NEWS
7-year-olds can be charged
With two children, aged 11 and 13, currently before the courts on charges of manslaughter, several members of the public have taken to social media questioning at what age can a child be held criminally responsible for their actions, and if it was right that children be made to face such a serious charge. However, many people may be shocked to know that the age for criminal responsibility in Trinidad and Tobago is actually seven years. Speaking to the Express on Friday, defence attorney Fareed Ali confirmed that a child can be charged in this country as long as they have attained this age. Read more…
Local animator defends conflict of interest charge
Local animator Camille Selvon-Abrahams has denied she used the University of T&T (UTT) software to make a milk advertisement for a company of which she is a director. Selvon-Abrahams refuted the claim one week after UTT failed to renew her contract as programme director and lead lecturer in animation at the university. It was UTT’s human resource department decision to not renew Selvon-Abrahams’ contract because her function, should she stay, would change to that of a teacher. On August 7, Selvon-Abrahams dismissed that Full Circle Animation Studio, a company she founded in 2002, of which she is a director used UTT’s software to make the Moo milk advertisement. Read more…
Man killed, baby shot in head
Gunmen opened fire on a vehicle in Enterprise Chaguanas on Saturday night killing one man and wounding a two-year old baby boy. Inside the vehicle were two year- old Jahiem Lord, his one year- old sister Selena, their father Kevin Taitt Lord and a family friend Ebu John said to be from Edinburgh 500, Toco and Couva. John, 29, a father of one, died on the spot from gunshot wounds while Jahiem, who sustained gunshot wounds to his head, remains warded in critical condition at the Mt Hope Children’s Hospital. Selena escaped unhurt after being pulled out of the vehicle and shielded by her father in the midst of the gunfire. Read more…
POLITICS
Ashworth: PNM does not care about small people
Saying the Opposition PNM did not “care about the small people”, Tobago Organisation of the People, [TOP], political leader Ashworth Jack yesterday warned supporters of the People’s Partnership that a Tobago- styled Tobago House of Assembly (THA) model would not produce any economic benefits to Trinidad. Addressing a large contingent of supporters at the People’s Partnership presentation of candidates at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva yesterday, Jack described the election as a “serious election” and urged supporters not be carried away with emotions. “We have a country to build and we cannot let emotions take control,” Jack said, adding, “the TOP has joined because the future of the country depends on whatever decision we take on September 7.” And quoting the biblical scripture about waiting on the Lord, Jack said persons were “in a much better position than they were the day before.” And without naming the New York Governor who had addressed the People’s National Movement (PNM) rally at Woodford Square on Saturday, he said this man should not have spoken ill about Trinidad and Tobago’s leadership as his past was a “checkered” one. Read more…
UNC in last minute Mayaro change as party replaces 12 MPs
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday presented the People’s Partnership election slate, declaring that her team, which has several new faces, was unbeatable.
The United National Congress (UNC) will be contesting 28 seats, the Congress of the People (COP) eight seats, the Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) two seats and the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) three seats. The UNC has shaken up its line-up with a dozen new faces to contest seats which were previously won by the People’s Partnership. Among those who got the axe was Stacy Roopnarine, who was replaced with attorney Vidya Guyadeen-Gopeesingh for the Oropouche West seat. Read more…
Criticism for ex-governor at PNM rally: US distances itself from platform talk
The US Government is distancing itself from statements made by former New York Governor David Paterson at a People’s National Movement (PNM)| rally in Woodford Square, Port-of-Spain, on Saturday. Paterson, who was invited as one of the guest speakers at the event, was critical of T&T Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Speaking to an audience of PNM supporters, candidates and the party’s leadership, Paterson said Persad-Bissessar Government was “so dishonest that it shut down all of the agencies to give statistics on its own progress.” A release, issued by the Public Affairs Section of the embassy in Port-of-Spain, yesterday, said the US Government, and the Embassies that represent it abroad “do not endorse candidates or parties in foreign elections.” Read more…
BUSINESS
Republic tightens US dollar sales
Republic Bank yesterday denied it had stopped selling US dollars, saying what it has done is tightened controls in the sale process and all requests for foreign currency would now be referred to its foreign exchange department for approval. The nation’s largest bank was responding to reports in yesterday’s Express that it had suspended sales of foreign exchange. In a statement the bank said, “Recently, the foreign exchange market has been experiencing a higher demand for US currency than the available supply, and with the bank currently holding the largest market share, it has therefore been met with the biggest need to satisfy its customers’ requirements. This has resulted in a strain on the bank’s resources and in order to ensure equitable distribution of the bank’s available supply to its customers, tighter controls have been put in place.” General Manager, Group Marketing and Communications, Michelle Palmer-Keizer said whereas in the past branches would sell foreign exchange to the public, the decision had been taken that all requests for foreign exchange made at branches would be cleared with the bank’s foreign exchange department in Port-of-Spain. She said this could be done by a simple telephone call to the department to ensure that the funds were available. She said the new measure was intended to ensure that some clients did not get a disproportionate share of the limited US dollars available to the bank, leaving none for other clients but that the limited resource was shared as equitably as possible. Read more…
The facts on TTNGL’s offering
This week, we at Bourse address some frequently asked questions regarding the Trinidad and Tobago NGL Limited (TTNGL) IPO. We present a summarised version of important points of the TTNGL Prospectus released on August 10th 2015. As such, we seek to assist potential investors with any pertinent queries or concerns regarding the newest investment opportunity on the local equity market. What is TTNGL? TTNGL was incorporated on September 13th 2013, by The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC). The company’s primary purpose is that of a holding company which currently holds 39 per cent of the shareholding of Phoenix Park Gas Processors Limited (PPGPL). Read more…
TTMA: Repo rate rise worrisome
The T&T Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) has described as “a bit worrisome” the decision by the Central Bank to increase the repo rate. The business group said: “In countries like Canada and other commodity-based economies like T&T, the reverse is happening. Interest rates continue to be low in addition, all currencies are at a low compared to the US dollar. US interest rates are trending upward; our currency is pegged to the US dollar so our money has actually strengthened compared to the other basket of currencies. So high interest rates, strong TT dollar means lower exports and less global competitiveness.” In its recent monetary policy announcement, the Central Bank said one of the reasons for the increase was the US Federal Reserve’s commencement of normalization of its monetary policy. Th Central Bank also said it increased the repo rate for the sixth consecutive time to 4.25 per cent since it predicted inflation in T&T in the coming months. Read more…
REGIONAL
RGD Sets Sights On Profitability
Struggling to meet its financial targets over the last seven years, the Registrar General's Department (RGD) says it has started to rebound and is now aiming to change its net income from a position of loss to profit. The RGD was given the green light by Government to increase its fees in 2014 after operating for the last 10 years without an adjustment in service cost, For the first quarter of the new financial year, the RGD has surpassed its income target by nine percentage points. The agency's monthly average income is $65 million and the department is projecting that it should end the fiscal year with a revenue intake of $780 million. Like the Companies Office of Jamaica, the RGD is the only other executive agency at this time which is not dependent on financing from the Consolidated Fund. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Japan hit by weaker economic growth
Japan's economy shrank in the second quarter of the year, marking a setback for the government's reform policy. Between April and June, economic growth contracted by 0.4% compared with the first three months of the year. Lagging exports and sluggish consumer spending were the biggest contributors to the drop in growth. It is likely to put pressure on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to revamp his reform programme of monetary and fiscal stimulus to boost growth. Japan's economy shrank at an annualised pace of 1.6% in the quarter, following a revised expansion of 4.5% in the first quarter, official data showed. Read more…
Jeff Bezos: Amazon drones will be ‘ as common as seeing a mail truck’
Amazon delivery drones are still "years" away, but CEO Jeff Bezos said someday they will be "as common as seeing a mail truck." Bezos told the Telegraph in London that the biggest hurdle Prime Air has to clear isn't related to technology, but regulators. He said U.K. regulators have been among the most accommodating to his plans to take Amazon deliveries to the sky. "U.K. regulatory agencies have been very advanced" and "encouraging," Bezos said. Read more…
17th August 2015