NEWS
Gate Saved Me
The Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) programme should remain accessible to all because education is the way out of difficult circumstances. This was the view expressed by Vashtie Baksh, a woman who is no stranger to difficulty. Married off at the age of 15, Baksh, of Rio Claro, was forced to drop out of school and adjust to her new role as a wife. Her dreams of becoming a flight attendant were shattered. Baksh shared her story during an open forum discussion on child marriage at the National Library in Port of Spain yesterday. Read more here
$M backpay for the blind
Finance Minister Colm Imbert has made a direct intervention to assist members of the Blind Welfare Association by accelerating payment of about $1 million in backpay owed to them. Imbert yesterday said he is also considering waiving the 50 percent cap on initial payment given the need to assist the disadvantaged. “When I saw the protests I asked my officers to find out what was going on there,” Imbert said at a post-Cabinet media briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister in St Clair.“ Read more here
‘Temporary marriage may help with teen promiscuity’
A suggestion has come from a Muslim leader to utilise the practice of “temporary marriage” as a potential solution to teen promiscuity. Imam Muhammed Luqman Abdul-Latif made the suggestion yesterday during an open forum on child marriage at the National Library, Port of Spain. Abdul-Latif said recent discussions on child marriage failed to take into account that there are a lot of teens engaged in sexual activity. He said this has not been addressed in a meaningful way and there is a need for some form of regulation where this is concerned. Read more here
POLITICS
PM lauds his Jamaica input but...Ramadhar mum
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday heaped praises on St Augustine MP Prakash Ramadhar for his sterling contribution to T&T efforts rekindling its relationship with Jamaica during a five-day trip there. Questioned last night about his decision to invite Opposition members to Jamaica, Ramadhar’s contribution and if the Government would extend further invitations to the Opposition MP on State trips, Rowley said: “Mr Ramadhar is a very experienced lawyer. He is a very experienced parliamentarian and he is a member of the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. Read more here
Colm: GATE $700M is stress
Minister of Finance Colm Imbert, who was the minister who ushered in the GATE programme in 2004, said yesterday the country simply cannot afford to spend $700 million on it. He expressed the view that a proposal to limit funding to accredited institutions should be seriously considered, saying the original targets of the programme had been met and there is now cause to limit abuse. Imbert could not immediately give a definite time-line of implementation of a raft of proposals in relation to the programme, but urged the population to await Cabinet’s decision “within the next couple of weeks”, as well as his Budget presentation due later this year. “The country cannot afford to spend $700 million with oil at US$45 per barrel in the foreseeable future,” Imbert told reporters at a post-Cabinet media briefing held at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair. Read more here
BUSINESS
TT LNG to sail through Panama Canal
A cargo of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) produced by Atlantic, will leave the company’s facility in Point Fortin and traverse the newly expanded Panama Canal on July 26. According to a press release from Atlantic issued yesterday, the cargo which is destined for Mexico, will be transported by the BP-owned LNG tanker British Merchant and is the first LNG tanker with a cargo from Atlantic’s facility to go through the new locks. The expanded canal can now accommodate the majority of the larger tankers which ship LNG globally. Atlantic’s Chief Executive Officer Nigel Darlow believes this augurs well for Trinidad and Tobago, as it shortens the time and distance for larger LNG tankers to reach targeted markets particularly in Asia. “Prior to June 2016, approximately eight percent of the world’s LNG tankers utilized the Canal however, with the expansion, 90 percent of the worldwide fleet can now traverse,” Darlow explained. Now, all but the largest class of tankers can use the waterway. The British Merchant, which was built to transport a volume of approximately 138,000 cubic metres, can now be easily accommodated on the recently enlarged Panama Canal (also referred to as post-Panamax). The Canal now has a capacity for tankers that carry volumes to a capacity of approximately 180,000 cubic metres – nearly twice its original capacity. Read more…
Top PS: Political will for public sector reform
Sandra Jones, head of the public service and Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday expressed confidence that T&T can reform its public sector financial reporting system, but says that the reform cannot happen immediately. Jones has been working in the public sector for more than three decades and has worked at several government agencies and ministries. She said: “If you have a plan, you would be able to move it forward. I am aware at the Ministry of Finance they do have a plan and ICATT (Institute of Charted Accountants of T&T) is working with them as well. They (the presenters) talked about the political will, (in the public sector) it’s there.” Read more…
REGIONAL
US slaps down another regional PM
For the second time in two weeks, the US embassy in Bridgetown has explicitly refuted as untrue claims by regional prime ministers in relation to the deportation of criminals back to their respective countries of origin. In the latest press statement on Wednesday, the embassy rejected assertions by St Vincent and the Grenadines prime minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, that the United States does not provide regional governments with full information regarding criminal deportees. “The problem is that when they deport them they don’t give us their full particulars, what are the antecedents, what are the details of the crime for which they were sentenced and then deported; what their record is so that we can do a better job of reincorporating them into society,” Gonsalves claimed recently. Read more…
Enough! - Too Much Stupidity Causing Carnage On Our Roads
Angry at the carnage happening on the roads, in which several accidents have each resulted in multiple fatalities, Jamaicans are being urged to take collective responsibility to put an end to the madness. "Enough is enough. We cannot continue like this. We all as a population need to be part of the solution, and not rely on Government, the police, or anyone else, for that matter, to tell us to do the right thing. We have to do better because we know better," a very passionate Dr Parris Lyew-Ayee Jr, director of Mona Geoinformatics Institute, at the University of the West Indies, told The Gleaner yesterday. "You cannot legislate stupidity and we all see stupidity happening on the road every single day. The answer lies within ourselves, not with some third party, not with building a new bridge. In fact, you build a new bridge and people will find a new way to kill themselves." Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Brexit causes dramatic drop in UK economy, data suggests
10 takeaways from Donald Trump's Republican Convention
Donald Trump painted a picture of a dystopian America -- and sold himself as the only one who can fix it. As he accepted the Republican nomination here Thursday night, Trump delivered tough talk, promising to eradicate crime, build a border wall, defeat ISIS, rejuvenate the economy and prod U.S. allies to step it up or else. "I'm with you," Trump said. "I will fight for you, and I will win for you." Read more…
22nd July 2016