NEWS
Attorney Bhajan for youth forum at Nagar
Recipient of the Humming Bird Medal (Silver) in 2011, Veera Bhajan, 29, who was born without arms, will be the main speaker at the upcoming Hindu Youth Forum. Bhajan, an attorney, will join singers Rennie Ramnarine and Anil Bheem to address the forum. Coordinator Davan Ramratttan said, “This is centred around the youths in TT, giving them opportunity to express themselves.” Local media practitioners as well as performing artistes, sportmen, religion leaders and business executives will also be addressing the youths. Read more here
$.6m bail for man accused of sexual abuse of girl, 7
A San Fernando contractor who allegedly sexually abused a child for five years was granted $.6 million bail when he appeared in court yesterday. Dave Friday, 51, a janitorial contractor, is alleged to have first assaulted the child when she was seven. Yesterday, he stood before Senior Magistrate Cherril-Anne Antoine in the San Fernando First Court charged with 12 offences, including five counts of sexual penetration, five counts of grievous sexual assault and two counts of serious indecency. The sex crimes were allegedly committed between 2011 and 2016. Friday went to the Child Protection Unit based at the Oropouche Police Station on Saturday, where he was arrested and subsequently charged by PC Nygelle Diamond. Friday was not called upon to plead to any of the charges yesterday. Read more here
Councillor gets 2 tickets from ‘rogue cops’ in Chaguanas
Councillor for Montrose, Andell Paramsook, is accusing Central Division police of abuse of power following an incident on Monday where he was issued with two tickets for $2,000 while executing his duty at the Lange Park Recreational Ground. Read more here
POLITICS
Le Hunte on being stopped by police: I was treated like a criminal
Public Utilities Minister Robert Le Hunte said he felt he was being treated like a criminal by police when he was redirected by officers from Dock Road near the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Sunday evening due to ongoing road works by the Water and Sewage Authority. Newsday spoke with Le Hunte this afternoon who refuted earlier claims that he was on his cellphone while driving and said he had simply intended to turn from Wrightson Road onto Dock Road, when the police instructed him to find the alternate route into the building. Read more here
OWTU tells Govt send home 675 Port workers
Seamen and Waterfront Workers’ Trade Union (SWWTU) president Michael Annisette has proposed that Government send home 675 of the Port of Port-of-Spain’s 1,500 workers to save the state enterprise from going belly up. The workers to face the axe will be from across the board, Annisette said, as he called on Government and the Port Authority of T&T (PATT) board to meet immediately with the union to come up with a retrenchment exercise and payment plan for the affected workers. Annisette made the disclosure at a joint press conference in Port-of-Spain yesterday attended by Public Services Association president Watson Duke and attorney Nyree Alfonso. Admitting it was strange for a union to call for workers to be sent home, Annisette said there was a “concerted and devious” effort by Government to undermine the union and PATT by getting rid of the port “so financiers and business elites can get what they want to get.” Read more here
BUSINESS
BHP Billiton’s T&T earnings turn negative
BHP Billiton’s revenue from T&T increased by 46 per cent to US$161 million for the fiscal year (FY) ended June 30, 2018, the company said in statements released last week. The company’s corporate income taxes paid to the Trinidad and Tobago Government also increased to US$0.8 million in the year from US$0.3 million the year before. Read more here
REGIONAL
$445m To Security - .Gov’t To Spend $791 Billion This Fiscal Year First Supplementary Estimates Reveal
Another $445 million is being allocated to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to fund, among other things, the various security measures imposed by the Andrew Holness administration to stem the country's murder rate and restore public order in town centres across the island. Further, the Government now plans to allocate $7 billion to local authorities to pay current and outstanding charges for street lighting; $1.7 billion to the National Housing Trust to settle outstanding arrears in employer contribution owed by public-sector entities; and more than $500 million to help clean up the voters' list by removing the names of deceased persons. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Europe migration: 'Horrific experiences' on the crossing from Libya
The number of migrants attempting the journey from Libya to Europe has gone down since last year, but the proportion of those who die on the way has risen. One person died or went missing for every 18 people who crossed via the central Mediterranean route between January and July 2018, compared to one in 42 people in the same period in 2017, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. Read more here
Iran can afford to play a waiting game with Donald Trump
Not long after the rest of the world had openly laughed at his boss as he addressed the United Nations General Assembly, US National Security Advisor John Bolton mustered his best Jacobean menace on Tuesday. "According to the mullahs in Tehran, we are 'the Great Satan,' lord of the underworld, master of the raging inferno," he said on the margins of the UNGA Tuesday. "So, I might imagine they would take me seriously when I assure them today: If you cross us, our allies, or our partners; if you harm our citizens; if you continue to lie, cheat, and deceive, yes, there will indeed be HELL to PAY." Read more here
26th September 2018