NEWS
Government makes step towards $1m payments to Paria divers' families
The Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries has written to the attorneys of the families of the deceased divers and survivor Christopher Boodram asking them where to send the $1 million ex-gratia payment. Attorney Prakash Ramadhar, who represents the families of Fyzal Kurban and Yusuff Henry, shared the letter with Newsday. Dated April 22, it read: “Please be advised that the government has approved the payment of an ex-gratia award in the sum of $1 million to the estate of Mr Fyzal Kurban, who died as a result of a diving incident on February 25, 2022 at No 36 Sealine Riser on Berth No 6 of the Paria Fuel Trading Company located in the Gulf of Paria. Read more here
Acting CoP unveils security plan to observer team
Acting Commissioner of Police Junior Benjamin yesterday assured the public and the visiting Caricom and Commonwealth observer teams that the T&T Police Service (TTPS) will have security measures in place to guard against any potential threat or possible disruption of Monday’s General Election process. Benjamin comment came a day after he revealed the TTPS had intelligence of an alleged plot to disrupt the election process. Speaking to Guardian Media after meetings with the Caricom and Commonwealth observer teams, Benjamin said the visitors also enquired about the threat. “They (election observers) wanted to know what we put in place, based on reports in the media in relation to what was said about the political atmosphere and the climate at this time,” he said. Read more here
POLITICS
Patriotic Front presents manifesto
The Patriotic Front (PF) has presented its 2025 general election manifesto. In presenting the manifesto on April 22, PF political leader Mickela Panday described it as "a plan for national recovery." In a video posted on Facebook, Panday said some aspects of the plan included, "no new taxes, no reckless borrowing, no gimmicks." She lamented the country had drifted far from its fundamental principles and too many people had been left behind. Read more here
Swaratsingh slams finance minister’s statements on economy
Ex-People’s National Movement (PNM) member Kennedy Swaratsingh is condemning recent statements on the economy made by Finance Minister Vishnu Dhanpaul. At Tuesday’s UNC meeting in St Joseph, Swaratsingh said T&T was facing a $130 billion debt and there were many incomplete projects. He said he chuckled when Dhanpaul said all those things happened; he was not there, but he was there now. “I know (Dhanpaul) as a permanent secretary in the finance ministry,” Swaratsingh said. “He was in London for T&T’s High Commission there. If you sat there and had all these ideas you have now, why you didn’t pick up the phone and call somebody—your colleagues, your former boss? But no, all of a sudden, they have all kinds of idea, yet for the last ten years, they sat and looked after—not the people.” Read more here
BUSINESS
Any gas after Dragon? What's on the blocks for Trinidad and Tobago's energy economy
Why should we care if there is any gas after Dragon? Petroleum, particularly gas, is the backbone of our economy. The US-dollar limit on your credit card is tied intrinsically to gas production. Finding oil or gas fields and getting them online is a lengthy process. Generally, the government has a bid round, putting out blocks for auction. These rounds may take two years from opening to signing a block to an operator (like a bp or Shell). Then exploration occurs which means acquiring seismic data followed by drilling wells. This is usually about six years. Read more here
Methanex emerges victorious in $28M tax case
Methanol producer, Methanex, has emerged victorious in its protracted legal battle over being accused of evading over TT$28 million in taxes on dividends it paid for 2007. Delivering a judgment yesterday, five Law Lords of the United Kingdom-based Privy Council upheld Methanex Trinidad (Titan) Unlimited’s final appeal against the Board of Inland Revenue (BIR). Lord David Richards, who wrote the judgment, said that the local Tax Appeal Board (TAB) and the Court of Appeal were wrong to have dismissed Methanex’s claim and associated appeal in 2019 and 2021, respectively. The lawsuit related to four dividend payments, totalling US$85.4 million, paid by it for income tax year 2007. Read more here
REGIONAL
Guyana’s economic prospects remain positive
Amid global policy shifts and mounting uncertainty, Guyana is poised to be one of the world’s fastest-growing economies in 2025, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projecting a robust GDP growth of 10.3 perfect. This forecast places Guyana second only to Libya in economic expansion, according to the IMF’s April World Economic Outlook theme “A Critical Juncture Amid Policy Shifts”. According to the IMF, following a prolonged and unprecedented series of shocks, the global economy has shown signs of stabilization with “steady yet underwhelming growth rates”. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Deadly Kashmir attack risks India military escalation against Pakistan
Tuesday's bloodshed in Pahalgam - where at least 26 tourists were killed in a hail of gunfire - marks the deadliest militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir since 2019. The victims weren't soldiers or officials, but civilians on holiday in one of India's most picturesque valleys. That alone makes this strike both brutal and symbolic: a calculated assault not just on lives, but on a fragile sense of normalcy the Indian state has worked hard to project in the disputed region. Given the fraught history of Kashmir - claimed in full by both India and Pakistan but ruled by each only in part - India's response is likely to be shaped as much by precedent as by pressure, say experts. Read more here
24th April 2025