NEWS
Math Whiz Goes Against Tide
A 12-year-old Gasparillo boy has scored a distinction in mathematics in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CESC) examination, perhaps the youngest student in Trinidad and Tobago to have attained such a feat. Frederick Thomas Jr, a student of the Open Bible High School in San Fernando, and felt by Education Ministry officials to be too young for such an exercise sat the examination in May when he was just 11 years old. The exam is one that is usually done by students five years his senior. “All the hard work paid off so I’m feeling very excited,” the pre-teen told Newsday yesterday.” When I got the results during the night, I couldn’t sleep. I was too excited to sleep. When I got the results, I was in Tobago. Read more…
Time for safety policy from gangs
Three criminologists yesterday expressed shock over a disturbing video of gang leaders displaying sophisticated guns as they called on the Government and Opposition to hold a high-level emergency meeting to work out a national policy on the public safety threats from gangs, murders and terrorism. The call was made by Prof Ramesh Deosaran, Darius Figueira and Ian Ramdhanie hours after the T&T Guardian published a front page article, titled “Exposed.” The video, shared on WhatsApp, identified Rasta City gang leaders from Beetham Gardens, Sea Lots, Maloney, Port-of-Spain, Maracas, Point Fortin and Caroni, among other areas, displaying a variety of weapons, including Mac 10s, Uzis, Tec-9s, Ak47s and AR15 rifles. A soundtrack accompanying the video describes methods of murder, including the dumping of bodies in Caroni. It also shows a decapitated corpse with what appears to be bullet wounds to the chest area. Read more…
Cancer Nightmare
Cancer patients are being forced to pay a heavy price to live. They have to purchase their own medication, as drugs are scarce at public health institutions. Others who cannot afford to raise the money say they have no choice but to wait till death comes to their door. Since earlier this year, there has been a shortage of drugs to treat cancer patients. The situation has now worsened and patients with aggressive cancers are being told they should obtain the drugs privately, as there is no word as to when the depleted stock would be replenished. A 49-year-old cancer patient who shared her heart-wrenching story with the Express lamented that her fight to live is an expensive, difficult and depressing one. Read more…
POLITICS
Garcia: All schools will be ready
All schools, both primary and secondary throughout the country, will be ready next month when the school term reopens. Education Minister, Anthony Garcia, yesterday gave the assurance while on a site visit of the New Grant (St Matthew’s) Anglican Primary School at Naparima / Mayaro Road, New Grant. On Thursday last, the dilapidated school was demolished to make way for a prefabricated structure which will accommodate an estimated 196 students. Due to health concerns and infrastructural problems on the 70 year-old wooden structure, classes were suspended on May 10. In June, members of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) held a massive protest calling on government to rectify the situation. Read more…
Talk crime at home first
Two business communities are calling National Security Minister Edmund Dillon to fix crime in T&T first before sitting with ministers from across the region to deal with the matter. The call came on the heels of Dillon’s announcement Monday that T&T would be hosting the XII Conference of Defence Ministers of the Americas (CDMA) in October. President of the Chaguanas Chamber of Commerce, Richie Sookhai, called on the Government to talk crime first with all local stakeholders from communities before sitting in on the upcoming $9 million conference. “Another multi-million dollar talk shop will yield no results if citizens are faced with deaf ears,” Sookhai said in a release. Read more…
‘No decision yet on reward for Keshorn’
The recession will have to be taken into consideration in rewarding Keshorn Walcott for his bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil, says Sport Minister Darryl Smith. He, however, added that no final decision has been made regarding a reward for T&T’s only medallist at the Games. Smith told the Express yesterday a committee was being set up to do a post-mortem of the team that represented the country in Brazil. The committee which will include former Olympian Hasely Crawford, will be speaking with Walcott to find out what his needs are, so an appropriate reward can be given, he added. Walcott received the bronze medal in the men’s javelin competition. Read more…
BUSINESS
Bankers eager for FACTA legislation
The Bankers Association of TT (BATT) yesterday joined the American Chamber of Commerce of TT for signing an agreement with the United States (US) Government last Friday last to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in an effort to improve internation al tax compliance. In a brief statement, BATT said the signing of this agreement last week by Finance Minister Colm Imbert is an important milestone and places this country, “in a good position to meet the September 30, 2016 reporting deadline. Addressing a post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister in St Clair on August 11, Imbert said efforts by Government to ensure that this country is FATCA compliant has resulted in TT getting a one year extension in this regard. Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Stuart Young previously said the former People’s Partnership (PP) government failed over the last five years to ensure TT was FACTA compliant. Read more…
UTC’s net income jumps 64% on gain from property transfer
The Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) recorded a 64 per cent increase in its net income for the six-month period ending June 30, 2016, according to the mutual fund company’s financial results, which were posted on its website on Monday. The $157.1 million in net income includes a gain of $63.7 million that the company booked from the winding up of UTC Properties Ltd, and the distribution of its assets, which comprised various properties, to the Unit Trust Corporation. Explaining the transaction, which took place in the second quarter, the UTC said: “UTC Properties Ltd (UPL), is a subsidiary company of the Unit Trust Corporation. It was established years ago to manage the buildings and other properties owned by the corporation. Read more…
US dollars going for TT$7 and above
Continued difficulty in accessing foreign exchange to pay bills and for leisure has led some businesses and individuals to the black market for US dollars. And this does not augur well for the economy, economists are saying. Three months ago, the Central Bank warned citizens against conducting foreign exchange transactions with unauthorised dealers. It stressed that transactions outside of the 12 authorised dealers could result in a fine or possible jail term, from anywhere between two to five years. Read more…
REGIONAL
Deadly Police Rage - Members Of The Security Forces Who Kill Their Women Find Them Too Spunky
Those policemen and soldiers who murder their spouses and then commit suicide are authoritarians who believe that their female partners must be submissive, and when the woman shows spunk, the result is death. These men also fail to separate what is required of them on the street and what is required at home. This conclusion came out of a study conducted by Dr Christopher Charles, senior lecturer in political psychology in the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies. He is strongly recommending that members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) be required to take an annual three-hour workshop dealing with general well-being, domestic violence, and murder-suicide prevention to combat what he says is a culture of force that has been prevalent. Read more…
Grenada PM loses in court again
The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court has again ruled against Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell in a civil action against the liquidator of the Grenada Today newspaper. In 2014, Mitchell lost an earlier bid before the high court in Grenada to have local chartered certified accountant Garvey Louison removed as liquidator of the newspaper. In the latest ruling, the Master, Justice Agnes Actie, ordered as follows:1. The application to grant leave to commence the claim against the third named defendant (Grenada Today Limited (by its liquidator Garvey Louison)) is refused; 2. The claim form against the third named defendant is struck out; 3. Summary judgment is granted in favour of the third named defendant on the counterclaim; 4. The refusal of leave to proceed against the third named defendant will not stop the proceedings against the other defendants. Accordingly the claim shall be listed for further case management directions; and 5. Costs to the liquidator of third named defendant in the sum of $1,500. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Earthquake in central Italy leaves at least 38 dead
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has struck central Italy, leaving at least 38 people dead and 150 missing, as rescuers search for survivors. Many of the dead were in Accumoli, close to the epicentre, and a short distance away in Amatrice, which was largely reduced to rubble. The village of Pescara del Tronto was levelled to the ground and the number of dead was expected to rise. The quake hit at 03:36 (01:36 GMT), 100km (65 miles) north-east of Rome. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi paid tribute to the volunteers and civil defence officials who had rushed to the scene in the middle of the night and used their bare hands to dig for survivors, Although it struck at a shallow depth of 10km, the quake's intensity was compared to that of the Aquila earthquake in April 2009 in which 309 people died. Some buildings in the capital shook for 20 seconds as the quake struck the regional border area of Umbria, Lazio and Le Marche. It was felt from Bologna in the north to Naples in the south. Some 80 aftershocks have been reported since. Read more…
Turkey sends tanks into Syria to battle ISIS
Turkish tanks entered northern Syria on Wednesday as part of a military operation against ISIS, Turkish state media reported. The aim of the operation, code-named Euphrates Shield, is to secure territory along its border with Syria from the ISIS threat, officials told Turkey's semiofficial Anadolu agency. Turkish artillery units and warplanes belonging to the US-led coalition pounded the ISIS-held Syrian town of Jarablus early Wednesday. Turkish special forces units are also operating along the border, CNN Turk reported. Jarablus lies along the west bank of the Euphrates River, less than a kilometer from Turkey. It's the last major town held by ISIS on the Syrian-Turkish border. Read more…
24th August 2016