NEWS
Dead boy’s statements taken to court
Two purported statements of Brandon Hargreaves, 14, who died while under State care at the St Michael’s Home for Boys in Diego Martin, after being rescued by the police, were yesterday produced in court in relation to charges of cruelty brought against three adults. The charges were laid prior to Hargreaves being placed at the institution. On July 19, 2012, the then 12-year-old boy was allegedly found imprisoned in a kennel with a dangerous dog and was treated at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for puncture wounds, as a result of dog bites. Doctors also found the boy had marks about his body which showed he was beaten with a blunt instrument.
Three relatives were charged: Nigel Hargreaves, Kendall Baptiste and Nasha Baboolal. Hargreaves and Baptiste are accused of wilfully exposing the child to danger, putting his health at risk at Upper Valley Road, while Baboolal was charged with assaulting the minor. Read more…
Victim’s dad: I can forgive the children, but not the father
Although he said he has forgiven the children who were involved in the “accidental killing” of his son, 11-year-old Reuben Reid, Phillip Thomas told mourners yesterday he could not and would not find it in his heart to forgive the children’s father, who allegedly owned the weapon. Thomas made this statement while speaking at the funeral service for his son at the Church of Christ along Brunton Avenue, Diego Martin. Read more…
Drug seizures double over past year—TTPS
Cocaine and marijuana seizures by police have more than doubled over the past year. In a press release issued yesterday, the T&T Police Service (TTPS) Public Affairs Unit stated that drug seizures surpassed the total seizures for the whole of last year through intensive anti-crime exercises held between January and July 2015. There has been a 131 per cent increase in cocaine seizures with 193 kilogrammes being recovered as compared to 83 kilogrammes recorded for the same period last year. Marijuana seizures increased more significantly than did cocaine as anti-drug operations netted 1,239 kilogrammes as compared to 471 kilogrammes seized last year—an 163 per cent increase. “For the entire 2014, 148 kilos of cocaine were seized with a street value of $5.3 million and 1,185 kilos of marijuana with a value of $13 million,” the release said. Read more…
POLITICS
Kamla: PP will win again
Declaring her Government possessed a specific plan to develop the nation, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday expressed confidence that the People’s Partnership will win a second term in the September 7 General Election. “We will win this election,” Persad- Bissessar said, adding, “I feel very confident. We have a plan for delivery, we have a vision, plans for the economy, for the health sector, and continued infrastructure development.” “This is not just talk. They promised for 50 years to build the San Fernando to Point Fortin Highway, and I want to say that on Saturday, we will commission the Debe Interchange, it is complete, it is ready.” Persad-Bissessar, political leader of the United National Congress (UNC), was speaking to reporters during a break in the screening process for a number of constituencies including Oropouche West, Point Fortin and Naparima at the UNC South Regional Office, Paraiso Complex, Claxton Bay last evening. Read more…
Jack is no challenge for the UNC
The United National Congress (UNC) is not threatened by the announcement Independent Liberal Party (ILP) political leader and Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner will contest the Chaguanas East seat in the September 7 general election. This is according to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who was expected to complete the UNC’s screening process last night. “Chaguanas East is a seat which is clearly one the UNC can win. I don’t see it as a challenge,” said Persad-Bissessar. She said Chaguanas East nominees were screened in two batches. “There is no doubt in my mind we will win the Chaguanas East seat, whether who is there or who is not there,” she said. Read more…
Coudray on if PP is returned: More autonomy for corporations
Local Government Minister Marlene Coudray says Government will bring new legislation that will give more autonomy to regional corporations should the People’s Partnership return to government. Rejecting the PNM’s plan to scrap the ministry altogether and have the Finance Ministry absorb some of its function, she assured her party was committed to local government, saying it tends to the direct needs of citizens. Speaking at the opening of the Poonah Recreation Ground pavilion yesterday, she said even though the PNM proposes to develop a Ministry of Rural Development, the Ministry of Local Government was already helping rural communities through the upliftment of recreational grounds, roads, drainage and disaster relief. Read more…
BUSINESS
Bharath: No decision yet on CAL’s London route
Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) has not dropped its London route. Trade Minister Vasant Bharath said the airline is seeking the assistance of two consultants and that no decision has been made to cut the route. Earlier this week, Airways magazine reported that CAL had dropped the route which it started in 2012 and two aircraft have been returned. “CAL has been reassessing its routes for the last 12 months including the London route,” Bharath explained, adding that the airline is working with two consulting firms “to look at what are the most efficient routes that they currently have and the rationalisation of those routes.” He said the London route has always been one with a “high load factor” and the airline may have been using the wrong aircraft to fly the route. Read more…
Oil companies to get 0% tax amid low prices
THE bar under which a 33 per cent supplemental petroleum tax (SPT) becomes zero per cent may be raised from US$50 per barrel to as high as US$80 to allow oil companies to pay zero per cent SPT amid low oil prices, Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine said yesterday. He was speaking at an Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business lecture in Mt Hope. Read more…
iQor in TT
Trade Industry Investment and Communications Minister Vasant Bharath yesterday welcomed iQor, the first tenant for Tamana InTech Park to this country. The meeting took place at the Radisson Hotel. In his feature address he noted that “the opening of this new Call Centre is a demonstration of how Trinidad and Tobago has transformed itself to meet the modern standards of investors.” Bharath gave the assurance that “iQor can count on meeting its employment needs right here, from our very own young people.” With with 32,000 employees in 17 countries, IQor partners with many of the world’s best-known brands to deliver aftermarket product and customer support solutions that span the consumer value chain, from customer care and receivables management to product diagnostics and repair services. Read more…
REGIONAL
Suriname president sworn in for second term
Desi Bouterse was sworn in Wednesday for a second consecutive term as president of Suriname. Bouterse’s National Democratic Party (NDP) won the May 25 general elections, claiming 26 seats in the country’s 51-seat National Assembly. On July 14 he was elected for a second term by parliament. Bouterse noted in his inaugural speech that the atmosphere of cooperation, mutual understanding and critical guidance focused on the national interests that exists since the elections has been highly appreciated. He added that it is the first time in Suriname’s history that “we as a people can seize the opportunity to uplift our nation to a threshold of heretofore-unknown prosperity, based on the exploitation of sustainable sectors managed by ourselves”. Read more…
PNP Expects Challenges In 12 Constituencies With More Than One Aspirant
The People’s National Party (PNP) says there could be run-offs in 12 constituencies to determine the party’s representatives for national elections.Speaking on Cliff Hughes Online this afternoon, PNP general secretary, Paul Burke, said each of the 12 constituencies has more than one aspirant. However, he declined to give the number of applicants for North East St Elizabeth, represented by Raymond Pryce, and South East St Ann, where Lisa Hanna is the Member of Parliament. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Verizon wants to make the Internet 1,000 times faster
Verizon is working on new broadband technology that is capable of delivering some of the fastest Internet speeds ever recorded. The new service would provide customers download speeds of 10 gigabits per second. That would be 10 times faster than Google Fiber and 1,000 times faster than the average U.S. home Internet connection. How fast is that exactly? A two-hour high definition movie would take eight seconds to download, 100 students could download a textbook in two seconds simultaneously, and uploading 1,000 photos would take about two seconds as well, Verizon says. The new technology works by "adding new colors of light" onto the company's existing fiber-optic cable network. Read more…
China explosion: Tianjin death toll rises in port blasts
13th August 2015