NEWS
Company claims sabotage at rural field
State-owned oil company Petrotrin has reportedly discovered three acts of sabotage at one of its rural production fields. The company was thrust into the national spotlight after its board decided to shut down the refinery and retrench all the workers. The company is scheduled to cease operations on November 30. In a media statement, Petrotrin said at 11.45 pm on Tuesday, production personnel doing routine checks at its Central Los Bajos Field discovered “three incidents” at the North Palo Seco Tank Battery No 1. Investigations later revealed the three incidents were the result of sabotage, it said. Read more here
5 killed in 24-hour span
The lives of five families were forever changed by criminals who left a trail of anguish on Tuesday night when they took the lives of five men in separate incidents.
Rock bassist Shivan Ramdhanie, Rio Claro father Clifton “Bess” Jeffery, Navet farmer Lalbeharry Ramoutar and Superintendent of Prisons Wayne Jackson and Juma McKell were all murdered within 24 hours. In the latest incident, Juma McKell died at the Arima Health Facility hours after being shot several times about the body at Phase Four, La Horquetta, around 4 pm yesterday. Read more here
POLITICS
Full speed ahead with Alutech facility
After being in abeyance for some eight years at significant financial loss to TT, the Prime Minister yesterday declared the long-awaited Alutech Research and Development Facility has finally resumed, “full speed ahead.” He was delivering the feature address at the launch of the $87 million aluminium facility at Tamana InTech Park, Wallerfield. Dr Rowley said the project, which is expected to become operational in the next 18 months, would contribute significantly to TT’s economic diversification thrust. Read more here
T&T fighting crime scourge - Young
With the high-profile murder of acting Superintendent of Prisons Wayne Jackson and three others overnight on Tuesday, National Security Minister Stuart Young has admitted that the scourge of criminality continuing at a pace that is unacceptable. But Young gave the assurance that there will be a renewed and rejuvenated effort by the police who will also be part of a new joint Inter-Agency Task Force of all law enforcement agencies, including the T&T Defence Force, SSA, intelligence agencies and the T&T Prison Service. Read more here
BUSINESS
Spotlight on CinemaOne
BUSINESS power couple Brian and Ingrid Jahra, chairman and CEO respectively of CinemaOne Ltd which operates IMAX Trinidad and Gemstone, have some big ambitions for their seven year old company. They have already made history by becoming the first small and medium enterprise (SME) listing on the TT Stock Exchange with the launch of their initial public offering (IPO) on September 17. But the company is also planning to expand into south Trinidad and to extend their interests into the US. Business Day chatted with the Jahras about the IPO and the company in a recent interview at Gemstone, One Woodbrook Place, Port of Spain. Read more here
Mariano: Deal with NIS shortfall now, not later
Former Minister in the Ministry of Finance Mariano Browne says he was “shocked” by Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s comments that the National Insurance Fund has more than $20 billion and would not be a problem today but 35 years from now. Speaking to the Guardian Media yesterday Browne rubbished the Minister's claims saying "the asset problem of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) is a problem today not tomorrow.” Referencing the Ninth Actuarial Review of the National Insurance System as of June 30, 2013, Browne noted that the report warned that “starting in 2019,” the National Insurance Board would have to start selling assets to pay existing pensions, “2019, that is next year." Read more here
REGIONAL
Pushback For PEP - Parents, Teachers Pleased With Rescheduled Date Of Performance Task Exam
The decision by the education ministry to push back the Performance Task component of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examination until March 2019 is being praised by both parents and teachers. It was originally scheduled to be done in December. Lennon Richards, president of the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ), is also lauding the ministry for implementing a PEP website. He said that this would place parents in a better position to inform themselves and to prepare their children for the exam. Richards said that he believed that all the stakeholders would now have adequate time and resources to prepare. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
The Paris park where Nigerian women are forced into prostitution
A row of dirty vans is parked on a broad, tree-lined avenue in the outskirts of Paris. In the dark of night, fluttering candles light up the faces of the women in the front seats. None of them wear more than their underwear. Others, wearing miniskirts, stand outside underneath street lamps, facing out onto the empty road. Nadège was one of these women before she managed to escape. She is softly spoken. "Even now I don't have hope for myself," she says. "My past already destroyed my future." Read more here
Russia's GRU 'targeted chemical weapons watchdog OPCW'
The operation by Russia's GRU military intelligence allegedly targeted the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons in The Hague in April. The OPCW has been probing the chemical attack on a Russian ex-spy in the UK. The allegations are part of an organised push-back against alleged Russian cyber attacks around the world. The Netherlands has summoned the Russian ambassador for an explanation. "By revealing this Russian action, we send out a clear message: Russia must stop this," said Dutch Defence Minister Ank Bijleveld-Schouten. Read more here
4th October 2018