NEWS
Not me and this Budget
Although he is head of Government’s Economic Development Advisory Board Dr Terrence Farrell says he is not taking any responsibility for tomorrow’s budget, the second of the People’s National Movement (PNM) administration. Dr Farrell made the declaration during an interview following yesterday’s release of the Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017 at the Mt Hope campus of the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business. The report, which ranks 138 countries in the world and is produced each year by the World Economic Forum, showed this country dropped five places from last year, to rank 94th in Global Competitiveness. Dr Farrell said he was neither disappointed nor surprised by the fall in this country’s ranking and noted that there was no gasp of surprise from the audience when the result was announced. He said that based on the criteria used by the compilers of the report, the decline in this country’s ranking was entirely to be expected. Read more here
Bad info throws off cops in Ria’s case
It has been a week since hairstylist Ria Sookdeo was abducted a few kilometres from her Debe home and police are again urging the public to be responsible about the information they are sharing. Investigators said while they were allocating a lot of resources towards finding Sookdeo bad information could hamper the police investigation. Meanwhile, they continue to search areas in Moruga, Barrackpore, Cedros and Penal. They are still looking for the black Nissan X-Trail SUV that her abductors used. An investigator told the T&T Guardian yesterday abductions were sensitive cases given that the abductors would be looking at the information in the public and respond to it accordingly to evade capture. Read more here
POLITICS
Kamla: This was a breach of confidentiality
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday alleged a breach of confidentiality in communication which took place between the Office of the Prime Minister and the Office of the President. Commenting on statements by President Anthony Carmona yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said PM Dr Keith Rowley must state how details of classified correspondence between the two top offices in the country, were reported in the media. Persad-Bissessar also said Rowley must indicate whether or not he was briefed by Carmona about the proposed meeting between the President and National Security Minister Edmund Dillon and whether it was sanctioned by the PM. Read more here
Carmona denies employee’s company used: ‘Wine from Italy was cheaper’
President Anthony Carmona says “contrary to false and incorrect media reports, neither Ms Pramati Noe, former private secretary to the President, nor Antonio Piccolo purchased, nor imported quality wines on behalf of the Office of the President.” Additionally, he said, Italian Import/Export Limited, a registered local company and/or its directors, neither purchased nor imported any wine on behalf of the office of the President. He made the comment yesterday in response to queries over whether his office had properly tendered for the purchase of the wine and whether he had used the services of an employee’s company to do so. Carmona said they utilised “a well-established registered local company to be the agent who facilitated the purchase and importation of such quality wines.” He said the wines were neither bottled nor labelled in Trinidad and Tobago but gave no detail as to the company used. Read more here
BUSINESS
UWI/RBL launch ‘World of Work’
The University of the West Indies (UWI) St Augustine campus and Republic Bank Limited (RBL) continue to prepare and equip students with the necessary tools for succeeding in the World of Work (WOW). The campus unveiled the plans for its 2016 WOW programme on September 22, with a media launch and seminar at The UWI’s Sport and Physical Education Centre. The programme, which is over 20 years in existence, has benefitted from a decade-long partnership with RBL. Speaking at the event, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal of The UWI St. Augustine, Professor Brian Copeland, thanked RBL for their continued commitment to The UWI and its graduates. He also noted that there is a reason why the programme has thrived for so long and has grown substantially in content and participation. “It is the recognition that success in the professional world and in the area of entrepreneurship takes more than theory. Today WOW attracts some 1,400 final year students and 1,000 first and second year students,” he said. Read more here
T&T drops in Competitiveness Index
Chairman of the Economic Development Advisory Board Dr Terrence Farrell says the business community is doing little to advance the welfare of the country and has even been creating some of the problems that exist today. “There is inertia on the part of the business leaders. The private sector in T&T has been doing the same thing, buying and selling and putting a mark up for the last 200 years. There is no innovation, they are not conducting R&D. They are looking for the best deals they can get from Japan and China to import to mark up. That is inertia and poor work ethic on their part,” he said yesterday at the launch of the 2016-2017 Global Competitiveness Index Rankings at the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business, Mt Hope. Farrell, who took part in a panel discussion at the launch, said while T&T’s macro economic problems are a result of external forces, there are other issues that can be rectified. Read more here
REGIONAL
'Last Chance' - Stakeholders Warn Of Business, Tourism Fallout If Crime Not Curbed Next Month
While the debate over whether a state of emergency is the ideal response to the upsurge in crime in Montego Bay, St James, continues to attract mixed reactions, two prominent business operators in the tourist capital are warning that the city will have much to lose if the security forces fail to get a grip on the situation. "We will lose a lot. We could see cancellations that will affect the next winter season if we don't correct the problem now," said businessman Godfrey Dyer, chairman of the Tourism Enhancement Fund, during a Gleaner Editors' Forum on crime held yesterday at Pier One in Montego Bay. "We have the last chance to do it (because) October is the last slow month. November, we will start to pick up again, so we need to make use of this October month, clean up Montego Bay and surrounding areas so we can have a good winter season." Read more here
Guyana government silent on visit by head of Islamic organisation
A one-day official visit to Guyana on Tuesday by the secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Iyad Ameen Madani, was neither publicised by the government nor covered in any way by the state-owned media – the government news agency (GINA) and the Guyana Chronicle. However, while in Georgetown, Madani met the vice president and minister of foreign affairs of Guyana, Carl Greenidge. Discussions focused on further strengthening the existing relations between the OIC, its institutions, and Guyana. Madani and Greenidge underlined the importance of issues like Palestine, OIC Strategic Plan of Action 2025, micro-finance, cooperation in the field of women, youth and sports and other issues of mutual concern on the agenda of the upcoming 43rd Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM). Greenidge was again invited to attend the OIC foreign ministers meeting, which will take place in Uzbekistan from October 18-19. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Kashmir attack: India 'launches strikes against militants'
The Iraqi housewife who 'cooked the heads' of ISIS fighters
"Shut up and stay still," the woman in black fatigues and a black headscarf snapped over her shoulder at the armed men behind her as she sat down for an interview. Immediately they went quiet, each adjusting his weapon and standing up straight as if he'd been called to attention. This is a woman who commands respect, I thought. She keeps a Beretta 9-millimeter pistol in a holster under her left arm. The area around the trigger was silver where the paint had worn off. The woman in question, 39-year-old Wahida Mohamed -- better known as Um Hanadi -- leads a force of around 70 men in the area of Shirqat, a town 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Mosul, Iraq. Read more here
29th September 2016