NEWS
Hefty fines for child abusers, a good decision
Yesterday’s gas hike did not go down well with many commuters in San Fernando, but they found solace in the hefty fines slapped on child abusers. “I find it should triple instead of double. I have children and the amount of crimes being committed against children, it is wrong,” said Paula Samuel of Princes Town. Finance Minister Colm Imbert in his 2019 budget presentation, announced a 100 per cent increase in all fines relating to offences under the Children Act. He said 14,581 cases of child abuse were reported to the Children’s Authority over a three-year period. Read more here
Rough seas claim Marabella homes
Rough waves swept an elderly couple's home into the sea and damaged another at the beach-front community of West Bayshore, Marabella over the weekend. While the elderly couple was forced to seek refuge by their son in Claxton Bay, their daughter who lives next door with her four children is fearful that her home might face a similar fate. Seema Hosein, a domestic worker, said it was the first time in the 17 years that she ever experienced such turbulent waves. She recalled that the around 1 pm on Saturday, large waves began smashing against her parents' house as well hers. Read more here
Taxi drivers, commuters feel the pinch
“What do you want us to do? Bawl?” This was the reaction yesterday of a Port of Spain-to-Sangre Grande taxi driver, following Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s announcement of a $1 increase in the price per litre of super gasoline. Read more here
POLITICS
Small Man Budget
Finance Minister Colm Imbert titled yesterday’s budget for fiscal year 2019 “a genuine economic turnaround,” signalling a sustained shift from economic stagnation to growth, but drivers faced with an immediate additional $1 per litre for super gasoline might not share his optimism. The fuel price adjustment was expected as he had said as much in last year’s budget, but Imbert attempted to temper the blow maintaining a steady diesel fuel price as government’s attempt to “slow down the complete deregulation of fuel prices in order to ease the burden on taxpayers.” Read more here
Govt penalising the poor, says Bartlett
Saying government is continuing to penalize the poor, president of the San Fernando Business Association Daphne Bartlett yesterday lamented that the 2018/2019 fiscal budget has little support for farmers and small business owners. In an interview, Bartlett said she expected more to be said on agricultural diversification, noting that the $1 increase in the price of super fuel, will hit farmers and other citizens hard in their pockets. “Who buys premium fuel? The rich who can afford it. The poorer and middle classes use super and once gas prices go up, everything goes up. We can expect to see more problems ahead,” Bartlett said. Read more here
Khan makes a case for CNG
The increase in super gasoline had absolutely nothing to do with the closing of the Petrotrin refinery, says Energy Minister Franklin Khan. Read more here
BUSINESS
THA gets $2.229b in budget
Finance Minister Colm Imbert yesterday announced the budgetary allocation to the Tobago House of Assembly for fiscal 2019 is $2.229 billion, of which, $1.979 billion would be for recurrent expenditure, $231.63 million for capital expenditure and $18 million for the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP). Read more here
REGIONAL
Crime Stop Devastated By Cop's Murder
Mellissa Edwards-Whyte would have celebrated her 46th birthday yesterday. "Next week, she would have travelled overseas for her daughter's wedding. She was the mother to the children of other Crime Stop counsellors. She volunteered and could be depended on to provide food for the night-shift workers, especially on Saturday and Sunday nights, whether it was her shift, or those leaving other shifts," is how Prudence Gentles, manager at Crime Stop, remembers Edwards-Whyte. The district constable from Farmbrook Avenue, Patrick City, in St Andrew, was chopped to death on Saturday night, allegedly at the hands of her husband. He is now on the run. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Indonesia tsunami: Death toll rises to nearly 1,350
Donald Trump's DC is a dangerous global distraction
Thousands of miles from Washington, the ugly spectacle of America's body politic writhing in its own divisions is having unexpected consequences. Countries like Poland, whose right-wing leader Andrzej Duda is among Trump's emerging roster of international friends, are paying attention and possibly picking up tips. The US Supreme Court nomination process has put the world's most powerful -- and often emulated -- nation where no stable democracy would want to be. Simmering political tensions erupted in unprecedented, vile and vicious rancor. Read more here
2nd October 2018