingness to speak with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, his call for the United States to back away from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and his assertion that more countries should have nuclear weapons, and said it "adds up to a very troubling picture." Read more…
20th May 2016