NEWS
Wife vs Wife
It is not the function of the High Courts to make a moral judgement on whether it is right for a man to have two wives. For while it may cause hurt for both families, the court’s function is merely to be fair to all involved. This was the ruling handed down yesterday by a judge as he ordered the wife of a man whom she lived with until his death in 2009, to surrender property valued over $600,000, to another woman whom the man also lived with, in a common-law relationship, up to his demise. Capildeo Ragbir, 62, lived with two women and maintained two families in South Trinidad. After he died in 2009, the wife and common- law wife, faced off in a court battle over a house and parcel of land. Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh heard a lawsuit filed by common- law wife Tara Ramlochan, 58, who lives in a house in Churkoo Village, Ste Madeleine, which she filed against Ramdai Ragbir, 59, who lives 15 miles away, in Rousillac Village. Read more…
Clico posts performance after pressure: Healthy $5b 2014 profit
Colonial Life Insurance Company Ltd posted profits of $5.2 billion at the end of December 2014, according to the company’s latest financial statements. The T&T Guardian obtained the information after it was posted on Clico’s website yesterday afternoon. A source said revelation of the information followed very recent queries by interested parties this week to the Central Bank on various aspects of the Clico-CL issue, including when the last financial statements would be published. In the statements posted online, it was noted that Clico’s profit for the year (2014) attributable to equity holders was $5,132,999 million. The 2013 figure was $406 million. The statements noted Prescience Insurance Consultants and Actuaries’ November 2015 assessment which put the company’s policy liabilities at December 2014 as TT$20,748,271,000. Read more…
Fr Harvey: Unhealthy babies should not be terminated
Babies who are not born healthy and who are impacted by the Zika virus should not be aborted but brought into this world and loved more deeply. This was the view expressed by Fr Clyde Harvey, Vicar of Clergy, Archdiocese of Port of Spain, at a forum hosted by the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES), at The University of the West Indies (The UWI), St Augustine, titled: “Abortion: Her body, her choice?”. Read more…
POLITICS
No approval for contract hirings
NO Cabinet approval was seen for the hiring of 163 people on contract in the Police Service. This information was contained in the report of the Auditor General on this country’s public accounts for the 2015 financial year. The Auditor General noted, “Cabinet approval was not seen for the hiring of 163 persons on two-year contracts with monthly emoluments totalling $2,3700,728.” The Auditor General further stated that this “contravenes Personnel Department Circular PD(bm): 12/21 (Temp) dated August 16, 2012, which requires the prior approval of Cabinet for the employment of contract personnel. The report also spoke about 296 cases of overpayments in the Police Service which totalled $21,148,040.12 which had not been reported to the Auditor General in accordance with Financial Instruction 164. Read more…
Ramdeen on SSA Bill: Journalists can become ‘targets’
Government’s Strategic Services Agency (SSA) Amendment Bill could mean the end of media freedom, since journalists researching issues, collecting information and dealing with politically sensitive sources could fall under surveillance by the SSA, says Opposition Senator Gerald Ramdeen. “The effect of the introduction of the new concept of ‘serious crime’ in the bill, together with the Interception of Communication Act and provisions of the Sedition Act, which is tied into it, can be the beginning of the end of the fourth estate,” Ramdeen told T&T Guardian yesterday, during an Opposition press conference at the Parliament. The Opposition is calling on Government to withdraw the SSA Bill and refer it and amendments being proposed by the Opposition to a select committee or the matter may be tested in the Privy Council if the bill becomes law. Debate on the controversial bill began in the Senate on Tuesday after passage in the Lower House. The bill, part of Government’s anti-crime thrust, seeks to expand the SSA’s powers, including use of the Interception of Communication Bill to “tap phones” to obtain information concerning a wide range of matters. Read more…
Cuffie appalled at $100m wasted rent
That is how Minister of Public Administration and Communications Maxie Cuffie described the situation in which the State has paid approximately $100 million for the renting of seven vacant buildings. The matter was highlighted in the Auditor General's 2015 report, which was tabled in the Senate on Tuesday. Read more…
BUSINESS
Largest hydraulically articulated truck arrives in TT
Tucker Energy has taken delivery of an EFFER Model 955H-S/95 Tonne/ Metre articulated crane which is mounted onto a new Freightliner truck. The crane is intended to fulfil Tucker’s heavy lifting requirements for its oil and energy services landbased operations. The EFFER Brand of Knuckle boom truck mounted cranes was introduced with sole authorization by Rosco Petroavance Limited, early in 2012 and has gained popularity in a short space of time. Customers have grown to discover and embrace the versatility of the most powerful truck mounted foldable cranes in the world. EFFER Knuckle Boom Cranes have defied the odds and rose to acclaim, picking up the challenge to be lighter and faster and boasts lifting more at greater distances. Read more…
TSTT commits to ICT investments
Majority state-owned Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) will continue to invest millions in T&T’s information, communication and technology sector even as it deals with the effects of the economic downturn, chief marketing officer Camille Campbell said on Tuesday night. In remarks at the T&T Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TPBA) annual dinner and awards ceremony at Jaffa Restaurant, Queen’s Park Oval, she said: “Digital media has really been a liberating phenomenon with all the attendant promises and accompanying pitfalls. The presence of established media in these spaces has had the positive effect of giving consumers the opportunity to compare side by side, the reliability of content that is fashion by principals of journalism and content that may be passionate. “As the only national full service provider of communications services, TSTT is committed to ensuring that everyone has access to the technology that is fostering digital communities, digital conversations, digital advocacy and digital co-ordination that has reached such critical mass that is has provoked individuals and institutions of the state to take action in cases that, in the past, would have been ignored. Read more…
Rowley Gets Down To Business
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and his delegation arrived Monday in Washington D.C. Rowley met on Tuesday with President of Howard University Dr Wayne Frederick. The discussions at this meeting centred around the opportunity for Trinidad and Tobago and Howard University to collaborate in the areas of health care training and other human resource issues with a view to improving health care delivery in Trinidad and Tobago. It is notable that Dr Frederick was born in Trinidad and Tobago. Prime Minister Rowley also met Tuesday with President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) Mr Luis Alberto Moreno at the bank’s headquarters in Washington D.C. Following the meeting with the IADB, Rowley and the Trinidad and Tobago delegation attended a cocktail reception in their honour co-hosted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and the Council of the Americas at the U.S Department of State. The reception served as both the close of the Council of the Americas 46th Annual Washington Conference and the opening of the U.S. Caribbean Central American Energy Summit. Read more…
REGIONAL
Blacklist of tax havens coming within six months, says EU
A European-wide blacklist of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions is definitely coming and will be announced within six months, according to EU officials. Member of European Parliament (MEP) Jeppe Kofod, who is part of the TAXE2 Committee that a delegation from Cayman recently appeared before, confirmed to CNS Business that an EU blacklist for non-cooperative tax jurisdictions is a priority for the European Commission. “I am absolutely confident that the European Commission will have to deliver upon this, and that they will have to deliver soon,” Kofod said. “The European Parliament has called for such a list for a long time and Commissioner Moscovici has now committed himself to delivering within a six month time period.” If Cayman were to be included on such a list, it would be a hammer blow for the financial services industry, which has spent the last few years bending over backwards to implement every OECD initiative required on tax information exchange and transparency, as well as the government striking the recent agreement with the UK on the sharing beneficial ownership information. Kofod, who is a member of Denmark’s Social Democratic delegation to the European Parliament, said Cayman’s potential inclusion on any EU blacklist would really depend upon its own actions. Read more…
Rise In Young CEOs – SMEs Increase As Youth Shun Regular 9-5 Jobs
Lack of opportunities, a high employment rate, the unbridled willingness to take risks, and a strong passion to succeed are driving an increasing number of young persons to start their own business. In fact, facilitators of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are acknowledging this global paradigm shift as young adults shun the nine-to-five workforce and delve into their own innovative, moneymaking business ventures. "I graduate about 200 young persons per year in the course that I teach at the University of the West Indies, and most of them are looking to start their own business because they have recognised that there are not a lot of jobs waiting for them," said Valerie Veira, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), speaking yesterday during The Gleaner's Growth Forum held at the media house's Kingston office. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Much-anticipated monsoon may not solve India's drought crisis
India's killer heatwave is leaving the country reeling from the worst drought in decades and a rural population struggling to survive. Relief is due with the arrival of the monsoon in mid-June, and because of the impending La Nina weather pattern, the forecast is for above-average rainfall. However WaterAid India's Head of Policy, Nitya Jacob, says groundwater levels are so depleted that even if a good monsoon comes in June -- and meteorologists predict there will be one that ends the drought -- it won't be enough. "Even if the monsoon is good, it cannot compensate," Jacob told CNN. Central Water Commission data shows that India's major reservoirs are 79% empty, and 75% of India's basins are holding less water than the 10-year average. CNN Meteorologist, Michael Guy, says this is usually the hottest time for the subcontinent, but this year has seen an unprecedented spike in temperatures. Read more…
Turkey PM Ahmet Davutoglu to quit amid Erdogan rift rumours
5th May 2016