TTMA IN THE NEWS
TTMA hits Arcelor Mittal
The Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) yesterday chided global steel giant, Arcelor Mittal, for firing its local workforce ahead of shutting down operations, and offered to help the 644 employees get new jobs. “It is most unfortunate that a company that has received so much from the government and people of Trinidad and Tobago would treat its people with such an apparent lack of concern,” slammed the TTMA. The Association invited the dismissed workers to explore new jobs in the manufacturing sector by using their website, http://ttma-careers. com. “Affected persons seeking employment may also register with the TTMA careers website so that their skills may be searched for by employers who may not have jobs posted but are nonetheless looking for skilled citizens.” The TTMA also proposed to work with the State to hold a job fair soon for the displaced workers to learn of job opportunities in the manufacturing sector. Read more…
NEWS
More females testing positive for HIV
Teenage girls and young women between the ages of 15 and 24 account for the majority of new HIV cases globally, regionally and in Trinidad and Tobago, according to the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services Permanent Secretary (PS), Jacinta Bailey-Sobers. “The HIV epidemic is becoming increasingly feminised; it reveals that globally, regionally, and in Trinidad and Tobago, the face of HIV has become young and female,” she said. Bailey-Sobers was speaking yesterday at an HIV Symposium in commemoration of International Women’s Day held at City Hall, Knox Street, Port-of- Spain. She explained that local national statistics on HIV/AIDS indicate that women account for 45 percent of HIV cases; 70 percent of new infections in the age group 15 to 24, and 70 percent of all new infections in persons between the age group of 15 and 24 are females. Read more…
Principal beaten by two students
The principal of a secondary school in Rio Claro was beaten by two students yesterday when he tried to stop a fight on the school’s compound. The two students of the Rio Claro East High School were taken into police custody and are expected to be charged with assault, police said. Police said that around 2.30 pm, two male form four students, ages 16, were gambling in the school toilet when a fight over money erupted. Read more…
Autopsy: Japanese pannist was not raped
Murdered Japanese pannist Asami Nagakiya was not raped. This was contained in the results of a foreign forensic analysis of tissue samples and swabs taken after Nagakiya’s body was found at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, on February 10 (Ash Wednesday). An autopsy performed at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, confirmed Nagakiya, 30, had been strangled. Read more…
POLITICS
Marlene Busted
Michael Carew, the husband of Housing Minister and Port of Spain South MP Marlene McDonald and one of the directors of the Calabar Foundation, was employed at the Port of Spain South constituency office from June 1, 2010, to September 7, 2015. Carew started working in the constituency office shortly after McDonald ceased to be a minister following People's National Movement (PNM) defeat in the general election of May 24, 2010.
He earned the second highest salary ($13,400) on the constituency payroll and worked for the full parliamentary term (2010 to 2015). His employment came to an end following the PNM victory last September. Read more…
BUSINESS
ECA: Expand law to protect workers
The Employers Consultative Association (ECA) has suggested that legislation be expanded to provide for the lay-off process following last week’s Industrial Court judgment involving ArcelorMittal Point Lisas and the Steel Workers’ Union of Trinidad and Tobago (SWUTT). Read more…
REGIONAL
Crackdown - Green Light Given To Anti-Crime Campaign To Go After Criminals
Less than a week into his tenure as minister of national security, Robert Montague revealed yesterday that he had given the green light to a multifaceted anti-crime campaign developed by the Police High Command to crack down on hardened criminals, serious crimes, and quality-of-life offences nationwide. Quality-of-life offences include loitering and vagrancy. Montague declined, for security reasons, to discuss aspects of the initiative but indicated that it would be rolled out this week before delivering an ominous warning. "I make an appeal, through this medium, to all Jamaicans to cooperate with the police, and if you know you have a warrant or a ticket outstanding, just go down to the [police] station," the minister said during an exclusive interview with The Gleaner yesterday, "Cooperating with the police will ensure greater public safety," he underscored. Read more…
Protesters close down Bermuda House of Assembly
Bermuda’s House of Assembly was closed down on Monday after legislators were locked out by protesters who formed a cordon around the building in a continuing protest against the government’s proposed immigration legislation. The legislation, known as the Pathways to Status initiative, has been introduced to provide more permanence to guest workers who have met minimum threshold limits of residency in Bermuda. The government introduced the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Amendment Act 2016 to open the door for long-term guest workers to gain permanent residency after 15 years and Bermuda status (citizenship) after 20 years but the plan has divided the British territory. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Brussels raid over Paris attacks: Dead gunman was Algerian national
Super Tuesday 3: Big wins for Trump, Kasich, Clinton; Rubio drops out
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump won pivotal primaries Tuesday, while Gov. John Kasich's long-awaited debut victory in his home state of Ohio raised the chances of a historic GOP convention fight. A humiliating loss on home ground in Florida, meanwhile,ended the White House dreams of Sen. Marco Rubio, who was once hailed as a Republican Party savior. Clinton took big strides toward the Democratic nomination by winning Florida and North Carolina. And in crucial victories, she stopped Bernie Sanders in his tracks in the industrial Midwest by taking Ohio and Illinois. Read more…
16th March 2016