TTMA In The News
TTMA: Job losses can’t be stopped
The T&T Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) supports government’s decision not to purchase the ArcelorMittal steel plant. TTMA president Rolph Balgobin said it is a bad idea to nationalise a company to save jobs. “If these companies are not themselves sustainable they simply become an escalating drain on the State. Our unemployment rate is still low and there is the possibility that the displaced employees can be absorbed elsewhere in the economy,” he said. On the issue of severance benefits for the displaced workers, Balgobin said Government should act to seek their best and ensure the laws of T&T are adhered to. Read more…
NEWS
Murder In Jail
A 30 year old Remand Yard prisoner who was incarcerated while awaiting trial for murder was stabbed and killed during an altercation with two other prisoners at the Golden Grove prisons in Arouca yesterday. The victim has been identified as Joe Parks who is the 108th murder victim for this year. According to reports, at about 10 am, at the North Wing of the Remand prison, Parks was in his cell along with other inmates when a heated argument took place between himself and two other prisoners. The argument escalated into shouting, cursing and threats being hurled at Parks. It was reported that a prisoner who is also 30, used an improvised weapon and began stabbing Parks on the left side of his neck. As blood gushed from the stab wounds, Parks began screaming which alerted prisons officers on duty. The area of the North Wing was cordoned off and Parks was removed from his cell and taken by ambulance to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex where he succumbed to his injuries at about 1 pm. While Parks was being taken to hospital, officers of a special surveillance unit within the prison assisted in locking down the area and two suspects, one dressed in Muslim garb, were removed from the cell where the bloody attack took place and taken to another area of the prison. Read more…
HDC audit still not complete
Managing director of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) Jearlean John claims she was fired yesterday for having “an offensive tone” at a meeting with the board on Monday. Speaking to the T&T Guardian moments after the HDC issued a release saying she had been terminated, John said she received a letter from the HDC’s board informing her she had been dismissed on the basis of “your reaction, demeanor, tone and manner of communicating with the board of directors.” “They said it was insubordinate and disrespectful,” she said in a telephone interview. She, however, described her dismissal “as political victimisation to every extent.” Read more…
Gulf View man is Zika case No. 6
Another resident of Gulf View, La Romaine, has been diagnosed with the Zika virus, the first male to contract the illness in Trinidad and Tobago. This brings the total number of Zika cases in Trinidad to six. There are no confirmed cases in Tobago.
The Ministry of Health, following consultation with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), yesterday issued a news release confirming the sixth case. Read more…
POLITICS
Mark: Jwala firing planned
Opposition Senator Wade Mark yesterday questioned whether the firing of Jwala Rambarran as Central Bank Governor was an attempt by the Government to get certain persons “off the criminal hook” in respect of matters pertaining to the collapse of Clico and the CL Financial Group. Mark raised this question as he opened debate on a private motion in the Senate, which called on the Senate to condemn the Government for firing Rambarran last December. Quoting from a statement made by Rambarran at a public event on November 6, 2013, Mark claimed the former governor made reference to a forensic probe into CL Financial and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was in the process of laying criminal charges against former company executives. Alleging that many of these persons were “big financiers of the PNM (People’s National Movement),” Mark wondered if an attorney would advise the matters against these persons be discontinued because of insufficient evidence. Read more…
No missing CAC music scores
The Ministry of Education says the term missing music scores does not mean that data has been lost, but that it is being tracked or validated. This is in response to the Sunday Guardian's story on the lost Continuous Assessment Component (CAC) music scores and the mix-up of other subjects of the Secondary Entrance Assessment Examination (SEA) titled “Ministry loses CAC music scores.” In a release from the ministry on Monday, it said, “Upon investigation, the Ministry of Education has found that claims made in a newspaper article entitled ‘Ministry loses CAC music scores’ are not true. “It was reported that students’ scores were lost, ‘mixed up’ or ‘cannot be located’ thereby compromising the integrity of the 2016 Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examinations.” Read more…
Investigator quizzes people of interest
The investigator appointed by the Integrity Commission to probe former Government minister Marlene McDonald has interviewed people of interest. The Express understands that last Friday, acting chief executive officer of the Urban Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT) Margaret Chow was called in to provide information. Other officials were also invited on Monday to submit information to the commission’s investigators. Read more…
BUSINESS
Milford: Tatil reputation built on quality service
The success attained by premier insurer T&T Insurance Limited (Tatil) could not have been realised without the quality customer service delivered by its sales force, says Ronald Milford, managing director of the Tatil Life. Speaking at the company’s 2015 Sales Awards ceremony at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference, he said the company could not enjoy the reputation it had if the people they employed were just about getting the consumer to buy a product without follow up service. Because they endeavoured to do more and be more, Milford said, the Tatil brand continues to soar and mature. “In most cases, we sell a product that is considered a commodity and most insurance companies have the same suite of products, with changes here and there, with a slight difference in pricing and maybe presentation. It is my opinion that the product that we sell as a company is service. That is the product! As financial advisors, we must become more service oriented by developing long term relationships with our customers,” he said. Read more…
Imbert: Loss of confidence
Does the Government have a problem with a Central Bank governor from a “rural area”? “I don’t know I am just asking,” Opposition Senator Wade Mark said, as he piloted his motion asking the Senate yesterday to condemn former governor Jwala Rambarran’s dismissal in December. Read more…
REGIONAL
CDB funds training for food service professionals in Dominica
As the government of Dominica focuses on enhancing its hospitality sector and improving opportunities for tourism investment, it is driving initiatives to provide best-practice training for local food service businesses. From March 21 to 23, 2016, 30 environmental health officers and representatives from Dominica’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) will participate in the ServSafe food safety and training workshop, conducted and funded by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
“CDB supports the government of Dominica as it focuses on the importance of food safety and the role it plays in economic development. We are pleased to be collaborating with the ministry of health to deliver this workshop, specially designed for local food service professionals through the internationally and regionally recognised ServSafe food safety programme,” said Edward Greene, division chief, Technical Cooperation Division, CDB. Read more…
Shaw To Announce Implementation Of New Tax Policy After Budget Retreat
Education and Information Minister Ruel Reid says an announcement will be made on the implementation of the Government's tax policy at the end of the two-day Cabinet retreat, March 31 to April 1. "After the Cabinet retreat and we are clear how we are proceeding, the finance minister should be in a position and, if not, myself, to clarify how we go forward," he said. The administration had pledged to remove persons earning $1.5 million or less off the income tax roll come April 1. This will result in taxpayers who earn $1.5 million taking home an additional $18,000 per month. In a Gleaner interview, the information minister said it was originally contemplated to implement the tax policy April 1. Pressed for a comment on the implementation date for the tax initiative, Reid said the new tax arrangement could not be implemented until after the Budget Debate. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Brussels attacks: 'Two brothers' behind Belgium bombings
Front-runners score key Western victories
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton notched convincing victories in Arizona, picking up the biggest prize on Western Tuesday that moved the front-runners ever closer to a general election clash. The Arizona wins handed enough delegates to Trump and Clinton to help them maintain their leads in the delegate count despite victories from their primary competitors. Bernie Sanders won morale-boosting Democratic victories in Utah and Idaho while Ted Cruz came out on top in the Utah Republican caucuses. Read more…
23rd March 2016