NEWS
Robbery in God’s house
It appears that TT criminals fear nothing and no one... not even God. This was evident when a bandit staged a robbery inside the Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church off the Eastern Main Road in Arouca shortly after Mass was said on Sunday.The bandit made off with the collection (money given by the faithful during the Mass). Parishioners yesterday asked if they are not even safe from crime while worshipping, where really can they feel safe in this country? The church was a crime scene yesterday as Northern Division detectives returned yesterday to continue investigations. The collection is money used for the upkeep of the church and also for charitable deeds within the community. “I find that is real ridiculousness. Read more here
PNM wins again
People's National Movement seven, United National Congress six—and both tied for the Sangre Grande Corporation. It was a narrow victory for the ruling PNM in yesterday’s Local Government Election. The PNM finished ahead of the Opposition UNC by only one corporation, losing several seats to the UNC, with both tied in Sangre Grande. However, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley told reporters around 10.20 pm last night, “We're very pleased with results ...it was a handsome victory for which we're grateful." It was PNM chairman Franklin Khan rather than Rowley, however, who had spoken first, declaring victory for the PNM. Read more here
Nurse murdered in Tobago: relative held
A male relative was in police custody yesterday after Tobago recorded a third murder for the year. Dead is mother of one Crystal Tobias-Busby, 29, of King Street, Plymouth, Tobago. She was a midwife at Scarborough General Hospital. Tobias-Busby was stabbed repeatedly in her chest, leg and stomach by a close male relative who fled the scene, but was picked up by police at his Canaan home. Charges are to be laid against him. Agartha Tobias, grandmother of the deceased, said she observed when the suspect ran from the house. Still in shock, Tobias was seated in the porch among the blood-stained furniture where the murder took place. “All I do, I know when he run out and then after Crystal come out, she sit down here...why I out here so, the blood,” she said. Read more here
POLITICS
Ex-MP hits low turnout
Former Tunapuna MP Eddie Hart lamented the apparently low general turnout in yesterday’s local government election, saying voters should have appreciated the right to vote that he said was granted universally in TT in 1946 and that is still denied to many populations around the world. Hart spoke to Newsday at a People’s National Movement (PNM) station outside the Tunapuna Government Secondary School on El Dorado Road, as he circulated in the area to encourage the party’s Election Day workers in the nation’s most populous corporation, Tunapuna/ Piarco Regional Corporation. Several voluntary workers said that not only was the turnout lower than the 2015 general election but up to lunchtime it seemed even lower than the 2013 local government elections. Confirmation of a low turnout came from a local party official at the PNM Tunapuna Constituency Office on the Eastern Main Road (EMR) near Macoya Junction. “It is a very low turnout,” said the official. Read more here
People have sent message
“A sign of a victory to come.” This was how Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar described the results of the Local Government Elections last night. Addressing exuberant supporters at the party’s headquarters in Couva after the results were confirmed, save the disputed Sangre Grande Regional Corporation where a recount was ordered in a four-four tie, Persad-Bissessar said the electorate had sent a message to the People’s National Movement (PNM) Government. “I had asked the people to send a message to the Rowley Government that there was too much pain and suffering and it is time for a change,” she said. Read more here
Irregularities will be taken to court, says Kamla
Opposition Leader and United National Congress (UNC) political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday she was watching closely the actions of the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) in the local government elections. And should there be any major concerns, the UNC would not hesitate to take the matters before the courts, she said. Speaking to reporters after casting her vote at Hermitage Presbyterian School near San Fernando, Persad-Bissessar said she was concerned that polling stations were being moved yesterday. She was accompanied by her husband Dr Gregory Bissessar, and candidate for Palmiste/Hermitage Roland Halls. Read more here
BUSINESS
Brexit’s impact on TT business may be minimal
Britain's exit from the European Union - Brexit - may not necessarily have a serious impact on efforts by businesses from Trinidad and Tobago to penetrate the European market, says Natalie Paul-Harry, Senior Export Officer at exporTT Limited, the designated sole State agency charged with facilitating exports. She was speaking last week at a forum for companies which have just returned from what appeared to be a largely successful trip to several European countries to look into the prospects of increasing trade with the European Union. She said Brexit will not happen in less than a year and in the short term at least the UK will still be a part of the European Union. Read more here
$5m in trades in 10 securities
Overall market activity resulted from trading in ten securities of which one advanced, six declined and three traded firm. Trading activity on the First Tier Market registered a volume of 74,775 shares crossing the floor of the Exchange valued at $5,028,563.42. Republic Financial Holdings Limited was the volume leader with 29,164 shares changing hands for a value of $3,164,142.10, followed by Ansa McAL Limited with a volume of 17,307 shares being traded for $1,071,649.26. Read more here
CBTT reporting increased liquidity in Trinidad and Tobago
Liquidity in the Trinidad and Tobago financial system rose slightly this month after falling in October, with commercial rates averaging $TT3.4 billon (One TT dollar =US$0.16 cents) daily during the first 21 days of November, the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT) has reported. It said that it removed TT$725 million from the system through open market operations while the bank’s sales of foreign exchange to authorized dealers indirectly extracted roughly TT$500 million. The CBTT said that private sector credit growth remained sluggish in September 2016, as lending to businesses declined for the fourth consecutive month when compared with similar months in 2015. In August and September, business lending registered year-on-year declines of 2.8 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively. Credit to the private sector by the consolidated financial sector rose to 3.5 per cent in September 2016 from 3.1 per cent in August. Read more here
REGIONAL
Haiti's interim president calls for calm before election results announced
The interim president of Haiti, Jocelerme Privert, gave a press briefing on Monday at the National Palace, a few hours ahead the publication of the preliminary results of the elections of 20 November. At the press briefing, the head of state called for calm and urged candidates to use the legal processes provided by the electoral law and the constitution in the event there were challenges to the results, HaitiLibre reported. "The preliminary results of these elections should in no way compromise the socio-economic stability of the country," declared Privert, noting that the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) enjoys total independence in the context of these elections and that the executive has refrained from any interference in the electoral process. Read more here
Green Light - JLP Gets Thumbs Up With Local Gov't Victories
With the February 25 general election win providing well-needed momentum for its candidates, the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) yesterday overturned the People's National Party's (PNP) stranglehold on municipal corporations and took control of the majority of the local authorities islandwide. The JLP won eight of the municipal corporations to the PNP's four, while there was a tie in both the St Thomas and St Catherine municipal corporations. Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in his victory speech to a large crowd at the JLP's Belmont Road, St Andrew, headquarters, said he was proud to be leading the party at this time in the history of Jamaica's development. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Brazil Chapecoense football team in Colombia air disaster
A plane carrying 81 people, including a top Brazilian football team, has crashed on its approach to the city of Medellin in Colombia. Police say five people survived the crash but the rest died. Reports say a sixth survivor was found later. The chartered aircraft, flying from Brazil via Bolivia, was carrying members of the Chapecoense team. The team had been due to play in the final of the Copa Sudamericana, against Medellin team Atletico Nacional. The first leg of the final of the cup, South America's second most important club competition, was scheduled for Wednesday but has now been suspended. Read more here
Trump threatens to roll back US-Cuba relations
President-elect Donald Trump threatened Monday to "terminate" the Obama administration's efforts to normalize US-Cuba relations. "If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate the deal," Trump tweeted. Trump's threat came after the death of long-time Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, whose passing on Saturday he marked with another tweet. "Fidel Castro is dead!" the president-elect wrote, before issuing a statement condemning the Cuban leader. Read more here
29th November 2016