NEWS
After swine flu death in South: Cover-up, say relatives
T&T recorded its fourth confirmed death from the highly contagious H1N1 Influenza (swine flu), which accounted for over 14,000 deaths worldwide in 2009. According to a copy of a death certificate obtained by the T&T Guardian yesterday, Siparia mother Cherrie Ryce, 46, died of swine flu at the San Fernando General Hospital last Saturday after being warded there for just over a week. The death certificate certified by Prof Hubert Daisley stated the cause of death as “H1N1 influenza, diabetes mellitus and type 2 hypertension. Read more…
I Saw Death
English-born attorney Richard Wheeler had a premonition of death last week during a bout of sudden illness which prevented him from travelling to London to witness the world rugby championships. Wheeler was said to have confided in close friends the “bad feeling” he developed and reportedly went as far as telling them that his experience was life changing. He was said to have told them, “I saw death.” Wheeler who adopted Tobago as his home reportedly collapsed at the ANR Robinson International Airport in Tobago while preparing to board a flight to the United Kingdom. He had to be hospitalised and when he was discharged, told friends about his feeling.
Wheeler was said to be a rugby fanatic and wanted to see the international tournament first hand. Read more…
Police grossly negligent
That was the reaction of Peter Green upon hearing of the double murder of his friends British national attorney Richard Wheeler and his Trinidadian wife Grace Wheeler. Peter told the Express yesterday via e-mail from the United Kingdom that Wheeler did some legal work for him in the past. “Our last venture with him was to sell the remaining land we had in Tobago. It was then he noticed our deeds had been tampered with and Murium’s (his wife) name had been removed,” Green said. Read more…
POLITICS
Carmona hails ex-prosecutor
President Anthony Carmona joined hundreds of mourners yesterday in bidding farwell to his former colleague, retired deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Clyde Seepersad, remembering him as an excellent attorney and magistrate. Carmona paid tribute to Seepersad, who died on Saturday, during the funeral service at the Susamachar Presbyterian Church, San Fernando, yesterday. Seepersad was the father of High Court judge Frank Seepersad. Reminiscing on his early days as an attorney in the DPP’s office, Carmona said Seepersad was the one person to welcome him with open arms. “When I started my professional life as a lawyer, the one person who welcomed me with open arms was Clyde and he did not do it in any kind of patronising manner. Read more…
Francis: TT must lessen carbon footprint
Anything that a society can do to lessen its carbon footprint is significant, said Minister of State in the Education Ministry, Dr Lovell Francis, yesterday as he congratulated the first cohort of the National Energy Skills Centre (NESC)/National Gas Company, Compressed Natural Gas (NGC CNG ) Engine Maintenance Fundamentals programme. “As a society, we face a number of environmental concerns. Anything that we can do to lessen our carbon footprint is significant. Any achievement in education is something to be valued. More than that, it is tremendously significant to be a pioneer in anything that is good,” he said during the achievement ceremony at the NGC’s Employees Centre at Orinoco Drive, Point Lisas. NESC and NGC CNG signed a Memorandum of Understanding on October 15 last year for the CNG maintenance technician training programme. Read more…
UNC Internal Elections December 5
The National Executive of the United National Congress (UNC) at its meeting held today at the Rienzi Complex decided that the Party’s Internal Elections will be held on Saturday December 5, 2015. In a release tonight, the party said voting will take place between the hours of 8 a.m and 6 p.m. at venues to be announced.
The following positions will be up for election:-
· Political Leader
· Deputy Political Leaders (3)
· Chairman
· Deputy Chairman
· Policy & Strategy Officer
· Education Officer
· Research Officer
· Elections Officer
· Treasurer
· Party Organizer
· International Relations Officer
· Northeast Regional Representative
· South Regional Representative
· Northwest Regional Representative
· Central Regional Representative
· Tobago Regional Representative
BUSINESS
ANSA McAL betters Ambev bid for BHL
ANSA McAL is making a bid for full control of Banks Holdings Limited (BHL) Barbados’ largest beverage conglomerate. If successful, the transaction will add to the portfolio of Caribbean beer brands held by the T&T-based conglomerate which currently includes Carib, Stag, Mackeson and Red Stripe. ANSA McAL’s unconditional $5.20 per share offer to BHL shareholders betters an offer of $4 a share from Ambev, a major international beer and beverage producer headquartered in Brazil with operations across the Latin America and the Caribbean. Read more…
TT in CARICOM fishing workshop
THIS country was represented as over 17 fisherfolk leaders from national and primary fisherfolk organisations in 15 CARICOM countries and resource persons from the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organisations (CNFO), Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CFRM), Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies of the University of the West Indies (UWI-CERMES) and Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Commission participated in the Third Regional Caribbean Fisherfolk Action Learning Group (FFALG) workshop during October 5 - 8, in Antigua and Barbuda. During the workshop, participants reviewed the actions implemented under the Strengthening Caribbean Fisherfolk to Participate in Governance project to date; shared experiences and lessons learned in policy influencing from their participation in various fisheries and related fora at the international, regional and national levels; and reviewed key fisheries policies (eg Smallscale Fisheries (SSF) Guidelines, Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy) and projects (e.g. Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem+ Project) and determined the implications for sustainable small-scale fisheries development in the Caribbean. Read more…
Petrotrin appoints new president
State oil company Petrotrin has appointed engineer Fitzroy Harewood as its new president. His appointment takes effect on November 1 and comes into effect after the tenure of current president Khalid Hassanali officially ends on October 31, Petrotrin’s Andrew Jupiter-chaired board announced in a statement yesterday. Harewood brings to Petrotrin over 29 years of technical and leadership experience, the company said.
In 1986, he joined predecessor company Trintoc as a project engineer. Read more…
REGIONAL
Arrest should serve as warning, says St Kitts-Nevis foreign minister
The arrest of former Antiguan ambassador John Ashe in the United States should serve as a warning to others, according to St Kitts and Nevis Foreign Affairs Minister Mark Brantley. US authorities earlier this month charged the former United Nations General Assembly president with taking bribes from a Chinese billionaire. Ashe is accused of taking $1.3 million, spending the cash on luxury goods. Brantley says diplomats as well as politicians should take note. Read more…
UHWI Takes Blame For Keeping Ferguson In Dark Over Baby Deaths, Delaying Response
The University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) has taken the blame for failing to tell the Health Ministry about an infectious outbreak at the hospital that resulted in the deaths of several babies. The Health Minister, Dr Fenton Ferguson, has been under intense pressure since yesterday when he told a press conference that he learned of the problems only on Friday — the same day the story was first reported on Nationwide Radio. According to John Lindo, the acting head of the Department of Microbiology, a timely report would have triggered a series of actions by the Ministry of Health and its international partners including the Caribbean Public Health Agency and the Pan-American Health Organisation. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Michael J. Fox sports 'Back to the Future' shoes on Kimmel show
Michael J. Fox wore a brand new pair of self-lacing "Back to the Future" sneakers to the "Jimmy Kimmel Live" show Wednesday. He didn't just show up in the futuristic shoes. He arrived on stage as Marty McFly, a passenger in a DeLorean driven by Christopher Lloyd in full Doc Brown mode. The spectacular arrival was the culmination of Back to the Future Day to mark the date Marty and Doc landed in the 1989 "Back to the Future II" film. Read more…
Hillary Clinton to testify on 2012 Benghazi consulate attack
22nd October 2015