NEWS
Disrespect
The chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) – the Constitutional body charged with the appointment of the Police Commissioner – yesterday said the PSC was not consulted by Cabinet prior to last year’s issuing of two legal notices which propose a new process by which the country’s top cop is to be chosen. “The PSC needs to be consulted and there has been no consultation,” said Dr Maria Therese Gomes in an interview with Newsday. “This is disconcerting and disrespectful in light of the constitutional role which is meant to be played by the PSC as well as the need for teamwork and combined expertise in reforming this process.” Under Section 123 of the Constitution, the PSC is in charge of appointing a Police Commissioner and Deputy Police Commissioner, as well as making promotions, disciplining, monitoring and appraising officers and reviewing some of the decisions of the country’s top cops. The chairman’s call for consultation comes ahead of the planned debate, in both Houses of Parliament this week, of two motions filed by the Opposition seeking to have orders outlined in Legal Notice No. 218 and Legal Notice No. 219 – published last December – annulled. Read more…
Family considers closing restaurant
In less than 12 months another Chinese businessman has been killed outside his businessplace in what police and CCTV footage show was clearly an assassination. According to the police, around 11 pm Saturday Chong Cao, of Tumpuna Road, La Horquetta, was walking out of his restaurant Zhong Guo Cheng Chinese Restaurant and Bar, located at the same address, when a gunman approached him and shot him. Read more…
Couva hospital ready for use
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday that the Couva Children’s Hospital is fully-equipped and can start running with less than the 2,000 personnel suggested by Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh. In a statement, Persad-Bissessar accused Deyalsingh and the Government led by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley of spreading propaganda about the Children’s Hospital while keeping the facility closed. Read more…
POLITICS
Obesity crisis in TT
There is a crisis of obesity among children and adults in Trinidad and Tobago, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh warned yesterday adding that in addition, citizens were now dying from different non-communicable diseases (NCD) before reaching the age of 70. With such startling revelations, the minister said that the ministry has established a NCD Unit that will confront such problems through a major population based intervention. The unit will drive the NCD programme funded by the Inter- American Development Bank.
The minister at the time was speaking at the Trinidad and Tobago Medical Association Installation ceremony hosted at Soong’s Great Wall Restaurant, San Fernando on Saturday night. “The saying goes that once your waist line goes pass 36 inches you in trouble, well I am two inches away from trouble. I am East Indian so I have the genetic disposition, I am middle aged and my fore-parents had diabetes,” Deyalsingh told the audience. Read more…
Former PM: Government squeezing every penny from poor people
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh and Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley appear to be obsessed with sticking their noses in people’s kitchens, a place where they clearly have no business. This was the claim made by Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar in response to Deyalsingh urging the population to consume less salt as there were unhealthy repercussions regarding too much salt intake. At the opening of Wards 18 and 20 at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope last Friday Deyalsingh said the required salt intake for an adult was five grammes. Read more…
Deyalsingh aims to reduce maternal deaths
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh believes treating maternal deaths as a project could lead to fewer mothers dying. Saying that it was at an “unacceptably high level”, Deyalsingh said from his understanding “every single maternal death is theoretically preventable”. Deyalsingh was speaking at the installation ceremony of the Trinidad and Tobago Medical Association board on Saturday night at Soong’s Great Wall Restaurant in San Fernando. He said, “What I have decided to do is treat pregnancy as a project. A project has a defined start and a defined end … So if we treat maternal health as a project and we start to analyse the data, for instance we do not do compulsory screening for diabetes after month six. Read more…
BUSINESS
JMMB: TT going through economic cycle
Ronald Carter, chief executive officer of Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) Investments Ltd said that this country is facing an up and down cycle in terms of the economic outlook in the face of a recession. Speaking at a seminar organised by the American Chamber (Am- Cham) at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain last week, Carter spoke on Investment Outlook and Investment in Turbulent Times. He told participants that the situation the country is facing at the moment is part of an investment and economic cycle. “Economies and investment cycles, they go up and they go down,” he said, “so it is not a position for me to worry, it is not by any stretch a doom and gloom but it is about being realistic about where we are in a cycle which happens in every free, open market economy and taking the necessary measures in terms of how to treat with that.” Read more…
Economist urges caution on cutbacks
Economist Dr Ronald Ramkissoon has urged Government to give careful thought to any cutbacks in expenditure. “If you place too much emphasis on cutting back expenditure then you create problems for business,” he warned when he address a breakfast meeting of the American Chamber of T&T on Friday. “You’ve got to be discretionary, you’ve got to be judicious in terms of how you deal with expenditure. Given the deficits you have been running when you should have been running surpluses, for times like these we have no choice to cut back on expenditure. It is very important to be very strategic in choosing which expenditures to cut back, by how much and for how long.” Read more…
What kind of investor are you?
This week, we at Bourse begin a series of articles aimed at aiding investors on their path to achieving positive returns with tools which best suit their investment profile. One’s investment goals are usually a factor of lifestyle, lifecycle stage and risk appetite. As such, we categorise investors into three broad investment profiles: ‘Moderate’, ‘Conservative’ and ‘Aggressive’. With the ongoing volatility permeating all investment asset classes, it is imperative that investors reflect on their existing portfolio allocations to best manage current market realities. Read more…
REGIONAL
American journalist murdered in Belize
An American journalist has been murdered while vacationing in Belize, according to local police. Anne Swaney, 39, was executive producer of online operations at ABC7 in Chicago. Her body was found on Friday morning in a river near the horse farm in western Belize where she was staying. According to a press release issued by the Belize Police Department, on Thursday the proprietor of Nabitunich Resort in Benque Viejo del Carmen, Cayo, reported Swaney missing to law enforcement. Police engaged in a search with the assistance of a K-9 unit. After ending the search due to darkness on Thursday night, the search continued on Friday. Read more…
Three Zika virus cases confirmed In Barbados
Barbados has recorded its first cases of the Zika virus. According to the Ministry of Health, of eight samples sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) for testing, three returned positive and five negative for the virus. No details were given about the patients, or whether they had contracted the virus in Barbados or abroad. The Zika infection is a mild, febrile viral illness transmitted by the bite of a Zika virus-carrying Aedes aegyti mosquito, which is the same type of mosquito which causes dengue fever and chikungunya. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Iran condemns new US sanctions over missile test
Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders clash on health care, guns, Wall Street
Hillary Clinton embraced President Barack Obama's political legacy on Sunday, seeking to halt a late surge by rival Bernie Sanders, as fierce clashes over guns, health care and Wall Street ripped through the Democratic presidential debate. With Sanders threatening to upset Clinton in the first two nominating contests next month, the former secretary of state sought to stall his momentum, puncture his progressive credentials and raise questions about whether the self-declared socialist has the skills and experience to be president. Read more…
18th January 2016