NEWS
Poison for Granny
A 12-year-old boy, tired of being ‘smothered’ by his grandmother, has been detained after he confessed to mixing termite poison in a meal of macaroni, cheese and eggs which he prepared for the woman, at their Rio Claro home on the weekend. When the woman collapsed, she was taken to a health centre where she was treated and survived. Police sources said the Form One student remained in police custody yesterday and has been crying and saying he was sorry for hurting his grandmother. Officers added that according to Chapt 11:08 of the Offence Against the Persons Act, the 12-year-old boy could possibly face a charge of administering a toxic substance with intent to endanger life. The boy, who is considered a troubled child, has been suspended five times from classes and is expected to undergo counselling by officials from the Child Protection Unit (CPU) who have been alerted. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is also expected to be consulted on the matter once investigations are completed. According to reports, at about four o’clock on Saturday afternoon, the boy was with his grandmother at their Rio Claro home when he allegedly mixed the termite poison into a meal of macaroni, cheese and eggs which he later gave to the 58-year-old woman. Read more…
Welder gunned down on his way to collect debt
Instead of starting his new job today, Pleasantville welder Keron Brown’s body will instead be at the Forensic Science Centre in St James for an autopsy. Brown, 21, was shot more than ten times in Claxton Bay on Saturday night after he left home to collect money from someone who was owing him. “He was a good one. My son was on the road to success and somebody stop my child future,” his mother Sherryann Brown said at her Orchid Gardens, Pleasantville home yesterday. She said she believed Brown, the fourth of her five children, was set up. According to a police report, around 10 pm Brown and his friend were among three occupants in a silver car travelling along Ocean Drive. Police said the car stopped and Brown and his friend got out to urinate when they heard gunshots. Brown’s friend said he hid in the bushes as the driver of the car sped off. When he came back out he found Brown shot several times. Brown later died on the scene. Read more…
Sat: Teen pregnancies the real problem
Far from the notion that the Maha Sabha and other groups wanting to protect a privilege for grown men to marry under-aged girls, Sat Maharaj says his organisation is facing an opposite problem. “Our problem now is that we cannot get the young people to get married. Especially the girls, at whatever age,” he said in our discussion last week. Read more…
POLITICS
Suruj calls for probe into Tobago Jazz flop
Former Works and Infrastructure Minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan has called for a detailed review and investigation into the management of finances at the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) as one of its signature events, the Tobago Jazz Experience experienced a shortfall of $48 million over the past five years. In a media statement, Rambachan observed that at the last Joint Select Committee Meeting of Parliament, the THA offered “callous indifferent and lackadaisical series of responses” when questioned about its spending practices. “To hear that an average of $151 million was spent annually in marketing but there appears to be no targeted approach to marketing Tobago and further that the room occupancy rate remains abysmally low by Caribbean standards speaks of mismanagement, ineffective and bad decision making as well as wastage,” Rambachan said. He said this was further evidenced by the ad hoc manner in which it recently decided to spend 0.45 million dollars to fund a party on a cruise emanating out of the Bahamas. Read more…
Rowley in ‘peace’ talks with Holness
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has intervened in the ongoing immigration and manufacturing dispute between Jamaica and T&T, and plans to pay an official visit there “in the not-too-distant future” to address the issue. The issue stemmed from an immigration matter in March, where T&T immigration authorities debarred several Jamaicans from entering this country because they couldn’t show proof of sustaining themselves here. The issue prompted some Jamaicans to call for a boycott of T&T products and at least one T&T manufacturer eventually had his goods pulled by a supermarket owner in Jamaica. But at a news conference at the VIP lounge at Piarco International Airport yesterday, upon return from the ACS Summit in Cuba, Rowley, noting that there is a sentiment being fuelled in Jamaica that their nationals are not welcome in T&T and that was not true, said he addressed the matter directly with Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness while in Cuba. Read more…
UNC hits PM over deals with Venezuela
Naparima Member of Parliament Rodney Charles says Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is “rushing in where angels fear to tread in his nuanced relations” with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Charles also questioned whether the money for the US$50 million revolving fund will come from Venezuela or whether it will deplete foreign exchange reserves which are in short supply. In a release yesterday, the United National Congress (UNC) MP also said the Rowley-led administration has withdrawn some $2.5 billion from the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF) with a further US$1 billion drawdown, since September 7, 2015, from Trinidad and Tobago foreign exchange reserves. On the issue of Trinidad and Tobago’s relations with Venezuela, Charles said: “While the whole world is watching carefully developments in neighbouring Venezuela and adopting extremely cautious and nuanced approaches, Trinidad and Tobago seems to be doing the opposite signing not well thought out agreements with President Maduro, in trade and cross-border gas exploitation, that may not sit well with future Venezuelan governments.” Read more…
BUSINESS
Minister concerned about Zika-free tourism campaigns
Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe has taken issue with advertising campaigns in some Caribbean destinations which capitalise on the presence of the Zika virus in neighbouring territories to boost visitor arrival numbers. In an interview with the T&T Guardian at the 43rd annual Caribbean Week New York hosted by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, Manhattan, the minister described the Zika-free ads as unproductive. She said tourism officials across the islands agreed to be competitive but not adversarial in their respective campaigns. “Some countries jump up and say we are Zika-free. When you do that you name and shame some other countries that may have an issue. For instance Trinidad had some Zika cases, but Tobago hasn’t reported any. What can we learn from it? The Bahamas hasn’t reported any as yet. What can we learn from the Bahamas? It’s not about saying the Bahamas is better because they haven’t had a Zika case. Read more…
Local stock market, economy stumble
This week, we at Bourse take a look at local economic activity by the numbers and consider the possible direction of Trinidad and Tobago's fortunes in the short term. We consider how this activity has impacted corporate performance, particularly in the first quarter 2016 earnings reports of some listed companies, as well as the impact on the local stock market year-to-date. Read more…
REGIONAL
St Lucia goes to the polls on Monday
Saint Lucians go to the polls on Monday in an early general election called three weeks ago by Prime Minister Dr Kenny Anthony, however, as one regional commentator puts it, whichever party forms the next government, they may lose by winning. According to highly placed sources in the US State Department, the United States is determined to see real progress in addressing the still unresolved human rights abuses in the shape of alleged extra-judicial killings by members of the Royal St Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) that led to suspension of all law enforcement and military aid under the provisions of the so-called Leahy Law. As reported last week, as a result of the Leahy Law sanctions, Saint Lucia is conspicuous by its absence again this year as the only Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country not participating in Exercise Tradewinds 2016, the annual maritime and internal security and disaster response training exercise that commenced in Grenada on Sunday. Read more…
Guns Galore - Montague Acknowledges 'Challenges' As US Firearms Continue Flowing Into Island
A steady stream of guns continues to flow from the United States into Jamaica despite a raft of measures implemented by local law-enforcement authorities. In the last two years, the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has traced the history of 991 guns seized in Jamaica over the period and found that 567, or nearly 60 per cent, were "sourced in the US". The term "sourced in the US" refers to guns manufactured in or legally imported into the US. According to the ATF, 414 guns were tracked to non-American manufacturers, while the origins of 14 firearms could not be determined. Just over 2,200 persons were reported killed in Jamaica over the last two years and police statistics show that nearly 70 per cent of those killings involved the use of a firearm. National Security Minister Robert Montague acknowledged that Jamaica has "diffi-culties and challenges" at established ports of entry and indicated that he was not satisfied with what is being done by local law-enforcement authorities to stem the flow of guns into the island. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
ISIS shooting civilians trying to flee Falluja, NGO says
ISIS is targeting civilians attempting to leave the militant-held city of Falluja, as Iraqi forces and militia attempt to wrest back control of the city, a European non-profit operating in Iraq says. As many as 50,000 residents remain trapped in the center of Falluja as Iraqi security forces close in, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) told CNN Monday. Many of those who try to escape the clutches of ISIS are being targeted and shot by militants, it said. "Our biggest fears are now tragically confirmed with civilians being directly targeted while trying to flee to safety," NRC Country Director in Iraq Nasr Muflahi said. "This is the worst that we feared would happen to innocent men, women and children who have had to leave everything behind in order to save their lives." Read more…
Frenchman 'planned attacks during Euro 2016' - Ukraine's SBU
6th June 2016