NEWS
Jamaica feeling irie
An assurance of training for TT Immigration officers to better interface with persons entering this country and the setting up of a facility to ensure persons denied entry would have dignified accommodation until they are returned to their homeland, have been welcomed by the Jamaican Government. This according to Jamaica’s Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson- Smith at a media conference following the end of the first bilateral meeting on Monday afternoon between Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness at the Office of the Prime Minister in Kingston. Johnson-Smith also acknowledged the TT Government’s efforts, in particular Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Dennis Moses, to ensure that processes are expedited and blockages removed to allow for 15 detained Jamaicans to return home recently and ensuring that another 25 or 26 have completed their special inquiry processes and will be returned to Jamaica, as soon as possible. “It is important for us to recognise the mark of good faith when countries agree to solve issues, when promises are made and they are kept, that we must recognise the good faith that carries with it,” she said. Johnson-Smith said she was able to advise the Jamaican public that Trinidad and Tobago was committed to train its Immigration officers and provide a facility for persons who were not allowed to enter the country, to dignified accommodation until their return. Read more…
‘He was our oppressor’
A member of the Unruly ISIS Gang attempted to stop the burial of reputed gang leader Selwyn “Robocop” Alexis yesterday when he stormed into the Muslim cemetery at Monroe Road and pulled a gun on the gravediggers and ordered them to cover back the grave. Gravediggers Imtiaz Mohammed, 58, and Omar Douglas, 54, described their experience as “horrifying.” “We were digging the grave and the man just came up on us and pulled out a gun and pointed to us. He also knew where one of us lived and asked us if we wanted to live. He then told us to cover back up the grave which we did,” Mohammed said. Mohammed said the gunman waited until the grave was covered and then left. A vehicle was waiting for him at the cemetery’s entrance. Read more…
Bakr at funeral: It’s unfair to lock down Enterprise area
More than 30 well-armed police officers in uniform and plain clothes yesterday watched the funeral of reputed gang leader Selwyn “Robocop” Alexis, who was gunned down on Sunday while at his grocery and car wash in Enterprise, Chaguanas. Leader of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen Yasin Abu Bakr, who was present at yesterday’s funeral, said: “I didn’t notice (the police). I did not make a headcount.” Read more…
POLITICS
Gopeesingh slams GATE Task Force recommendations
Former Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh says any systemic challenges within the Government Assistance Tuition Expenses (GATE) Programme should be dealt with through suitable measures instead of punishing tertiary students by arbitrarily whittling it down. He said the proposal by the Government-appointed task force that GATE students could be made to pay, in part, for their tuition was an “onerous and atrocious” measures of the People’s National Movement (PNM). In a statement yesterday, Gopeesingh said the planned summary cutback on the progressive and successful programme followed the abandonment of several proven, performance- driven and visionary initiatives. He claimed that in less than one year, the PNM Government and Education Minister Anthony Garcia have dismantled much of the gains in the education sector and has taken Trinidad and Tobago back by about 20 years. “The ruling regime has undone essential modern and creative programmes and policies designed to make Trinidad and Tobago a learning society and one of human development, change and transformation,” Gopeesingh said. The former minister said the PNM has reversed advances into the digital age by refusing to grant laptops to secondary school students. Read more…
Antoine appalled by working conditions at landfill
This is how Public Utilities Minister Ancil Antoine has described the conditions that workers at the Beetham landfill are operating under daily. Standing a few feet away from an open sewer located outside the male and female washrooms yesterday, Antoine promised to provide immediate relief for the workers by ensuring that the water supply which was disconnected two years ago was restored; and that an improved electricity supply was made available. Vowing to take a note to Cabinet next week detailing the plight of the workers, Antoine said interim measures would include paving the compound yard in order to reduce the dust and mud; refurbishing the cafeteria, office and recreational facilities; upgrading the bathrooms and change rooms; as well as the laundry area and various work bays. Read more…
Manning, Govt ministers on ‘Integrity’ list
Former prime minister Patrick Manning as well as current and former government ministers are among the 1,400 names listed for failing to file their declaration of assets to the Integrity Commission. Manning died on July 2. The list spans from 2003 to 2014 and several people, now Government ministers, are listed, such as Legal Affairs Minister Stuart Young, Housing Minister Randall Mitchell, Sport Minister Darryl Smith, Senator Rohan Sinanan, Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharath, Works and Transport Minister Fitzgerald Hinds and Education Minister Anthony Garcia. Read more…
BUSINESS
Caribbean gets ready for ‘tax storm’
The British Caribbean Chamber of Commerce (BCCC) will be hosting an international taxation seminar this Friday, titled “Preparing for the Storm”, which will seek to address the impact of the evolving international taxation landscape on Caribbean businesses. Hosted by the BCCC in collaboration with the Trinidad and Tobago Group of Professional Associations, the event runs from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm at the Courtyard by Marriott, Port-of-Spain. The implementation phase of the United States’ Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the implications of Brexit; Britain’s exit from the European Union, are among the tax compliance issues to be discussed. Read more…
Oil prices decline ...
Oil prices fell as much 1 per cent for a second day in a row yesterday as a rallying dollar and a global fuel glut offset forecasts for lower US crude stockpiles that typically would have been bullish for the market. US crude stockpiles fell by 2.3 million barrels last week, trade group American Petroleum Institute (API) reported. That was just above a 2.1 million-barrels draw forecast in a Reuters poll. The US government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) will issue inventory data on today. If the EIA confirms a drawdown, it will be the ninth straight week that US crude stockpiles have fallen. Even so, the market’s attention has been on an unexpected oversupply in fuels during the US peak summer driving season. As storage on land tightened in recent weeks, fuel prices weakened, prompting traders to store diesel on tankers at sea for later delivery. Even if crude output tapers, some say the glut may continue to pressure prices. Read more…
For the needy not the greedy
Last week, at the sod-turning ceremony for a new Government housing project that bears the foreboding name “River-Runs-Through”, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley spoke of new approaches to providing housing for citizens who cannot afford to buy or rent houses on the open market. He hinted at two initiatives that are being considered by his Cabinet. One is to locate funds that can be accessed through loans, presumably at no or low-interest, for families that are willing to construct their own houses. The other is to interest private sector construction companies in partnering with Government to build affordable homes on which they can make reasonable profits. The PM said units at the new site will cost between $500,000 and $550,000. These could be considered low-affordability housing, not low-income housing. He quipped: “Low-income houses no longer exist.” Read more…
REGIONAL
One year later no Bahamas electricity supply business plan
One year after the Bahamas government signed a $900,000 transitional agreement with US public company PowerSecure to create a business plan to achieve a more reliable and affordable electricity supply in The Bahamas, no progress has been made, amid recurring blackouts. PowerSecure was expected to complete its business plan within 60 days, yet, in February 2016, the same company was awarded a management services contract by the government to run Bahamas Power and Light (BPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC). The contract is worth as much as $25 million. Opposition Free National Movement (FNM) deputy leader Peter Turnquest has demanded the government table in Parliament PowerSecure’s management services agreement and its business plan, the Nassau Guardian reported. Read more…
To T&T With Love - Private-Sector Bosses Soften Tone On Trade Relations After Meeting With Rowley
It was a subdued mood that characterised the tiny room at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel in Kingston where private-sector interests yesterday hosted Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley, who is in Jamaica to address trade and immigration concerns that have been placed on the front burner by business leaders. The stridency with which Jamaican private-sector leaders attacked the twin-island republic in the past, for what they say were less-than-fair trade practices with local businesses, was replaced with smiles. President of the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association, Metry Seaga, had no more fighting words as he heaped platitudes on the T&T leader. "I would like to thank you for stepping down the wicket and for coming here today. Coming to Jamaica is an important step. I think that we all know the problems, we all share the same problems, they are not new problems, they have been around with us for a long time. If you are committed, we will be committed, and I know I speak for the entire private sector when I say that we are committed to working together," he said, while addressing Rowley, whose five-day visit here ends tomorrow. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Turkey coup attempt: Academics banned from going abroad
Kerry poker-faced as press takes Johnson to task for 'outright lies'
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry kept his composure -- just -- as he endured an awkward joint press conference with his new British counterpart, Boris Johnson. The pair faced journalists at the Foreign Office in London Tuesday in Johnson's first news conference since his controversial appointment by the UK's new Prime Minister, Theresa May. The two met to discuss the world's most pressing issues and to reaffirm the two country's oft-vaunted "special relationship" in the face of the UK's decision to leave the EU, but the tone from the assembled reporters was combative. Read more…
20th July 2016