Daily Briefing
Thursday 14th May, 2015
NEWS
Deputy DPP slams PM for Emailgate claims: No One Cleared
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Joan Honore-Paul last night slammed Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar for her suggestion that she and her colleagues should be cleared in the Emailgate probe, saying the police were far from done with their investigations and the case was still wide open. She also chastised Persad-Bissessar for releasing contents of reports provided to the police from the US Department of Justice, saying that the treaty under which this information was provided prohibited anyone else other than the national security parties probing the matter to use it. Read more…
Save me please
A fifteen-year-old girl yesterday begged for help to save her from a life of delinquency shortly after she escaped on Monday from the San Fernando Police Station by jumping through a window. The troubled teen visited Newsday’s San Fernando office pleading with authorities not to send her back to prison, saying she cannot face life behind bars. “I met juveniles who are in a life of crime already and I am not one,” the teen said. “All I want is a family who could show me genuine love and help me achieve my dream of becoming a lawyer. I want to go back to school.” Last week Tuesday was the last day the Form Three student attended classes as she ran away from her home in South Trinidad the day after, following a fall out with her relatives. Read more…
Govt has declared war on citizens
FORMER attorney general under a United National Congress (UNC) government Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj said yesterday the People's Partnership Government has “declared war” on the population through its “unconstitutional” suspension of Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley from Parliament two weeks ago. Maharaj spoke at a news conference at the Ambassador Hotel in St James, following a huddle of the Round Table, which counts among its members the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ), represented by its leader, David Abdulah; the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM), represented by Ancel Roget; and various civil groups. Rowley was present at the news conference but did not take questions from the media. Read more…
POLITICS
Tunapuna lobbies for Lalla
There is a lobby on for hometown boy attorney Larry Lalla to be chosen by the United National Congress (UNC) as the candidate for Tunapuna. The seat is held by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran, a founder of the Congress of the People, the UNC’s coalition partner. Lalla, 44, was born and grew up in the constituency, and attended Tunapuna Hindu School and Hillview College. His mother currently runs the cafeteria at Hillview and his family is well known in Tunapuna. On Monday, Lalla was among hopefuls who collected UNC nomination forms at Rienzi Complex, Couva but did not say what seat he wanted to be chosen to represent. Asked by Newsday yesterday if he would want to run for Tunapuna, Lalla said his hometown will be a good choice, but should he be selected, it would be for the party’s leadership to decide where he should contest. Read more…
Energy Minister may run for UNC
Energy Minister Kelvin Ramnarine has stated there is a possibility he may seek to run in the General Election for the United National Congress (UNC) which is seeking nominations for candidates.Speaking to reporters yesterday after an energy luncheon hosted by the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago at Paria Suites in La Romaine, Ramnarine said he had been encouraged by a number of persons to “throw his hat in the ring”. He however refused to confirm or deny if his eyes are on the marginal San Fernando West seat now held by Public Administration Minister Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan of the Congress of the People (COP). People’s National Movement (PNM) Public Relations Officer Faris Al- Rawi has already been selected by his party to contest the seat. Read more…
BUSINESS
Employers warn: Grave impact from IRA amendments
The Employers Consultative Association (ECA) yesterday expressed concern that proposed amendments to the Industrial Relations Act (IRA) currently being debated in the House of Representatives will have a grave impact on employers. The group said given the significance and potential impact of the bill there should be consultation with key stakeholders.“The proposed amendments to the IRA pose several issues and lack reasonable rationale for such changes,” the ECA said in a media release yesterday. “One such proposed change is the extension of the timeframe for a trade dispute from six months to two years. The ECA believes that this change does not encourage workers nor their representatives to address their claims in a timely manner. Read more…
Lake Asphalt shutdown, highway project affected
Operations at State-owned Lake Asphalt ground to a halt on Wednesday, as workers took a day off to "rest and reflect". Some 95 per cent of the workforce did not report for duty, as workers demanded an update on salary negotiations, which has been ongoing for almost five years.The shutdown affected construction of the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway extension to Point Fortin, as no trucks were dispatched to the jobsites. Gerald Debisette, labour welfare officer and Local Government councillor, said workers were frustrated by management's refusal to discuss the issue. He said, "The workers stayed away from work this morning to rest and reflect. Almost 95 per cent of the workforce is not at work today. June 1 would be five years now since negotitation have been taking place, so we finished a whole term and two years. Read more…
TT loses $3 billion in oil revenue
THIS country lost approximately $3 billion in revenue as a result of the fall in global oil prices from last September to April. Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Rudy Indarsingh, made this disclosure as he responded to an urgent question posed by Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner in the House of Representatives yesterday. Making references to the figures obtained by the ministry’s inland revenue division, Indarsingh said the overall drop in revenue was estimated to be $2,910,116,010. He told the House this figure was the total variance reported for supplemental petroleum taxes; petroleum profit taxes and the unemployment levy from October 2014 to April 2015. Those figures were $366,144,337; $2,359,413,730 and $194,557,943 respectively. Read more…
Massy Wood wins bpTT contract
Massy Wood Group has been awarded a five-year contract, with a potential value of up to $250 million by bpTT to provide services to its local operations. The company, which is jointly owned by Wood Group PSN (WGPSN) and the energy division of Massy Holdings Ltd, will deliver engineering, procurement and construction services to bpTT’s 13 upstream offshore facilities, located within the Greater Cassia and Greater Mahogany areas. The onshore Galeota Point Terminal and Beachfield facilities are also included in the scope of the contract, which is effective immediately. Massy Wood Group has a nine-year history of working with bpTT and currently delivers an integrated maintenance service to the same 15 assets under a renewed five-year contract secured in January 2012. Read more…
REGIONAL
Lower House in Jamaica votes yes to CCJ; Bills now move to Senate
On Tuesday afternoon, the Lower House of the Jamaican Parliament secured the favourable majority vote required to have that country access the Caribbean Court of Justice’s (CCJ) appellate jurisdiction. The three bills laid before the House of Representatives will now proceed to the Senate. The three bills in question are: an Act to Amend the Judicature (Appellate Jurisdiction) Act, an Act to Amend the Constitution of Jamaica and an Act to make provisions for the implementation of the agreement establishing the CCJ. This development comes on the heels of the court’s tenth anniversary celebrations on April 16, 2015, and just two months after Dominica formally celebrated its accession to the court’s appellate jurisdiction. Barbados, Guyana and Belize also enjoy full access to the Court’s judicial services. Read more…
High-level meeting of Caribbean fisheries ministers to be held in Grenada
Fisheries ministers from member states of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) are expected to sign off on the declaration on spiny lobster by way of a resolution, when they convene the ninth meeting of the ministerial council of the CRFM on Friday in St George's, Grenada. The non-binding declaration establishes a roadmap for closer cooperation among the 17 CARICOM/CRFM states to ensure long-term conservation and sustainable use of the lobster resources. The feature address will be delivered by Roland Bhola, minister of agriculture, lands, forestry, fisheries and the environment, Grenada, who will assume the chairmanship of the Council on the occasion of the meeting from Johnson Drigo, minister of agriculture and fisheries, Dominica. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Death toll in Kabul hotel attack rises to 14; Taliban claim responsibility
The death toll from an attack on a hotel in Kabul where guests were trapped amid gunfire has risen to 14, a senior Afghan police official said Thursday. Foreigners are among the casualties from the deadly assault Wednesday night on the Park Palace Guest House, for which the Taliban have claimed responsibility. An American citizen was killed, U.S. authorities have said. Four of the victims were Indian citizens, CNN affiliate IBN reported, citing Indian Foreign Ministry officials. Luciano Pezzotti, Italy's ambassador to Afghanistan, said on Italian TV that one of his countrymen was also among those killed. They were among people gathered at the hotel for a cultural event, according to the United Nations. Read more…
Amtrak train thought to be going twice as fast as it should have been
How do all seven cars and the engine of an Amtrak train jump the rails, sending passengers, luggage, laptops and more flying? One possibility loomed over all others Wednesday: speed Authorities haven't said what caused the derailment of Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, but Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter had harsh words for the train's engineer."Clearly it was reckless in terms of the driving by the engineer. There's no way in the world he should have been going that fast into the curve," Nutter told CNN's "The Situation Room." Preliminary data show the train's speed exceeded 100 mph before the derailment. That would be more than twice the 50 mph speed limit for the curve it was in. Read more...
14th May 2015