NEWS
Corporations will sort out business
The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) has indicated that the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation, like all its 13 other local government counterparts, will determine who will control its affairs. This as recounts of results from certain electoral districts in Monday’s local government election continued. The officials reiterated that the official results cannot be issued until this exercise is completed. They were unable to say exactly when the results would be released. However, Newsday understands the commission will meet soon to assess the status of the exercise. The EBC declined to comment on the argument between the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) and the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) about which of them controls the Sangre Grande corporation. Officials explained, “The EBC’s job is completed when we allocate the numbers for the aldermen, what happens after is up to the corporation.” They said all political parties submitted their lists of aldermen for all local government corporations to the EBC on November 7 (Nomination Day). Read more here
Opposition candidate quits after shooting
After his home was shot at on Tuesday night community activist and candiate in Monday’s Local Government elections, Julius Edwards, says he is done with improving the Malabar area which he has been doing for close to three decades. Edwards, who was a candidate under the United National Congress (UNC) banner for Malabar South, did not win in Monday’s polls. He said prior to that he was heavily involved with the Malabar Football Club in the semi-pro league and with Tuesday’s incident he was walking away from community activism because it was “like casting pearls before swine.” He said he was of the belief that the shooter was a youth who was promised payment for working election day and was not paid. He added it was explained to the youths that payment would be made by weekend but it was rumoured that he received payment but was not disbursing it. Read more here
Matelot Misery
Cut off from the rest of Trinidad. This is what happened from as early as 3 a.m. yesterday when residents of the villages of Matelot and Grande Riviere became stranded following torrential overnight rains that sent a gush of water downriver. It was accompanied by rocks, silt and debris which washed out the road at several locations along the North Coast. Landslides covered the Paria Main Road with over ten feet of mud in a few places. Read more here
POLITICS
A wake up call to politicians
The Alliance of Independents (AOI) said Tuesday that the low voter turnout in Monday’s Local Government election is a wake-up call to the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) and the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) that the majority of the population, “are completely turned off from the ‘more of the same’ syndrome.” The elections ended with the PNM retaining seven of the 14 local government corporations in Trinidad which it won in the 2013 Local Government election. The UNC retained the six corporations it won three years ago. Both parties tied 4-4 in the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation, which the PNM won outright in 2013. At a news conference at Balisier House also on Tuesday, PNM chairman Franklin Khan declared that the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation would be controlled by the ruling party on the basis of the Proportional Representation system and the PNM having won the popular vote in Sangre Grande. On Monday night, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar each declared that the results reflected victories for their respective political parties. Read more here
UNC loses three recounts so far...
The Opposition UNC has so far lost recounts in three out of six electoral areas and was awaiting results for Sangre Grande northwest last night. Elections and Boundaries Commission chief election officer, Ramesh Nanan, said following Local Government elections, recounts were sought, mainly by UNC and one by the PNM. The UNC had sought recounts in seats in San Juan/Laventille, Tunapuna/Piarco, Mayaro/Rio Claro, Princes Town and Sangre Grande. The PNM sought a recount in the Princes Town Corporation seat of Hindustan/St Mary’s seat which the UNC had won. That was abandoned, the Guardian learned. Read more here
‘Major changes coming to TDC’
Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe hinted yesterday at major changes to the Tourism Development Company (TDC) and disclosed that an audit is currently under way of the company’s human resources. Cudjoe, in what she stated was her “very first interview” since being appointed tourism minister 14 months ago, appeared on TV6’s Morning Edition to address tourism as a diversification tool amidst the reality of a flagging economy. Asked by ME host, Fazeer Moahmmed, about the functionality of the TDC and its contribution, Cudjoe revealed that an audit is in fact on train and among the issues being looked is the fact that the company’s HR content doubled since 2005. That year, when the Tourism Industrial Development Company (TIDCO) transitioned into TDC, the structure carried 52 positions. By 2011, Cudjoe said, that had become around 115 persons at the TDC. Read more here
BUSINESS
TT strengthening diplomatic ties
Trinidad and Tobago sought to strengthen its diplomatic ties with Sweden, Lebanon and Poland through a series of engagements which Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dennis Moses had with representatives from each of these three countries. In a recent meeting with Swedish Ambassador to TT Claes Hammar, Moses was informed that the Kingdom of Sweden is working on establishing an Honorary Consul in Tobago. Hammar thanked TT for the mutual support demonstrated in international fora and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for Technical Cooperation between foreign ministers of Caricom and the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Hammar also expressed the Sweden’s interest in partnering with Caricom in the areas of climate change and renewable energy. TT and Sweden have had diplomatic relations since July 1966. Read more here
OPEC cuts oil output
Breaking with years of inaction, OPEC agreed yesterday to cut its oil output for the first time since 2008. The move effectively scraps its strategy of squeezing US competition through high supply that had backfired by lowering prices and draining the cartel's own economies. The reduction of 1.2 million barrels a day is significant, leaving OPEC's daily output at 32.5 million barrels. And OPEC President Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada said non-OPEC nations are expected to pare an additional 600,000 barrels a day off their production. The combined cut will result, at least in the short term, in somewhat more pricey oil — and, by extension, car fuel, heating and electricity. The international benchmark for crude jumped 8.3 per cent, or US$3.86, to US$50.24 yesterday. Read more here
Mouttet: Industrial Court anti-employer
The Industrial Court of Trinidad and Tobago is being blamed for decreased levels of productivity in the country and making it increasingly difficult for employers to terminate workers. Businessman Frank Mouttet yesterday said the court has been harsh and oppressive towards employers while favouring workers and their representative unions. He was speaking during a seminar hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce at its Westmoorings headquarters entitled “The Impact of Industrial Court Judgments on Your Business”. Read more here
REGIONAL
Phone Book Backlash - Church Lobby Forces Yellow Pages To Find Alternative Scene For Directory Cover
Jamaica's church lobby has forced the publishers of the 2017 Yellow Pages to produce an alternative version of the telephone directory because of an "offensive" dancehall depiction it says is spreading "wrong" values. The Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society led the campaign against the directory, which Global Directories Ltd was hoping would celebrate indigenous Jamaican music. The depiction at the centre of the controversy shows a reggae scene with scantily clad women dancing with men at what appears to be a typical street session. "We have challenges with our young people in terms of the values, the conduct that they are being exposed to. We thought that what was displayed there wasn't something that was beneficial," said Dr Wayne West, chairman of the coalition. "We didn't think that scene, which was sort of a dancehall scene, was ideal. It wasn't the best thing that could have been done for the Yellow Pages - something which is so widely distributed and which is supposed to be the product of a company that should be seeking to elevate rather than to encourage behaviour that is not necessarily ideal." Read more here
Torrential rains hit the Caribbean
Torrential rains and flooding hit several Caribbean islands this week, bringing some relief to a drought in the region so severe that Suriname is considering exporting its water to hard-hit islands by towing it in giant bags made from PVC-coated fabric. Heavy rain and flooding impacted Barbados on Tuesday as the Caribbean island celebrated its 50 years of independence, when Britain’s Prince Harry arrived just in time for the storm and the celebration. "I've never seen rain like this ... never," he told a group of welcoming dignitaries. Guadeloupe reported over three inches of rain on Tuesday – about a third of the island's November average – and St Lucia reported almost four inches, which is more than half of its monthly average. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Chapecoense air crash: Colombia plane 'ran out of fuel'
Plastic Island
Midway Atoll, North Pacific Ocean (CNN) -- The distance from humanity yawns out in front of you when you stand on the pale sands of this tiny Pacific island. Midway Atoll is just about the furthest piece of land from civilization and its constant engine whir, data and jostle. Standing on the island's remote shoreline brings a calm and humility -- until you look down at your feet. On the beach lies a motorcycle helmet, a mannequin's head, an umbrella handle, and a flip-flop. They didn't fall from a plane or off a ship, and there aren't any civilians living here who could have left them behind. They were washed in with the tide, most likely from China or the US, thousands of miles away -- part of an enormous plastic garbage patch, spinning in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which you probably contribute to. And these are just the bits of it we can see. Plastic has become a vital part of our lives of convenience. Yet the coffee cup lids, water bottles and bags we use once and throw away do end up somewhere -- in landfills, but also in the ocean. Read more here
1st December 2016