DAILY BRIEF
TUESDAY 21st July, 2015
NEWS
Swoop on Bakr
Police yesterday executed an early morning surprise swoop on insurrectionist Yasin Abu Bakr and detained him as well as ten other people for questioning in connection with the murder of senior counsel Dana Seetahal. At around 12.05 a.m. on May 4, 2014, Seetahal was assassinated while driving her Volkswagen Touareg SUV towards her apartment at One Woodbrook Place, Port of Spain. She was shot multiple times and died at the scene. The detentions were made during an exercise at 4 a.m. that was carefully orchestrated and carried out in St James, Arima and Cocorite by several law enforcement agencies and known only to a few selected police officers. Among the ten arrested and still in custody are Abu Bakr, two former Life Sport coordinators, a well-known Port of Spain gang leader, as well as the wife, father and brother of an incarcerated Carapo Muslim leader and three gang members. Read more….
Murder spike troubling Kamla
Crime and violence are not only too high in T&T, but seem to have become a routine way of life for some, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said last night. She made the comment as she expressed disappointment over the recent spike in murders during the UNC's Monday night forum at the Guaico Government Secondary School, Sangre Grande. Persad-Bissessar said while serious crimes were down by almost half, the murder rate still remained unacceptable. In making mention of the killings of four members of a Chatham family and other recent murders, including that of prison officer Andell Primus, Persad-Bissessar urged that the killings and violence stop. “These killings all shock us. But the truth is with more than 200 killings for the year to date these appalling crimes have become to some almost routine, almost normal and part of everyday life. Read more…
‘I humbly apologise’
Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan yesterday apologised to the Chinese population of Trinidad and Tobago for statements he made regarding the consumption of dog meat by certain members. Khan made the comments after a video showing two Chinese men skinning a dog went viral. The Minister warned citizens to be careful what they ate, saying they should follow a vegetarian lifestyle. Khan said a number of dogs went missing in the country and, since they were not at the dog pound, “they have to be going somewhere.” The Minister also stated that eating dogs was a Chinese culture that was brought to this country by Chinese immigrants. However, the Chinese accused Khan of not being unaware that 4,000 stray dogs were removed by local authorities and non-government organisations every year, and for instructing health inspectors to seek out dog-meat in the nation’s Chinese restaurants. Read more…
POLITICS
Ross Advertising distances itself from politics
Ross Advertising stated yesterday that it is not involved in the “No Rowley Campaign”. In a release, Ross Advertising stated that neither the agency nor its principal, Ernie Ross, is involved in any way with the advertising, strategic development, public relations or events of the general election campaign 2015. “Recent reports on the agency’s involvement with the “No Rowley campaign” are absolutely false. The agency formally advised the People’s Partnership on June 26th 2015 that a management decision was taken to withdraw from all political work across the region. In declaring its official position, the agency explained that the recent political environment has become too personal, tense and confrontational accompanied by defamatory reports that have compromised the agency’s brand reputation and value centred corporate philosophy,” stated the release. Read more….
...PM, UNC desperate, says Opposition Leader
People's National Movement (PNM) political leader Dr Keith Rowley yesterday labelled the UNC's official launch of the norowley.com campaign as one “of hatred for and deliberate misrepresentation of” himself. And Rowley added that it said more about the desperation of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and the UNC, and nothing about his character. Commenting on the launch of the “norowley.come” campaign of the UNC, Rowley said: “The population knows me. I am an open book. They have made it a career of trying to demonise me as a substitute for accounting for their stewardship. And it (campaign of demonisation) will fail because of its demonstrated contempt for the intelligence of the population.” Rowley said the campaign to demonise and destroy any person had no place in the politics of Trinidad and Tobago. “Just one question, suppose I were to take an equivalent position with the Prime Minister. Read more…
BUSINESS
Central Bank appoints three new directors
The Central Bank has appointed three new directors to serve on the board of Clico, effective July 13. The appointments of the three—Ulric Miller, Delia Jospeh and Raymond Bachoo—follow the June 5 decision by Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran to fire retired banker Gerald Yetming and Carolyn John as the chairman and managing director of the insurance company, which collapsed in January 2009. Central Bank appoints Executive Chairman for CLICO. Pursuant to its powers under Section 44(D) of the Central Bank Act, Central Bank terminated the appointments of Mr. Gerard Yetming as Chairman of CLICO and Ms. Carolyn John as Managing Director of CLICO on June 5, 2015. Central Bank appointed Ms Wendy Ho Sing as Executive Chairman of CLICO with immediate effect. In a statement on June 5, Read more…
T&T oil, gas production down seven per cent since January
Trinidad and Tobago's crude oil and natural gas production has been falling since the start of the year. Crude oil production in May fell 6.7 per cent since January, while natural gas production dropped 7.5 per cent over the same period, according to the Energy Ministry's Consolidated Bulletin released in July. Crude production fell to 78,275 barrels of oil per day (bopd) in May versus 83,882 bopd in January. Year-on-year (y-o-y), May oil production fell 2.2 per cent from 80,071 bopd. Offshore, the country's oil production fell 2.2 per cent to 56,127 bopd in May from 59,549 in January. May 2014 offshore production was 56,979 bopd. Land production fell nine per cent in May to 22,148 bopd from 24,333 bopd in January. May 2014 land production was 23,092 bopd, meaning there was also a y-o-y decline onshore. Repsol continues to lead the charge as the highest oil producer after the State via Petrotrin and Trinmar. Read more….
Talks on using cassava to ferment local beer
Discussions are ongoing to use cassava for the fermentation of local beer, rather than using the flower of the hop plant which is imported in large quantities for T&T breweries. So said Food Production Minister Devant Maharaj as he opened the Brickfield Packing House at Tabaquite yesterday. The new facility provides a place for farmers to sort, size, label, clean, wax and package their produce. Equipped with chillers, freezers and training rooms, the Packing House is one of two opened this year by government, Maharaj said. He explained that government remains committed to lowering the food import bill and this is why discussions are being held with Carib Brewery and National Flour Mills to use local produce in the manfacturing process. Saying negotiations are still in the embryonic stage, Maharaj said tests will be done to determine whether cassava could be used as part of the fermentation process. Read more…
REGIONAL
Three quakes within 15 minutes as seismic activity continues off Barbados
Three more earthquakes with strengths of between 4.0 and 4.5 magnitude were recorded within a 15-minute span late yesterday evening, as heightened seismic activity continued to the northeast of Barbados. The UWI Seismic Research Centre reported that a 4.3 magnitude tremor occurred at 6:59 p.m., 116 km northeast of Bridgetown, 236 km east of Castries, St. Lucia and 260 km east southeast of Fort-de-France, Martinique. A handful of people on the centre’s Facebook page said they felt the shaking from that event. A 4.5 magnitude quake was recorded nine minutes later. The epicenter of that tremor was located 136 km northeast of Bridgetown, 260 km east of Castries, and 283 km east south east of Fort-de-France. At 7:13 p.m., the third, measuring 4.0 magnitude, occurred 106 km northeast of Bridgetown, 228 km east of Castries, and 253 km southeast of Fort-de-France. More than 20 earthquakes have occurred around the same general area in the past five days, the most intense of which was a 6.4 magnitude tremor last Thursday that was felt by residents of several Caribbean countries, including Barbados, St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Vincent, and Trinidad and Tobago. Read more
INTERNATIONAL
Toshiba CEO resigns over $1.2 billion accounting scandal
Toshiba's chief executive and president Hisao Tanaka resigned Tuesday over an accounting scandal that has rocked the company. Eight board members, including vice chairman Norio Sasaki, have also resigned their posts as part of a major management reshuffle. Toshiba's current chairman, Masashi Muromachi, was named interim president. Japanese conglomerate Toshiba, which makes everything from consumer electronics to nuclear energy technology, has been under fire for months over accounting irregularities. The company overstated profits by 151.8 billion yen ($1.2 billion) over a seven year period, according to the findings of an independent committee. Toshiba "takes the situation it has caused very seriously and we deeply apologize to our shareholders, investors and all other stakeholders," the company said in a letter to investors on Monday. "After examining the report ... the company will take procedures to correct past financial results as necessary." The headache started in April, when Toshiba itself began investigating accounting practices in its energy division. Read more…
21st July 2015