NEWS
...Alfonso in the dark on threat
The government has not been officially informed about a threat against People’s National Movement (PNM) political leader Dr Keith Rowley, National Security Minister Carl Alfonso said yesterday. Alfonso said that while the police may be aware of the threat, the Commissioner of Police is yet to inform him. Minister of Trade and Industry and Communications, Vasant Bharath along with Minister, Carl Alfonso toured a patrol vessel and two vessels which have been acquired by the Government for the Coast Guard’s patrol duties around the islands. Alfonso added, “Security has become a big concern and seems to be a growing concern generally speaking. I have not been told by anybody, any official persons that there is a threat on Mr Rowley’s life.” Bharath also stated, “Maybe the Police Commissioner may have received that information and probably he has dealt with it but it has not come any further. It has not come to any member of Government certainly not to my good self.” Asked if information like that should be shared with Government, Alfonso replied, “Well if the Police Commissioner thinks it’s serious enough to inform me, he will. Read more...
Acting Pres: Break the cycle of violence
Acting President Raziah Ahmed yesterday urged citizens to do their part to break the vicious cycle of domestic violence which she said was the enemy of families. Addressing participants at a walk against domestic violence hosted by the T&T Police Service (Southern Division) at Guaracara Park, Pointe-a-Pierre, Ahmed said domestic violence was the most common form of violence in society. She added that it destroyed the family unit which was the very core component of society. Ahmed said, “Many victims are caught in a timeless trap, in a love trap, so to speak. They are unable to control their environment, their emotions all the while, losing their sense of self, forgetting their personal dreams, abandoning their ambitions and failing in their personal productivity on the job, in the classroom and elsewhere. Let us therefore sustain a public and private outcry so that our women and our children, the major victims by far, can break this vicious cycle.” This cycle, she said, was characterised by emotional and financial abuse, then physical blows, then tears and then regret. When the perpetrator feels remorse, he feels sorry for what he has done and typically apologises, she noted, adding that it was often accompanied with things like gifts, chocolate , flowers, a dinner date, a night on the town, a shopping trip. Read more...
Invaders Bay deal still on says Chin
Businessman Derek Chin, owner of the MovieTowne franchise and Dachin Company Ltd, yesterday denied that he had pulled away from the stalled billion-dollar Invaders Bay Development project. In a letter issued through his legal representative yesterday, Chin said his company was not withdrawing from the visionary Invaders Bay project. “The facts are quite to the contrary as Dachin has been in discussions with the relevant authorities as recently as last week on the actual process for the completion of the said initiative,” the release said. In a telephone interview with Chin on Saturday, he explained that the investors, initially interested in the project, had disbursed and was instead putting more than $200 million into his cineplex in Guyana and was planning his Streets of the World idea for Toronto instead of Invaders Bay. Chin said then that he was still willing to purchase the lands for some $130 million and then seek a credit facility to carry on his development plans for the area. In yesterday’s release, Chin admitted to being “frustrated” with the slow process. Read more...
POLITICS
COP approves UNC member for Tunapuna
The Congress of the People’s (COP) screening committee has approved the nomination of United National Congress (UNC) member Hamlyn Jailal of El Dorado, Tunapuna to contest the Tunapuna constituency in the September 7 General Elections. In the 2010 general elections, Jailal, then UNC chairman of the Tunapuna constituency, was the co-campaign coordinator of COP candidate Winston Dookeran. Dookeran went on to win the seat, but has opted out of these elections race. Jailal also worked with the COP campaign in the 2010 and 2013 local government elections. In a release issued yesterday, COP Political Leader, Prakash Ramadhar said, “I am pleased to advise the public and the people of Tunapuna that Mr Hamlyn Jailal has agreed to accept nomination as the COP’s candidate for the Tunapuna constituency.” As a candidate for the People’s Partnership, Ramadhar said, “I expect that Hamlyn will be successful.” Asked if the party could not find a suitable candidate from among the COP Tunapuna constituents to contest the seat, COP Deputy Political Leader Dr Anirudh Mahabir said that other candidates had been screened, but did not meet the requirements COP was looking for. Jailal, who had indicted his interest in running for the seat, he said was screened and was selected by the COP screening committee as the best person for the job. Read more...
No Opposition leader ever attacked so by a Govt
When the Government is not sending people to kill him, they are paying people to lie on him, says Opposition leader Dr Keith Rowley. He did not elaborate on the last part of the statement. His charge came in the midst of allegations by former Express journalist Anika Gumbs that he made inappropriate statements to her at three meetings she had with him in January and April this year at his home and Port-of-Spain office. She alleged in one meeting at his home he was bareback and asked her if she would like him to be her bodyguard outside her bedroom door. He also allegedly touched her back and asked about a tattoo she had there and in another meeting told her she was looking rosy, she said. Rowley’s charge that the Government was paying people to lie about him was made at the announcement of the PNM’s two Tobago candidates, Shamfa Cudjoe and Ayanna Webster-Roy, in Market Square, Scarborough, last evening. He was addressing a crowd of PNM supporters. On the issue of the threat on his life, he said for the first time in his 30 years in politics he felt afraid for his life at a political meeting recently. He said it is the first time an opposition leader is attacked so much by a government. Read more...
BUSINESS
Indoor marine shrimp facility launched
The shrimp industry in Trinidad and Tobago is in steady decline with a significant quantity of the by-catch which includes finfish, squid and crabs caught and with the majority discarded at sea. Some of the associated problems reported include overfishing, benthic habitat destruction, capture and discarding of juvenile shrimp and fish, incidental catch of sea turtles, conflict between trawling and other fishing methods and loss of revenue by various stakeholders in the shrimp industry. There has also been a decline in the volume and value of frozen shrimp exported from Trinidad and Tobago from 2003 to 2009 with a corresponding increase in imported frozen shrimp. The Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Food Production reports that the volume of shrimp landed in Trinidad and Tobago in 2011 and 2012 was 1.7 million Kg and 1.6 million Kg respectively. The shrimp was valued at over TT$32M. The Seafood Industry Development Company Limited (SIDC) established in 2007 is charged with the responsibility of modernizing the fisheries and aquaculture sector. In 2013, the SIDC established a Marine Aquaculture Facility using recirculating aquaculture systems at their company’s headquarters in Charlieville, Chaguanas, in order to produce high priced, high value marine fish for local and export markets. Read more...
AmCham: A step in the right direction
The American Chamber of Commerce says it welcomes the partial proclamation of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act 2015. AmCham T&T president Ravi Suryadevara said in a statement yesterday he believed the move was “a step in the right direction as AmCham T&T believes that the use of public funds should be subject to the necessary checks and balances. “It is our conviction that such legislation is central to the notion of good governance as it promotes a greater degree of transparency, accountability and responsibility by those entrusted with deriving maximum benefit from our national resources. “We believe that this legislation has the potential to empower public institutions to make better decisions and allows for public scrutiny of expenditure thereby improving institutional efficacy, transparency and competitiveness.” Partial proclamation of the act allows for the establishment of the Office of Procurement Regulation (OPR) and the appointment, by the President, of the Regulator of the OPR. It also allows for the integration of the OPR into the new control framework and necessary capacity-building reviews in the public sector. In short, partial proclamation of the act brings to being material, consequential progress on the public procurement reform process in Trinidad and Tobago, Suryadevara noted. Read more...
Cost of borrowing set to rise
President of the Bankers Association of T&T (BATT) Darryl White said the cost of borrowing is about to increase as the prime lending rates at commercial banks have been on the rise for the past few months. This follows an increase in the repo rate by the Central Bank. White told the T&T Guardian rates have been low for a long time and pointed out that the repo rate is the benchmark for raising the rate of loans. “Why were rates so low for so long?” he asked. “Rates are the lowest they have been for years. The banks average spent interest rate in 2000 was 15.2 per cent. Now it is 7.2 per cent, literally half of what it used to be.” In an interview with CNC3 last week, financial analyst Ved Seereeram criticised the Central Bank and the commercial banks for the move to increase the cost of borrowing. He said the excess liquidity in the banking system does not warrant an increase in prime lending rates. In response, deputy managing director of Republic Bank, Nigel Baptiste said: “The T&T dollar liquidity is affected by any number of variables from the sale of foreign exchange to the financial system in reserve requirements. “There is no pressure on the banks to move the prime in response to movements in repo. Read more...
CDB commits US$120 million to TT’s Energy Fund
The Caribbean Development Bank has pledged US$120 million to TT’s Energy Fund for Caribbean Sustainability. This promise follows a recent US$600 million pledge by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) which will now push the Energy Co-Financing Facility for Caribbean Sustainability up to US$720 million. The CDB’s pledge is expected to assist the Government as it moves closer to its target of mobilising US$1 billion for the fund. Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) President Warren Smith, in a letter to Planning Minister Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie, projected an annual demand of at least US$30 million “for bank resources to finance projects in the energy sector over the next four years” and made a commitment of US $120 million over the four-year period.Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar proposed the Multi-Donor Energy Facility at an Energy Summit of CARICOM and the United States in January this year. The Minister of Planning and Sustainable Development as Trinidad and Tobago’s Governor to the IDB has been working on this project for some two years. Read more...
REGIONAL
Guyana clarifies position on talks with Venezuela
Following local and regional media reports claiming that the president of Guyana, David Granger has changed his mind about meeting with and holding discussions concerning to the border controversy with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the government said on Saturday this is not the case. Granger has made no mention of any “change of mind”, the government said in a statement. He merely said that he is willing to speak with Maduro on a variety of issues of common interest, separate and apart from the border issue. Granger has noted that there is much else of importance to be discussed, including trade and stability in the region. That position is a longstanding one and is captured in diplomatic and other correspondence between the two countries. Granger and, subsequently, Maduro approached the United Nations in June and July of this year, respectively, to call for the secretary general to carry out the role set out in the Geneva Agreement. The secretary general has indicated that he is looking into the matter and has asked whether both presidents will be attending the United Nations General Assembly in September. That forum may offer the opportunity for a meeting. Guyana has accepted that approach. Read more...
INTERNATIONAL
Gazprom profits boosted by weak rouble
Russian energy giant Gazprom has announced a sharp rise in profits thanks in large part to a weak rouble. Net profit for the first three months of the year was 382bn roubles ($5.9bn; £3.8bn), up 71% on a year earlier. Total sales rose 6% to 1.65tn roubles. Gazprom sells its gas in dollars, so a weak currency means the price of gas in roubles rises. The weak rouble helped to offset a fall in the volume of sales of almost 10%, to 132bn cubic metres of gas. This fall was partly due to sanctions imposed by the West following Russia's actions in the Ukraine. It meant Gazprom shares were down almost 2% in trading in Moscow despite the jump in quarterly profits. With the price of oil - which is a key determinant of the price of gas - back below $50 a barrel, many analysts believe Gazprom results for the rest of 2015 will be weaker than the first quarter. Read more...
10th August 2015