TTMA in the News
TTMA: Agriculture needs boost
President of the T&T Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) Rolph Balgobin is calling for the agriculture sector to be boosted so that T&T can benefit from consistent high quality commercial food production. Speaking ahead of a mid-term budget review by Finance Minister Colm Imbert on Friday, Balgobin said: “Agriculture has become a very high-tech field and incentives need to be in place to encourage the kind of capital investments that can make us strong in this sector.” His comments were made against the backdrop of recent Central Bank data which shows food inflation at 9.4 per cent for March, up from 4.5 per cent in January. Balgobin said the TTMA’s wish list for the mid-term review includes specific provisions for timely payment of value added tax (VAT), preferential purchasing of local goods and service in state procurements, as well as the use of local agricultural products for food and beverage at state functions and in the school feeding programme. Read more…
NEWS
Lockdown at ArcelorMittal
Scores of former Arcelor Mittal workers staged a lockdown of the Company’s Point Lisas plant yesterday, locking themselves inside the compounds and staying put up to press time last night. In fact, the workers signalled a protracted stay as they took with them pots, pans and other cooking utensils into the facility. “We simply came through the gates,” Steel Workers’ Union of Trinidad and Tobago (SWUTT) 2nd Vice President, Rajkumar Narinesingh, said from behind the locked gates yesterday. “It was open and we locked the gates behind us. We have not breached the compound outside the front gate and we are not intending any violence.” The former employees are protesting what they term the company’s silence on their pensions, savings and outstanding wages owed to them following termination of their employment on March 11. They are further fearing the liquidation of the Company and the consequential dissipation of their benefits. Read more…
Bush fire destroys brewery warehouse
A warehouse and office building used by beer manufacturing company, Carib Brewery, was completely destroyed by a raging bush fire in Mt Lambert yesterday afternoon. According to reports, the fire started around midday at a strip of bushes which separates the pavement from businesses and homes on the north side of the Eastern Main Road. The fire quickly spread to stacks of wooden pallets and plastic bottle cases being stored on the building’s compound and then to the building itself. No one was injured as staff in the building noticed the smoke and were able to evacuate to an empty lot located next door. By the time fire officers and tenders from Morvant, San Juan, Tunapuna and Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, arrived on the scene, the entire building was already engulfed in flames. Read more…
Travel Scam
The Fraud Squad has launched an investigation into the owner of a Tunapuna-based travel agency after receiving reports from dozens of customers claiming that they paid for tickets to travel abroad but were never able to as the agency absconded with their money. The office of 2000 Travels, located at the Tunapuna Plaza, Eastern Main Road, Tunapuna, remains closed and all its contact numbers are now out of service. In some instances customers purchased tickets and showed up at the check-in counter at the Piarco International Airport, only to the told that their tickets were never paid for and were in fact fraudulent. In other cases wrong dates were put on tickets and when customers sought to get a refund they never heard from the company again or were given bounced cheques. Read more…
POLITICS
UNC chairman: PM justifies luxury vehicle with character assassination
UNC Chairman, Dr David Lee, has described as “character assassination” statements made by Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley, in which he, (Rowley), sought to justify the purchase of a luxury Mercedes Benz by the Office of Prime Minister by demeaning former Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Addressing a People’s National Movement (PNM) Special Convention, at St John’s Ambulance Brigade Headquarters, Port-of- Spain on Sunday, Rowley, asked about PCM 1, said “vomit is very difficult to wash out, cause even after you clean it, the smell is still there.” However in an emailed statement yesterday, Lee described Rowley’s statements as “very appalling” saying his “demeaning allegations were not only aimed at assassinating the character of the Opposition Leader” but was also a “poor attempt to divert national attention away from the purchase of a Luxury vehicle during these presently turbulent economic times.” “Prime Minister Rowley’s statements were unbecoming as a national leader and he must take into consideration when holding public office one must desist from political jabs as uttered on the election hustings but operate with diplomacy, decorum and respect towards all members of society,” Lee stated, adding a Prime Minister was required to “echo a tone, language and sentiments of national unity, mutual understanding and progress to ensure we forge ahead as a united nation regardless of political differences.” Read more…
PM’s ‘vomit’ car up for sale
One of the Prime Minister’s official vehicle, PM 1, will be put up for auction. In a release issued yesterday by the Office of the Prime Minister, it confirmed that a new S-Class Mercedes Benz had been procured for Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, which would replace PM 1, a nine-year-old vehicle, which was “currently out of commission.” PM 1 is a Toyota Royal Saloon, which was used by two former prime ministers, Patrick Manning and Kamla Persad-Bissessar. The release stated that the cost of the new car from Sterling Services (Battoo Bros) Ltd is $970,763.26. Read more…
Imbert: No evidence ArcelorMittal pension plan in deficit
Finance Minister Colm Imbert says “there’s no evidence” the ArcelorMittal pension plan is in deficit or in a surplus because an actuarial valuation “has to be done”. The ArcelorMittal steel company shut down its operations last month and fired 644 workers who are expressing concerns over their pension payments. “My understanding is that the valuation, the actuarial valuation, will be done shortly. It could probably take three to four months to complete it at which time it will be known whether the plan is in deficit or whether it is in surplus ok but it will not be in deficit because of lack of contributions from Mittal,” Imbert said in an interview with TV6 News aired last night. “I have checked and the information I have received is that Mittal is up to date with its payments to the pension plan,” Imbert said. Read more…
BUSINESS
AmChamTT: New economic role for Govt
As Government grapples with reduced revenues as a result of lower energy prices, it has to decide what role it will play in the economy, says Ravi Suryadevara, president of the American Chamber of Commerce of T&T (AmChamTT). He said while Government has traditionally played a dominant role in development, AmChamTT would prefer them in the role of regulator, allowing businesses to create wealth. Suryadevara said T&T is not likely to return to the revenue streams of the past anytime soon and the current period should be seen as a time of adjustment rather than recession. “We need to heed what the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently said about the economy. There is stability now but we need to make the difficult decisions now or the situation will get worse,” he warned. Read more…
Petrotrin on water alert
Following the “El Nino effect” in 2015, Petrotrin said it implemented “various initiatives in an attempt to manage reservoir levels.” The initiatives, which began in September 2015, will continue to June 2016, Petrotrin said. Leak repairs to prevent wastage, recovering waste streams and maximising water sourced from the Guaracara River and the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) were three of several measures taken, the company said. Read more…
REGIONAL
‘We Want Jobs’ - Employment And Education Top Concerns Listed By Jamaica’s Youth
The decision by the Holness administration to focus on creating jobs and growing the economy is being welcomed by young Jamaicans who have placed the lack of employment opportunities as their major concern in a just-concluded national mobile survey. Education, crime, poverty and violence complete the top five major concerns of Jamaicans between the ages of 14 and 40 who participated in the survey. The mobile youth survey, which was conducted by the local UNICEF office and anti-discrimination campaign Respect Jamaica, between February 29 and March 2, covered 3,024 respondents from among the Digicel customer base across the island. When asked: "What are the major concerns for youths that the Government must focus on?" 93 per cent of the respondents listed employment, while 82 per cent pointed to education and 50 per cent suggested crime. The survey found that education and employment are more of a concern for females, while males are slightly more concerned with entrepreneurship and the environment. Read more…
St Kitts-Nevis receives EC$12.5m from EU as part of sugar adjustment scheme
Prime minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Dr Timothy Harris, and Cabinet Secretary Josephine Huggins met with the European Union’s ambassador to the Eastern Caribbean, OECS and CARICOM/CARIFORUM, Mikael Barfod in Barbados on Thursday morning. The delegation officially learnt from the ambassador that a disbursement of EC$12.5 million (4.2 million euro) to St Kitts and Nevis had been effected one hour earlier. The reform of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy in 2006 prompted it to establish a sugar adjustment scheme called the Accompanying Measures for Sugar Protocol countries (AMSP). AMSP supports restructuring initiatives in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries that traditionally exported sugar to the EU. Barfod told the prime minister and cabinet secretary that the country is set to receive an additional disbursement of EC$12.5 million at the end of 2016. This will mark the completion of the sugar compensation programme for St Kitts and Nevis. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
The Panama Papers: 7 things to know
On Sunday, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published a massive leak of documents, dubbed the Panama Papers. CNNMoney has you covered with what you need to know about the story and responses to it.
What are the Panama Papers?
ICIJ and an international coalition of media outlets investigated the trove of papers, which allegedly reveal a clandestine network involving associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and business ties between a member of FIFA's ethics committee and men whom the United States has indicted for corruption.
Why are they called the Panama Papers?
The more-than 11 million documents, which date back four decades, are allegedly connected toPanama law firm Mossack Fonseca. ICIJ reports that the firm helped establish secret shell companies and offshore accounts for global power players. ICIJ reports that a 2015 audit found that Mossack Fonseca knew the identities of the real owners of just 204 of 14,086 companies it had incorporated in Seychelles, an Indian Ocean archipelago often described as a tax haven. Read more…
Panama papers: UK tax havens 'should face direct rule'
5th April 2016