On The Passing of Former President Mr. Paul Quesnel
Ministry mourns Quesnel’s passing
MINISTER of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee- Scoon has extended condolences to the family of former TT Manufacturers Association president Paul Quesnel whom she described as an avid friend and partner of the Ministry. A press release from the Ministry stated that Quesnel served as a liason between the private and public sector and he was known as a frank and forthright individual. Read more…
Paul Quesnel dies
The Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) is saddened by the loss of sitting Director and former President of the TTMA, Paul Quesnel, who passed on, on Monday of a heart attack, while engaging in business in Jamaica. The TTMA said he worked hard all his life to improve the business environment in T&T. In a release yesterday, the Association extended its deepest condolences to the family and friends on Quesnel’s passing. He died at age 64. Read more…
NEWS
Boy, 6, Attempts Suicide
A six year - old second year student of the Carapichaima Anglican Primary School, apparently jilted by a six-yearold girl from his class attempted suicide on Tuesday during the lunch break by tying a sweater around his neck which he attached to burglar proofing in the school’s courtyard before jumping. Thankfully, the child was found gasping for breath by another six-year-old who immediately alerted the school’s principal and a teacher who rushed to the hanging schoolboy and took him down. Read more…
Man kills self after chopping woman
An Arima street vendor who had threatened to kill his estranged lover and then himself, committed suicide on Tuesday after chopping the woman, who survived the attack. The incident took place around 8 pm, police said, after the man, Narine Singh, of Matura, attacked Marilyn Gallan, 56, as she walked along Pro Queen Street in the heart of the eastern borough, metres away from the police station. Police said after chopping the woman Singh ran west along Farfan Street and collapsed on Woodford Street where he died. Police said the woman was chopped four times and remains warded in a serious condition at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex. Read more…
JWALA Fights Back
Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran is fighting back at his critics who believed he breached confidentiality by identifying the country’s large users of foreign exchange. It was a public-interest decision, he said. Read more…
POLITICS
Imbert: Nobody buying UNC rhetoric
The defeats which the United National Congress (UNC) suffered in Monday’s Local Government by-elections in Malabar South and Auzonville/Tunapuna should drive home the reality to the UNC that it has lost the confidence and trust of the population. Finance Minister Colm Imbert made this point as he concluded debate in the Senate on Tuesday night on two motions to increase the loan ceiling under the Development Loans Act and increase the debt limit under the Guarantee of Loans Act respectively. Read more…
Ex-finance ministers: Deal with ‘recession/forex’ spat in private
The ongoing spat between Finance Minister Colm Imbert and Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran should be dealt with privately and not in the public glare. This is the view of two former finance ministers, Conrad Enill and Mariano Browne, who yesterday said both offices need to work together in the interest of Trinidad and Tobago. “I think that at the end of the day the Minister of Finance, under the law, has the authority to give instructions to the Governor of the Central Bank on certain matters. Read more…
BUSINESS
Couva/Point Lisas Chamber backs Jwala
Amid a tidal wave of condemnation, from the Finance Minister to the Bankers Association of Trinidad and Tobago (BATT) to individual businesses, one business entity — the Couva/Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce — has come out in support of embattled Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran’s decision to publicly release the names of big businesses which con- sume the most foreign exchance (forex) in this country. In fact, the Chamber in a press release issued yesterday, called Rambarran’s disclosure as being both timely and long overdue. “For too long, businesses have questioned, ‘where have the US dollars gone?’,” stated the Chamber in its release. Read more…
NCB Jamaica gains $0.05
Overall Market activity resulted from trading in ten securities of which three advanced, three declined and four traded firm. Trading activity on the First Tier Market registered a volume of 159,390 shares crossing the floor of the Exchange valued at $1,874,610.49. T&T NGL Ltd was the volume leader with 55,755 shares changing hands for a value of $1,198,732.50, followed by National Commercial Bank Jamaica Ltd with a volume of 55,553 shares being traded for $119,938.95. Read more…
Scrap metal industry crashes
Workers in the scrap iron industry are also suffering as a result of low steel prices and are sending out an SOS to Government. On Tuesday, Allan Ferguson, chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Scrap Iron Dealers Association (TTSIDA) said although material was was piling up at scrap yards, and owners were selling little or nothing. Ferguson said there were only about ten scrap yards functioning from the usual 136 and dealers began feeling the negative impact especially in the last four months. “It’s not that we can’t work. We can’t work with the price,” he said. Read more…
REGIONAL
Ruling party wins historic fourth term in St Vincent and the Grenadines
The ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP) led by Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves retained its slim majority of eight seats to the New Democratic Party (NDP) opposition’s seven in general elections held in St Vincent and the Grenadines on Wednesday. However, the ULP has called for a recount in the North Leeward and South Leeward constituencies, both of which were won by the NDP. Read more…
Tablet Jitters - Absence Of School Project-Monitoring System Leaves Auditor General Wary
Despite spending millions of dollars to support the tablets-in-schools project, it has been determined that the Universal Service Fund (USF) has no mechanism to monitor whether it is getting value for money. "We found no evidence of project beneficiaries' progress reports or USF monitoring of the projects under the E-Learning programme," Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis wrote in an activity-based audit report tabled on the USF in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
War on ISIS: Why Arab states aren't doing more
U.S. President Barack Obama is sending Special Forces. British jets have joined French warplanes over the skies of Syria. Even Germany, whose post-World War II constitution puts restrictions on fighting battles on foreign soil, is becoming increasingly involved. But as the West steps up its war against ISIS, it appears that the involvement of the U.S.-led coalition's Arab members -- all of them much closer geographically to the terror group than their Western partners -- is drawing down. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are down to about one mission against ISIS targets each month, a U.S. official told CNN on Monday. Bahrain stopped in the autumn, the official says, and Jordan stopped in August. CNN contacted all of these countries for comment and is yet to receive a response. Read more…
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali criticises Donald Trump
10th December 2015