NEWS
Senior cops link US$2m seizure to drug trade: AG waits for probe result
Senior police officers yesterday linked the weekend’s seizure of US$2 million in a container by members of the Customs and Excise Division to the nefarious narcotics trade. The money, which was hidden in a crate of ply board and shipped to Trinidad earlier in the week, was found last Friday at the Pt Lisas Port. Senior police officers said yesterday they believe because of the amount of cash involved, it may by payment for drug/guns deal. Contacted yesterday, however, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, who did not confirm or deny there was a drug link in the seizure, said the matter was under intense investigation. Read more here
Cop, Family in Safe House
Hours after the 71-year-old mother of Police Constable (PC) Dexter Dyer was shot dead on Piccadilly Street, Portof- Spain last Friday morning, Dyer, his wife and other members of his family, were placed in a safe house by officers of the Justice Protection Unit (JPU) of the Police Service. Felicia Dyer Francis was seated in the driver’s seat of her white Nissan Tiida car outside the South-East PoS Seventh Day Adventist Church on Piccadilly Street, Port-of-Spain where she had been praying moments earlier, when she was shot four times. Read more here
POLITICS
WE PAID COLM'S WIFE $.1m
The Housing Development Corporation (HDC) yesterday denied that it had paid Bolt Trinidad Ltd, a consultancy company owned by the wife of Finance Minister Colm Imbert $7.5 million in April 2016. In response to a Sunday Express article, the HDC placed an advertisement on Page 16 of today's Express stating that it made a payment of $102,486.75 in April 2016. The HDC also said this represented a partial payment of the $417,315.77 owed to Suzanne Williams-Imbert. The Imberts have not responded to the Sunday Express story. Read more here
Nomination day for Local Govt elections, 6-plus parties set to register
A keen fight’s ahead as candidates from at least six political parties will today register with the Election and Boundaries Commission for the November 28 Local Government polls. Candidates will present their nomination papers to the EBC’s 53 returning officers at locations around Trinidad, EBC chief elections officer Ramesh Nanan has said. A total of 137 seats in the 14 municipal corporations around Trinidad are being contested in the election. Read more here
BUSINESS
Republic Financial records $946M profit
Republic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL) and its subsidiaries yesterday reported profits attributable to equity holders of $946 million for the financial year ended September 30, 2016. The group said this represented a decline of 22.7 percent compared to its 2015 performance. Read more here
TCL earnings soften, WCO resilient
This week, we at Bourse take a closer look at the performance of two manufacturing stocks listed on the local exchange; The West Indian Tobacco Company Ltd (WCO) and Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL). We share our perspective on both companies given the current economic climate, as well as any potential impact of taxation and other changes on future performance. Read more here
REGIONAL
Guyana cannot afford a refinery, oil experts warn
With a required 20 to 30 square kilometers of land somewhere along Guyana’s coastal belt to build a refinery, and a deep-water channel with a one kilometer width to access it from the Atlantic Ocean, leading minds in the oil exploration industry have told the Guyana Guardian that it will cost somewhere around G$900 billion dollars (about US$4.4 billion) to build an efficient oil refinery there. This figure would represent an amount that is more than three times the country’s foreign debt, or almost four years of the country’s entire national budget – arguably a price tag that would immediately sink Guyana into bankruptcy. Read more here
One month after Hurricane Matthew, needs in Haiti remain vast, UN reports
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti -- As Haiti struggles to recover from the massive destruction wrought by Hurricane Matthew, which pummelled the tiny country one month ago on October 4, the United Nations warned that, while its seems as if “the world has moved on”, Haiti’s needs are vast, exemplified by the nearly 600,000 children being stalked by disease, hunger and malnutrition and in need of assistance. “One month after the hurricane, life for more than half a million children in Haiti is still far from back to normal,” said Marc Vincent, Haiti representative for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in a news release. “Too many children are still homeless, hungry, out of school and in danger. We are scaling up our response and are determined to help as many of them as possible as fast as we can.” Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
7 things to watch for on Election Night
Washington (CNN)Donald Trump is attempting to crack Hillary Clinton's blue wall. And Clinton is hoping for a surge in Latino turnout fueled by opposition to Trump. The two candidates are making a last-minute dash across swing states like Florida, Pennsylvania and North Carolina as the 2016 presidential race enters its final hours. They've also gone north to Michigan and New Hampshire to states Democrats have won in recent cycles but could flip this year. Read more here
Hillary Clinton emails: How FBI verdict affects US election
It was much ado about nothing, but it certainly amounted to something. While FBI Director James Comey, in effect, said "never mind" with regards to Hillary Clinton's emails, for the past two weeks the story has dominated the political conversation, and Democrats have paid a price. While Mrs Clinton's standings in the polls have stabilised a bit, talk of a possible Clinton rout are a distant memory and many of Democrats running on the ballot alongside Mrs Clinton have seen their standing diminished. Read more here
7th November 2016