NEWS
Boot Camp For Bullies
Out of the mouth of babes, good ideas can sometimes come. Parliamentarians yesterday got a little help in their quest to solve the daunting problems facing the education system as for the first time in history, students appeared before a Parliament committee to answer questions and provide solutions on school violence, Nine students — from primary and secondary schools — appeared before the Joint Select Committee on Social Services and Public Administration. The hearing lasted almost three hours. The kids had their say. Mishael Henry, 11, a student of Laventille Boys Government Primary, called for a boot camp for bullies and for the army to be brought into the classroom, BULLY BOOT CAMP “Times have changed,” Mishael told committee members at the International Waterfront Centre, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, “And now that times have changed we have to think out of the box,
Bullies always try to get small children: they would not get someone who is bigger than them. So let’s try to see what the bullies fear, Some bullies fear big and strong people. So let’s bring in the police, army into the school so the bully will feel how it feels for their prey.” Mishael continued, “You could even send them to boot camp. Read more...
Three take Repsol to court over dismissal
Spanish energy firm Repsol E&P T&T Ltd is being taken to the Industrial Court for the wrongful dismissal of three employees, who were part of a group that was retrenched in January. Eleven others and the trio were retrenched after a decision by the parent company in October 2015 to lay off 1,500 workers, six per cent of its global workforce. Repsol, on March 15, made partial payments on some of the workers’ severance packages. However, up to yesterday, the retrenched workers told the T&T Guardian that they were yet to receive the balance of their monies. The workers expressed concern as to whether or not they would get the monies after all when they heard that Voluntary Separation letters were sent out on Monday to 190 of its employees. Read more...
Mourners pay tribute to ‘kind, loving’ Felecia
“No matter what happens in this life, no matter what adversity you may find, just keep smiling.” This was the message of Rev Rhonda Marcelin yesterday evening to the relatives and loved ones of Felecia Persad at the funeral service for the murdered 29-year-old woman. Read more...
POLITICS
TTUTA, ministry agree on SEA supervision
Supervision by teachers of the May 5 Secondary Entrance Assessment (SE A) examination will be on a voluntary basis, as it has been in the past, according to an interim agreement reached between the Ministry of Education and the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA). This is according to Education Minister Anthony Garcia, who told a press conference yesterday hosted by Garcia and TTUTA President Davanand Sinanan at the ministry’s headquarters in St Clair, Port-of- Spain According to the agreement, vice principals and senior teachers will be required to go to other centres, but those teachers who volunteer to supervise on that day will remain at their schools. Teachers who are not involved in the supervision of the exam can remain at home, he said, and those who supervise the SE A exam will be given a day off, subsequently. Principals, in collaboration with School Supervisors III, will prepare the roster for schools with respect to the supervision of the exam. After the May 5 exam, the two parties agreed, there will be further discussions between TTUTA and the ministry to reach a permanent agreement, Garcia said. Read more...
Jearlean Sues for $17M
Fired managing director of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) Jearlean John is suing the HDC for $17.4 million. She is making the multi-million-dollar claim as compensation for wrongful dismissal and breach of contract after her contract was prematurely terminated last month. Read more...
BUSINESS
ILO chief warns about: Diversification fatigue
Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Guy Ryder sees diversification as the best way out of what he views as the “asymmetrical impact” of economic crises in the Caribbean. Ryder spoke exclusively with T&T Guardian following several rounds of discussions with government, employers’ and labour representatives this week. He said Caribbean countries are faced with “asymmetric impacts” which raise “the fundamental question about the capacity of national economies to demonstrate resilience and adaptability to external shocks.” According to the ILO head, who took office in 2012, “any economy that remains overly dependent on a single product, a single commodity, a single activity is always going to find itself vulnerable to external and its resilience and its capacity to absorb those shocks will be correspondingly debilitated.” Read more...
Bad for business
Business groups across the country have called for a reformed industrial relations climate that will benefit trade unions and employees and also allow businesses to be more productive and competitive. The issue was discussed yesterday at a consultation held by the Joint Chambers, comprising the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago (AmCham T&T), the Energy Chamber, the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Service Industries (TTCSI), the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) and the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce. Read more...
REGIONAL
Third Parties Being Targeted To Nab Tax Evaders
Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) is ramping up its efforts to collect taxes by going after tax evaders through third parties.The tax collection agency is now introducing what it calls a garnishment policy which allows tax authorities to serve notice on a third party who is the custodian of money belonging to the tax debtor. The TAJ is aiming to collect taxes owed by debtors through third parties, including lawyers, banks and all other financial institutions, lessees and tenants, employers and third parties involved in trading or contractual relations with the taxpayer. In a release yesterday, the TAJ described garnishment as a process where “notice is served on a person for the purpose of legally seizing money belonging to a debtor”. It explained that garnishment had always existed under Jamaican law but noted that the concept has now been incorporated into the Tax Collection Act. Where taxes are owed, the Tax Collection Act allows the Commissioner General to issue a Notice of Garnishment and have it served on a third party. The TAJ said garnishment would only be done when the Commissioner General is unable or unlikely to be able to collect from the tax debtor himself. Read more...
COTED convenes Thursday: CSME, correspondent banking in focus
Matters that impact on the economic health of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) come under focus in Georgetown, Guyana, when the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) meets on Thursday and Friday. Regional ministers with responsibility for trade will hold discussions on a range of matters including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), and treatment of nationals travelling in the region. There will also be an assessment of the progress that has been made with respect to a draft policy on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME). The MSME sector is considered a critical pillar of economic development of CARICOM as it contributes more than 70 percent of GDP in some member states and often employs more people than large businesses across the region. Ministers will also discuss the threat to the region’s correspondent banking relations (CBR). A correspondent bank is a financial institution that provides services on behalf of another financial institution. Correspondent banks are used by banks in one country to conduct business in a foreign country. Read more...
INTERNATIONAL
Mitsubishi Motors office raided over fuel economy tests
Japanese officials have raided an office of Mitsubishi Motors following the revelation that the carmaker had falsified its fuel economy data. The officials searched its plant in the central Japanese city of Okazaki. Mitsubishi has admitted that employees altered data to flatter mileage rates on more than 600,000 vehicles. A government spokesman said they were treating it as an "extremely serious case" and that it had ordered the company to submit a full report. The authorities have set 27 April as the deadline for Mitsubishi Motors to hand over the report on the inaccurate testing. Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said: "Based on [the findings from] the raid, and a report from the company, we would like to reveal the extent of the inaccuracies as soon as possible. "We will deal with the situation in a strict manner and would like to make sure of the safety of cars." The raided office is the company's second largest plant in Japan and is a manufacturing hub as well as a research facility. Read more...
U.S.-Mexico drug tunnel spanned 800 yards, held 2 tons of cocaine
A drug-trafficking tunnel nearly half a mile long underneath the California-Mexico border was discovered by federal agents, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Wednesday. Two tons of cocaine and seven tons of marijuana, worth nearly $22 million, were seized by federal agents who believe this to be the "longest cross-border tunnel ever discovered." The 800-yard tunnel route begins at a house in Tijuana, Mexico, and ends in the Otay Mesa neighborhood of San Diego. Agents were hot on the tail of the alleged drug traffickers after they noticed a commercial truck deliver an industrial dumpster filled with wood scraps to an outdoor industrial lot; days later, agents discovered this to be an entryway into the tunnel. Read more
21st April 2016