NEWS

Teen detained for guard’s killing during robbery

A Pinto Road, Arima teen has been detained in connection with a robbery of a grocery in Maturita on Saturday, which led to the shooting death of security officer, Vijay Maraj, and three persons being wounded. While charges have not yet been laid against the teenager, Newsday understands that he is assisting police in the investigation, while detectives continue the search for other persons who may have been involved in the robbery. Meanwhile, at the Forensic Science Centre in St James, relatives of the slain man told reporters that his death has sent shock waves through the family. “At this point in time, the entire family is shattered because of this,” said Adesh Maraj, the slain security guard’s brother. “This was something that no one was prepared for, but we are trying our best to cope. For me, when crime reaches home like this it is a very different feeling.” Adesh described his brother as a quiet and loving person. Read more here

Come home to father’s funeral

The mother of a 14-year-old girl from Rio Claro, who ran away from home last week, is pleading with her to return home to attend her murdered father’s funeral. Rehana Singh, the mother of Shivani Persad, made the emotional plea at the Forensic Science Centre in St James yesterday after an autopsy was done on her husband’s body. Vishnu Persad was shot dead at the family’s home at Mahabalsingh Trace, Navet Village, Rio Claro, on Saturday. “I am not sure if she even knows what happened. I just want her to see him before he goes and for her to come home because she and her sisters are all I have now,” Singh said. The 39-year-old mother of three said her daughter, a student of the Rio Claro East Secondary School, went missing after leaving home to go to school last Wednesday. She has two other daughters aged 11 and nine. Read more here

Oil on La Brea beaches again

Oil has again washed ashore again at Carat Shed Beach and Coffee Beach in La Brea. Petrotrin and the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) were at the scene yesterday cleaning up the oil which was first seen on Sunday evening. According to president of the La Brea Fishing Association Alvin La Borde, the oil came from a decommissioned well operated by State-owned company Petrotrin. He said that he spoke to the La Brea Member of Parliament Nicole Olivierre, who said that she will have officials from the Ministry of Energy investigate the issue. La Borde said the State needs to “come clean” to the public on the extent of its operations in the area, and what is being done to mitigate the damage being done to the fisheries, fisher folk and the environment along the coastline. Read more here

POLITICS

Kamla: Government is not working

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday declared that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has confirmed, “that his administration is not working, has stalled our economy and is illequipped to lead the nation forward.” In a response to Rowley’s address to the nation on Sunday night, Persad- Bissessar said, “Last night we listened in vain as the Prime Minister attempted to explain away his government’s first year of failure and their lacklustre performance.” She claimed that instead of recognising his administration’s failure to deliver, Rowley offered the population, “shameless propaganda.” Persad-Bissessar said when she was elected prime minister on May 24, 2010, she did not sit and blame the former Patrick Manning administration. “I rolled up my sleeves on the first day and started the process of turning this country around,” she said. Persad-Bissessar said if the revised figures presented by Finance Minister Colm Imbert in the midyear review are correct, the Government collected more than $60 billion in revenue since it assumed office last September. Read more here

Govt moves to boost breeding of livestock

Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Clarence Rambharat, says his ministry, based on dialogue with and recommendations by the local livestock farmers and industry experts, plan to implement an embryo transfer programme to assist with the improvement of the local breeding stock. He said so yesterday while celebrating Eid-Al-Adha with members of the Muslim community at the livestock farm of Shiraz Khan in Carlsen Field. Rambharat added: “Government should reduce its involvement in terms of maintaining its own assets in livestock. What we should be doing is increasing our technical support, the number of veterinarians we have available to the sector and our research.” Read more here

Deadlock

The meeting between Government and Opposition yesterday failed to break the deadlock over the critical Tax Enforcement Exchange bill. At the end of the 45-minute meeting held at Tower D, Port of Spain Waterfront Centre, Government, lacking the requisite three-fifth majority to enact the legislation on its own, yielded to the Opposition's ultimatum, which came in the form of a proposal, for the bill to be referred to a Joint Select Committee (JSC). But this concession might make it difficult for Trinidad and Tobago to meet the September 30, 2016 set by the US Government. Read more here

BUSINESS

T&T asks for FATCA extension

T&T will seek extension from the United States Government of the September 30 deadline for implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). This was the outcome of a 30-minute meeting yesterday between Government and the Opposition to discuss the proposed legislation. Following talks at the Parliament Building in Port-of-Spain, Finance Minister Colm Imbert told reporters: “What we are going to do now is speak to the US Treasury to see if we can get an extension of time to allow a proper Joint Select Committee (JSC) session to take place after the budget.” He said he was confident the request will be granted, adding that Government had agreed “to facilitate the Opposition with a proper JSC, not a rush job and not a piecemeal job.” Read more here.

Finance Minister, THA in budget talks tomorrow

A four-member team of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) will meet Finance Minister Colm Imbert and other senior officers of his ministry tomorrow to have pre-budget discussions on Tobago's 2017 budget requests. Read more here

REGIONAL

India to send delegations to Guyana and Suriname

India’s foreign ministry plans to send delegations to visit 68 countries, including Guyana and Suriname, in an effort to expand and improve India’s international presence amidst growing escalation of violence in the Valley of Kashmir, a disputed territory claimed by both India and Pakistan. The leaders of Guyana and Suriname and top diplomats from these countries have all visited India, which has become a customary practice. However, neither Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor his Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj have visited Guyana or Suriname and, in fact, for the past two decades there have not been any high level visits from India to Guyana and Suriname. Read more here

Jamaica Accuses CXC Of Being 'Very Difficult' Over Penwood Issue

Jamaica is accusing the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) of being "very difficult" but has said it will not back down from its push for exam grades for some 40 students of Penwood High. "We have our concerns that CXC is being very difficult, and as a very important stakeholder in the process, we thought that the matter would have been dealt with more expeditiously and favourably than they have been doing so far," Education Minister Ruel Reid said yesterday. "I'm not exactly happy with how they have proceeded to treat this matter," he added. The situation escalated on Friday when, rather than receiving results as Reid had suggested, the CXC informed Penwood that the school did not qualify to get the grades under a 'hardship' consideration. Read  more here

INTERNATIONAL

Germany arrests three Syrian men 'on IS mission'

Three Syrian men have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of being sent by so-called Islamic State (IS) to launch attacks, prosecutors say. The men - aged between 17 and 26 - were detained after a series of pre-dawn raids in the states of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony on Tuesday. Later, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told journalists the suspects may have had links to the men who attacked Paris in November last year. He called the three a sleeper cell. The Federal Public Prosecutor's office has said no concrete missions or orders have so far been found, despite the seizure of "extensive material". The men - identified only as Mahir al-H, 17, Ibrahim M, 18, and Mohamed A, 26 - are said to have travelled through Turkey and Greece on false passports. Investigators believe they had volunteered for the alleged mission, and that the 17-year-old had been trained in handling weapons and explosives in Raqqa, IS's stronghold in Syria. They received fake passports, mobile phones loaded with a pre-installed communication programme and four-figure cash sums in US dollars. Read more here

The no-transparency election

The 2016 election is setting new lows for presidential transparency in the modern era. Hillary Clinton is under fire for waiting until she nearly collapsed at a public event Sunday to disclose she was diagnosed Friday with pneumonia. She hasn't provided a full accounting of her health, though Donald Trump has revealed far less. The Republican nominee is departing with decades of tradition by not releasing his tax returns, which could provide key details about his investments and financial interests. And both candidates have declined traveling with a "protective pool" of reporters that follow them to provide continuous coverage of their activities. On Monday night, transparency questions surfaced again as PBS interviewer Charlie Rose grilled former President Bill Clinton about his family's foundation. Read more here

13th September 2016

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