NEWS
‘Chilling’ image of ‘Devil’ going to court
Assistant Commissioner of Prisons Gerard Wilson described the image of Sean ‘Devil’ Coa, as “chilling” by showing his middle finger in an obscene gesture to press photographers while on his way to court last week Friday. Coa is charged for the murder of acting Superintendent of Prisons David Millette. Coa, aged 20, appeared before a Port-of-Spain magistrate on Friday last. Millette was shot dead in his car a fortnight ago, in front of his home at Cipriani Avenue, Second Caledonia, Morvant. Speaking at the Aftercare Workshop themed, “Communities Caring for Juvenile Offenders” at the Prisons Training college, Arima, Wilson said in the last few years, they have had to say farewell to officers who, “bit the bullet”. Read more...
Parents plan legal action in death of baby Asia Marie
The parents of Asia Marie, the baby who died after her mother Chelsea Robinson spent more than a day begging nurses for help at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex earlier this month, are preparing to take legal action following the infant’s autopsy which was done on Tuesday. In a telephone interview yesterday, Asia Marie’s father, Brian Small, said the family had opted to do a private autopsy on the child’s body. This follow’s some concerns the family raised after the child’s body was moved from Mt Hope to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for an autopsy without the family’s knowledge. Read more...
POLITICS
‘Doh set meh up’
Founder of the United National Congress (UNC) and former prime minister Basdeo Panday yesterday warned Oropouche East MP and party politcal leader aspirant Dr Roodal Moonilal not to, “set meh up eh”, as the latter paid a visit to the former at Rienzi Complez in Couva shortly after filing nomination papers to contest the party’s December 5 internal elections. “No, no, no, no, no...doh do meh dat. Doh try to set meh up!” Panday admonished Moonilal as he (the Oropuche East MP) entered Panday’s office with media photographers in tow. Despite the barking, angry admonition from Panday, known in political circles as the “Silver Fox”. Moonilal attempted to shake his hand. Panday jerked back in his seat as he waved his hands disapprovingly as Moonilal along with media staff entered his office at the Basdeo Foundation office, located just opposite the UNC’s head-office inside the complex. Read more...
No cabal with me now—Kamla
Former prime minister Kamla persad-Bissessar last night announced a slate for the December 5 internal elections which included current MP Dr David Lee and former MP and minister Clifton De Coteau and party chair Khadijah Ameen. In announcing her Team UNC at the Chaguanas Borough Corporation, Persad-Bissessar also proudly announced that she had no cabal on her slate. “There is no cabal in my team,” she told her supporters. “No cabal existed and no cabal ever controlled me…As I stand today before you with my slate, I want you to know that there is no one in this slate who was ever accused of being a member of any cabal.” Read more...
BUSINESS
Tucker Energy to pay $.9M to workers
A dismissal is not a retrenchment, the Industrial Court (IC) ruled yesterday and ordered a company to pay three workers close to one million dollars. In fact, president of the IC Deborah Thomas-Felix, slammed Tucker Energy Services Limited, for using retrenchment as a ruse to dismiss the workers. In a written judgment handed, Thomas-Felix ordered Tucker to pay the workers $500,000, $350,000 and $175,000 respectively, ruling that the main contention in an action the workers filed against Tucker, was whether the company was in fact undertaking a retrenchment exercise. The Contractors and General Workers’ Trade Union (CGWTU’s) case on the workers’ behalf, was that in 2004, a worker drove a forklift into an office. Three workers refused to disclose the name of the worker who committed the act. A stand-off between Tucker’s management and the workers ensued, and the CGWTU intervened. Read more...
Govt to invest in new housing
Officials in the construction sector have been assured that the state will invest in new projects despite economic challenges due to declining energy prices. Housing Minister Marlene Mc Donald, who spoke at the Contractor of the Year Awards and Dinner hosted by the T&TContractors Association (TTCA) at the Trinidad Hilton and Conference Centre, said Government “will continue in a measured way, the construction of homes where there is a dire need for such.” Read more...
REGIONAL
Bahamas police chief issues crime warning
Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade said on Tuesday he is not surprised that the 2011 murder record was broken and warned that the murder count will continue to rise in The Bahamas unless there are some legislative and policy changes. “Those murder figures are up and they are up to the point where we are very, very disturbed and very, very concerned,” Greenslade said at a press conference at Police Headquarters. “I’ll tell you, I’m not surprised. Despite our best intentions I foreshadowed this many months ago when I gave you an interview and I said if we do not change our trajectory, not the police department, but if we did not change generally, as a country, look at some policy issues, some legislative reform issues, we were going to continue to have problems. I said that publicly and I will say it again.” Read more...
Terror Watch - Security Expert Warns Jamaica Not Safe From Radicals
Less than a week after a series of deadly terrorist attacks in France, Mark Shields, the British counterterrorism expert, who served for several years as Jamaica's crime chief, is warning Jamaicans against thinking that a similar attack could not happen here. While conceding that the island could be considered a "soft target" for terrorists, Shields insisted that Jamaicans should not underestimate the threat posed by the militant group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and warned that the United States and French embassies, along with the British High Commission, could make attractive targets for would-be terrorists. Among a raft of measures to help keep Jamaicans safe, he suggested that local law-enforcement authorities raise the level of public awareness about terrorism. Read more...
INTERNATIONAL
Danger of chemical attack - French PM
Paris attacks at a glance: Thursday's developments
French investigators are trying to determine whether Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected ringleader of the Paris terrorist attacks, was killed in a major police operation in a suburb of the city. Another key suspect linked to Friday's atrocities by ISIS attackers in the French capital is still at large. And Belgian authorities are conducting fresh raids around Brussels. ISIS, meanwhile, is continuing to fuel alarm and outrage around the globe, announcing the killings of hostages from China and Norway and claiming it plans to attack New York City. Read more...
19th November 2015