NEWS
Suspended Cop Held in Ria’s Abduction
A police officer, a woman and another man have been detained in connection with the abduction of mother of two Ria Sookdeo, 34, who was snatched shortly after dropping off her two children at Picton Presbyterian School, San Fernando last Thursday. The trio were who were up to late yesterday assisting police officers with the investigations, were detained at a house along the Rochard Road, in Penal and taken into police custody after shortly after midday yesterday. The police officer detained is reportedlu on suspension leave. Police officers have also issued an official sketch of a fourth suspect. The sketch shows a man wearing a cap with the writings, ‘Police”. At the crime scene Penal polices officers also found a black X-Trail vehicle matching the description of the getaway vehicle used in the abduction of the young mother. According to police reports at about 8am yesterday, a high-powered team comprising officers of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Criminal Investigation Department and others acting on information went to a house along the Rochard Road, Penal. Read more here
Call for St Augustine teaching facility to shut down
Students attending the University of the West Indies Open Campus are calling on the authorities to condemn the teaching facility at St John’s Road, St Augustine and transfer classes permanently to the head office at Gordon Street. They have warned that failure to do so immediately will lead to an exodus of both teachers and students. During a peaceful protest at the Gordon Street office last Thursday, students complained about the state of disrepair and the dilapidated conditions which they were subjected to daily—sometimes forced to hold their classes on a stairwell due to the lack of air-conditioning and fans. Student Jeanette Callender said: “Our parents have spent a lot of money to send us to school here and yet when we come in daily with classes running from 8 am to 5 pm, there are so many problems we have to face just to continue with our education and it is affecting all of us.” Read more here
2 dead after highway ‘bad drive’
A Guyanese national who police said got a “bad drive” on the highway crashed his vehicle, killing himself and his passenger on Saturday. Police said the driver was 34-year-old Rajendra Persad, and the passenger a man identified as Daniel Alexander. The victims were employed at Victoria Medical Laboratories in San Fernando, the report said. Read more here
POLITICS
Suruj: No to devaluation
Tabaquite MP Dr Suruj Rambachan in statement yesterday warned the Government against any moves to devaluation of the TT dollar in next Friday’s National Budget announcement. “We must engage in a strategy which does not further impoverish the poor and the middle class. We must avoid drastic devaluation of our currency or we will impose untold hardship,” he urged. “Instead we must engage in product substitution and people must be encouraged to participate in this exercise.” Rambachan suggested a focus on two areas, construction and tourism. “We cannot build this country nor come out of the recession unless the country’s productivity increases, unless the economy gets a boost by targeting the construction sector in particular. Unless there are targeted areas for diversification including boosting the tourism sector where the product has to redefined and repackaged in a way that differentiates it thereby giving potential visitors a reason to choose TT.” He accused the Government of having no clear plan to save the economy, but rather of being stuck in analysis-paralysis. Read more here
Imbert: US response this week on FATCA extension
Government expects to get a response this week from US authorities regarding an extension on the Foreign Account Compliance Agreement (FATCA) which is necessary to maintain T&T/US financial arrangements, particularly banking sector work. Finance Minister Colm Imbert confirmed this yesterday following last Friday’s failure in Parliament of the Tax Information Exchange legislation needed to facilitate the FATCA arrangement. The US FATCA agreement aims to prevent tax evasion by US taxpayers who use non-US financial institutions. Deadline to pass T&T’s Tax information sharing bill was September 30. Government needed three Opposition votes in addition to its 23, to pass the “special majority” bill. It was a priority matter on the agenda when the Second Session of Parliament began last Friday. But debate failed after debate broke down. The Opposition first, refused a one hour meeting with the Government on it , and later, all MPs, but Opposition MP Bhoe Tewarie left the Parliament in solidarity with Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar who was evicted. She was put out for alleged “gross disorder” after loudly refuting statements by the Attorney General. Read more here
Emotional immaturity
Political analyst Winford James said yesterday President Anthony Carmona displayed “emotional immaturity in his tirade against the media” during his address to the nation on Saturday night. He also said Carmona failed to seize the opportunity to clear misconceptions about the wine at the centre of the matter. Carmona should not have used the opportunity to “generalise about the press and label them armchair journalists”, James said. The President’s stinging attack against media practitioners came midway through his televised Republic Day message to the nation on Saturday. The President lashed out at certain members of the media who he said “engage in armchair journalism and attack others without having proper evidence”. Read more here
BUSINESS
Confusion over transfer of PBR passes for maxis
A misunderstanding at the launch of the first two Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) maxi taxis on Wednesday left several ‘Red Band’ maxi taxi owner/ operators worried about their ability to earn a living. They expressed shock that Works and Transport Minis- ter, Fitzgerald Hinds, seemed to be reneging on an “amnesty” granted to them in January 2015 under the People’s Partnership (PP) administration. Under the amnesty, a group of Route Two maxi owners were given permission to sell their maxis, with the understanding that the Minister of Works and Transport would subsequently transfer their Priority Bus Route (PBR) passes to the new owner. Red Band (Route Two Maxi Taxi Association) maxis operate along Trinidad’s east-west corridor; from Port-of-Spain to Arima, with the PBR serving as a key segment of their route. All vehicles operating on the PBR must have a PBR Pass. Read more here
Burmac unveils new Hyster truck
Burmac, a division of Ansa Automotive, sole authorised dealer for Hyster in the Caribbean, recently unveiled its new H450HD truck during a handover to Dumore Enterprises Limited. Dumore is a leading provider of oilfield and industrial supplies, vehicle rental, auto repair, transportation, heavy equipment and civil works services to the oil and gas sectors in T&T. Read more here
Budget expectations
This week, we at Bourse continue with our two-part series highlighting the possible challenges to be faced by the Finance Minister in the upcoming 2016/2017 national budget. The first part of our series took a closer look at the economic activity and some of the difficulties faced within a low energy price environment. Here, we consider potential initiatives to increase revenue, reduce expenditure and ultimately fund another fiscal deficit. Read more here
REGIONAL
Suriname not withdrawing from IMF loan agreement, says president
The Suriname government has refuted claims made in an article published by the Associated Press (AP) that the country may move to withdraw from a multi-million dollar loan agreement signed earlier this year with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). According to the AP report, President Desi Bouterse allegedly said during a press conference last Tuesday that his administration might cancel the deal with the IMF and seek financial support from other sources such as the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). The Office of the President released a statement on Friday night saying that the comments of the head of state were "taken out of context and presented in a way that is at odds with the position of the president and the government." The government noted that in recent months it has begun with the implementation of economic reforms with the support of the US$478 million stand-by arrangement (SBA) with the IMF. Read more here
Holness Declares 'Results Soon' In MoBay Crime Fight
Following a tour of sections of crime-ravaged St James yesterday, during which he met with the top leadership of the security forces and key business stakeholders, Prime Minister Andrew Holness says he has been given an assurance that the crime situation will be brought under control. "I met with the security apparatus here, and I am confident and satisfied that they are motivated and committed and that they are going to do everything within the power of the law to bring the situation under control, and I expect that there will be results soon," the prime minister said. However, despite his expression of confidence, Holness - who was accompanied on his tour by National Security Minister Robert Montague; Attorney General Marlene Malahoo Forte, who is also the member of parliament (MP) for West Central St James; Brigadier Antony Anderson, chief of defence staff of the Jamaica Defence Force; North West St James MP Dr Horace Chang; and the top brass of the Area One police command structure - stressed that the situation would not be brought under control overnight. "We don't have a switch to turn off crime ... . The strategies we are putting in place will take some time to bear fruit, but we are working with the greatest speed and alacrity to ensure the results bear fruit," the prime minister said. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Syria conflict: Aid reaches Madaya and other besieged towns
CNN/ORC polls: Trump, Clinton deadlocked in Colorado, Pennsylvania
Just one point separates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in two states that are critical to both candidates' chances of becoming president, according to new CNN/ORC polls in Pennsylvania and Colorado. In Colorado, likely voters break 42% for Trump, 41% for Clinton, 13% for Libertarian Gary Johnson and 3% for Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Pennsylvania's likely voters split 45% for Clinton, 44% for Trump, 6% for Johnson and 3% for Stein. Those divides are well within each poll's 3.5-point margin of sampling error. The new results in two battleground states underscore the closeness of the race and come as the candidates prepare to square off Monday night in their high-stakes first debate at Long Island's Hofstra University. Read more here
26th September 2016