NEWS
'Miss' Wants a Gun
A teacher at the prestigious Naparima College in San Fernando, is under fire, for a rant against homosexuality, going as far as wanting a gun to deal with such persons and other problems in the world. The teacher is said to have made initial comments on the issue during morning assembly at the school on Thursday last and subsequently in a classroom session, in which she suggested dealing with homosexuals and other issues if given the gun. Referring to the parents of a student who had openly professed to being gay, the teacher reportedly said: “He has two parents, who should not be parents. They are both screw-ups, they are atheists, they do not believe in God. “You see me,” she is said to have continued, “Give me a gun and I will fix all the problems in the world, both of them (parents) first, then their offspring. Do not tell me there is no God,” she added while noting that persons with such beliefs should keep it to themselves. Read more…
Scholarship winner to repay
A national scholarship winner who did not return to T&T after completing his studies in medicine to give back service has been ordered to repay over $3 million to the Government. High Court Judge Nadia Kangaloo made the order against Dr Ryan Wellington yesterday after he failed to attend the start of the civil trial brought by the Office of the Attorney General. Although Wellington, who resides overseas, was represented by an attorney who requested an adjournment, Kangaloo denied the application and ruled that Wellington had sufficient notice of the case and entered judgment against him. In a press release issued yesterday, the Education Ministry stated that the outcome would serve as a strong reminder to other scholarship winners who chose to breach their agreements with the Government. Read more…
Steel giant signs €1b deal in Iran
Global industrial giant Mittal Steel on Tuesday, March 8 signed a contract worth €1 billion to produce iron in southern Iran. The Iranian press reported that the contract that has been signed with Mahan Industries and Mines Development Company—a subsidiary of Iran's Tourism Financial Group—envisages extracting iron and the establishment of a processing plant in the country's southern province of Kerman. Read more…
POLITICS
Rowley: Govt looking at wider economic picture
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday gave the assurance that the Government is looking at “the wider picture” with respect to the economic challenges facing the country and addressing those challenges in a way that ensures the country’s stability. Speaking on the TV6 Morning Edition programme, the Prime Minister said the People’s National Movement did not assume office to “wave a magic wand” and declare that certain things will happen, “because we are in government.” Asked if either he or the Government were worried about the state of the economy, Rowley replied, “I am very calm. The Government is very calm.” He said his administration will “level with the population on an ongoing basis,” and added that what citizens need to understand is that “all that has changed is that the 29 people who were in charge of the management of the country have been replaced by the 23 who have just come in but the circumstances of the country are the same circumstances.” Explaining that the past cannot be ignored if the future is to be secured, Rowley said the population must also understand that many of the economic challenges which the Government must address were the result of decisions taken by its People’s Partnership (PP) predecessor. Read more…
Govt seeks jobs for laid off workers
Government is working out a plan to assist retrenched workers in T&T, including the 644 terminated ArcelorMittal employees, by matching private sector vacancies with the skills of retrenched workers, Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus announced yesterday. The minister revealed this after a meeting with ArcelorMittal officials and a subsequent meeting with Trade Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon to discuss how they could help all retrenched workers. The ArcelorMittal meeting involved the company’s managing director Robert Bellisle, secretary Vijayalakshmi Jaigopal, legal adviser Reginald Armour, SC, and a Price Waterhouse representative. Read more…
Pay Pensions
Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus has appealed to the management of ArcelorMittal, Point Lisas, to make provisions for former employees over age 50 to be able to access pension funds as quickly as possible. Baptiste-Primus made the appeal yesterday following more than two hours of discussions with representatives of the company at the Ministry of Labour at Tower C on the Port of Spain Waterfront Centre. ArcelorMittal announced last Friday that it was shutting down operations and laid off 644 workers. Until a liquidator is appointed to ArcelorMittal, due to happen on April 5, the minister said the company is a “live” company with statutory obligations under the law. Read more…
BUSINESS
ArcelorMittal Fallout
Two of three economists interviewed by the T&T Guardian are advising the Government against purchasing the ArcelorMittal steel plant at Point Lisas. The foreign operators of the plant have shut it down, putting 644 workers on the breadline. Since then, there have been calls for Government to take over the facility and mitigate the impact of job losses. UWI economist Vaalmikki Arjoon, who supports the purchase of the facility, is recommending that Government invest in the plant through a public-private partnership as an investment which will realise profits in the long-term. He said local companies which have been doing business with ArcelorMittal that are in danger of suffering losses which may lead to staff cuts. Read more…
TTNGL records $402.8m earnings
Trinidad and Tobago NGL Ltd (TTNGL) has recorded after tax earnings of $402.8 million in 2015. TTNGL chairman Gerry C Brooks announced a final dividend of $1 per share on the basis of improved financial results for the year ending December 31st 2015, in a media release yesterday. TTNGL's after tax earnings of $402.8 million in 2015 “is a significant improvement over the loss of $804.2 million incurred in 2014,” said Brooks in his announcement to shareholders. Read more…
REGIONAL
ECLAC supports St Lucia's drive towards renewable energy
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) subregional headquarters for the Caribbean is actively supporting the government of Saint Lucia as the country transitions from the use of fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, including solar and geothermal. In this context, ECLAC Caribbean’s economic affairs officer, Willard Phillips, participated in a consultation process on February 25, on the development of a legal framework for the establishment of a National Utilities Regulatory Commission (NURC), which draws on the technical work carried out by ECLAC in Saint Lucia over the past few years. Also attending were senior policymakers and energy stakeholders in Saint Lucia. The consultation process was also aimed at establishing guidelines for ensuring minimum energy performance standards for energy-using products and services. These include compulsory labelling of products, establishing energy efficient building schemes, ensuring energy audits and energy management systems, encouraging the purchase of high energy efficiency products by the public sector, promoting energy conservation, reducing the use of fossil fuels, providing customer information and empowerment, and creating a penalty mechanism for non-compliance. Read more…
Burchell Whiteman Disappointed With High-Stakes, Stressful GSAT ... Reflects On 17 Years Of The Exam
The educator who led the Ministry of Education when the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) was first administered in 1999 says that he is disappointed that it has become a high-stakes test that has resulted in a high level of stress for students through extra classes and intense pressure to do well. Thousands of children will sit the examination over a two-day period beginning on Thursday to gain places in high schools. But while Burchell Whiteman describes GSAT as a well-designed examination, he is not entirely happy with some aspects of the examination. He also regrets that there still continues to be a limited number of top-quality high school spaces for students who do well. "We are now, almost 20 years on, coming to the view that the entire system is showing up deficits in critical thinking, analysis, synthesis, and people being able to reason, so I am not about to bash the system before or since Common Entrance. But I believe that as a community, we have to look at how we can get the best out of what we have so that students can begin to enjoy learning that I think is fundamental," he said. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Nigeria's NNPC 'failed to pay' $16bn in oil revenues
Nigeria's state-owned oil company has failed to pay the government $16bn (£11bn) in a suspected fraud, according to an official audit. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) provided no explanation for the missing funds, the auditor general told MPs. Oil revenue accounts for two-thirds of the government's funding. President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to crack down on corruption since coming to office last May. The NNPC has not commented on the auditor general's findings. The state oil giant has been mired in corruption allegations and losing money for many years. Last month, the government announced that the NNPC would be broken up into seven different companies. Nigeria's former central bank governor Lamido Sanusi, now the Emir of Kano, was dismissed by the previous administration after saying that $20bn (£12bn) in oil revenue had gone missing in 2013. Read more…
Mission accomplished? Russia to withdraw forces from Syria on Tuesday
Russia's bombing blitz in Syria will end today, leaving behind both significant destruction and a Syrian regime to largely fend for itself. The first group of Russian planes left Russia's Hmeymim air base in Syria on Tuesday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The surprise announcement by Russia on Monday came as suddenly as the airstrike campaign started last September. "The task that was assigned to the Ministry of Defense and the armed forces as a whole has achieved its goal," Russian President Vladimir Putin said. But Russia's stated goal -- fighting terrorists like ISIS in Syria -- didn't match the reality on the ground, critics say. They point to the bombings of civilian areas as reason to believe Russia is actually helping its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, eliminate his opposition. Read more…
15th March 2016