DAILY BRIEF
WEDNESDAY 24TH JUNE, 2015
NEWS
He offered me $.25m to lie
Special Reserve Police Officer Jitnarine Hardeen is denying outright that it is his voice heard on a recording played for the media by Independent Liberal Party (ILP) leader Jack Warner yesterday. Hardeen issued a legal letter to Warner yesterday threatening action. “There is no truth in any of these allegations nor the contents of any of your statements, nor the contents of the tape or tapes,” Hardeen said through his lawyer. Hardeen, who was the retained driver for former minister of social development Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh, yesterday countered Warner’s damning recording of telephone conversations, alleging that Warner in fact offered him some $250,000 to agree that the voice on tape was his. In a three-page legal letter, Hardeen’s attorney, Dennis Rampersad, picked apart Warner’s tape, denying every bit of the alleged conversation between Hardeen and Warner. Read more...
...I'm targeting the whole division, says top cop
Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams yesterday confirmed he was “seeking for Government to authorise the buyout of leave in excess of 90 days for all First Division officers”. In an interview with Tony Lee and Dale Enoch yesterday morning on i95.5fm, Williams added: “The Police Service regulations provide that no more than 15 per cent of the officers assigned cannot be on leave at any one time. So I have control over how many persons I can send on leave, and that principle has caused the Police Service over the years, and it's not today, it's not last week, it has caused the Police Service over the years, for officers to accumulate leave, on the average in the first division, 250 days accumulated leave. “On normal circumstances, no more than 90 days' vacation is the hallmark.” The top cop said he is seeking to purchase the leave of all officers within the First Division. Read more...
Principal, lawyer for Integrity Commission
A retired school principal and an attorney-at-law have been, according to sources, chosen by President Anthony Carmona as the two newest members of the Integrity Commission. Newsday understands that the President will soon swear in the two persons as commissioners, one of whom is said to be attorney Rajiv Persad who has represented several high profile persons aligned to both the United National Congress and the People’s National Movement in the past. The President consulted with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley on his choices, to which the Prime Minister has reportedly stated she has no objections. However, Rowley is standing firm on his position that Commission chairman Justice Zainool Hosein and the remaining commissioners should be removed and an entirely new commission should be appointed. Read more...
POLITICS
Cadiz: Warner’s trouble is US courts
Even as embattled ILP political leader Jack Warner continues his crusade against Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her Government, Transport Minister Stephen Cadiz yesterday advised Warner to prepare himself for a “difficult period” in the United States courts instead of trying to divert public attention away from the “serious indictments” against him. Speaking to reporters following a breakfast meeting hosted by the Chaguanas Chamber of Industry & Commerce (CCIC) at Signature Hall, Longdenville, Cadiz, asked whether Warner’s comments could damage the People’s Partnership reelection campaign, said Warner’s revelations may not “even exist”. “My only comment about Mr Warner is that Mr Warner will be going through a very difficult period and I think that Mr Warner should be preparing himself for that very difficult period, and instead of trying to stir up things that really and truly don’t, many of them don’t even exist,” Cadiz said. .Read more...
Activist upset over PNM wrap
Social Activist Phillip Edward Alexander will today file formal complaints with the Integrity Commission, the Elections and Boundaries Commission and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to a large wrapping placed on a building at Belmont, promoting the PNM’s candidate for the Port-of-Spain North/St Ann’s West seat, Stuart Young, and PNM political leader Dr Keith Rowley. Alexander, who hopes to contest the Diego Martin West seat as an independent candidate, has queried whether the wrapping, the cost of which he has estimated at $70,000, runs afoul of election campaigning laws which limit spending for campaigns. “We have had the letters done, but the traffic out of Diego Martin today caused us to delay it until tomorrow morning,” Alexander said yesterday in a Facebook message. Read more...
BUSINESS
Govt signs energy MOU $4.5m grant approved
A $4.5 million grant has been approved for extraction and heavy oil research and development through the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), as the Ministry of Energy looks to maximise these aspects of local resources and conservation. Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine and Tertiary Education Minister Fazal Karim yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to seal the partnership at Karim’s Tower C, Port of Spain Waterfront office. Ramnarine said the funding comes from reserves accumulated by production sharing contracts signed with the Government by energy companies who are obligated to set aside a portion for local research and development. There are at least 34 active contracts of that nature at this time, he said.It was time to begin accessing some of that funding for investment in the future of local energy, Ramnarine said, adding that Trinidad still has a lot of ground reserves that haven’t been tapped by conventional extracting methods. Read more...
Cadiz promises better public transport
Transport Minister Stephen Cadiz said more effort will be put into improving the country’s public transportation system as a means of easing traffic congestion. He told members of the Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce that that will be high on the agenda if the People’s Partnership gets another five years in office. Cadiz, the featured speaker at the Chamber’s monthly breakfast meeting at Signature Hall, Chaguanas, yesterday, said there will have to be a major overhaul of the sector. However, he ruled out construction of a rapid rail system because of the high costs involved. Cadiz, the Chaguanas East MP, said in 2007 the estimated cost for a rapid rail system was $25 billion and it could now be in the range of $40 billion. In addition, he said the system would have to be maintained and would operate on subsidies which the country would not be able to afford. Read more...
White collar crime high
President of the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce Robert Trestrail yesterday said while the focus is largely on violent or blue collar crimes, white collar crime has become equally prevalent, but far more difficult to detect. “White collar crime is particularly dangerous as it undermines society in subtle, but no less dangerous ways. It places a heavy burden on both the public and private sectors and drives other areas of criminal activity.” Trestrail was speaking at a breakfast meeting titled, “Obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism Laws”, organised by the Chamber’s Crime and Justice Committee at the chamber’s headquarters at Westmoorings. “White collar crime is an integral part of organised crime and can capture many unsuspecting victims as dirty money is laundered by legitimate firms and institutions..." Read more...
ANSA McAL chooses Digicel/Cisco partnership project
Through a billion dollar investment in its fibre network, Digicel is positioned to deliver savings to small, medium and large businesses. One such organisation taking advantage of the business solutions provided is the Ansa Automotive Ltd, a member of the ANSA McAL Group, via Digicel’s project in partnership with Cisco. Through this and other business solutions, Digicel continues to demonstrate its ability to play a significant role in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the way companies do business. Ian Galt, group chief information officer of ANSA McAL reinforced the company’s commitment to Digicel because of the “strong partnership, in good times and perhaps more importantly in the bad.” Read more...
REGIONAL
CARICOM appeals to Dominican Republic to stop deportations
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has called on the Dominican Republic government to halt the deportation of Dominicans of Haitian descent and avoid creating a humanitarian crisis in the region. “The Community calls on the Dominican Republic authorities to adhere to the above principles and confirm the citizenship status of Dominicans of Haitian descent. The Community also calls on the Dominican Republic not to engage in the expulsion of Dominicans of Haitian descent . . . ,” it said in a statement issued yesterday. Tens of thousands of people born in the Dominican Republic to Haitian parents have been left “stateless” as a result of a 2013 ruling by the Dominican Constitutional Court, which had been made retroactive to 1929, revoking their nationality. Read more...
INTERNATIONAL
Pakistan heat wave: Death toll passes 700 in Karachi, Sindh Province
At the Edhi morgue in Karachi, the smell is overwhelming. At least 650 bodies have been brought here since Saturday. Many lie in storage. But an oppressive heat wave -- and the frequent power outages from electricity grids trying to keep up with demand -- means the morgue is unable to properly maintain the temperature at the overcrowded facility. A handwritten sign outside says the morgue is filled to capacity. Other bodies lie outside. Such is the state of affairs in the beleaguered seaport city of Karachi. A record-breaking heat wave has killed 748 in Sindh province, where Karachi is located. Authorities fear the toll will only rise. The Rangers, Pakistan's paramilitary force, has set up 10 relief centers across the city, distributing water and salt tablets. But even that has proven inadequate. Read more...
24th June 2015