NEWS
Bharath to govt on St Augustine development: Meet with us
Former minister of food production, land and agriculture Vasant Bharath yesterday called on the Prime Minister to meet with him and members of the TT Agricultural Society to discuss the future of the St Augustine Nurseries and to prevent any development in the area. Speaking before a press conference at the Valpark Chinese Restaurant, Valsayn, Bharath said urban development was of concern not only for farmers but also for the public, citing TT's sizeable food import bill as a reason to revitalise the agriculture sector. Read more here
T&T, El Salvador sign MOU on financial intelligence-sharing
The directors of the Financial Intelligence Units (FIU) of El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago have executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish a framework to facilitate the timely exchange of information and intelligence that is reasonably considered relevant to the investigation of a money laundering or financing of terrorism case. The MOU was executed at the Caribbean Financial Action Task Fork (CFATF) XLVIII Plenary held during November 19-23, 2018 in Bridgetown, Barbados. Under the MOU, each FIU can offer, spontaneously or upon request of the other FIU, any information and intelligence at its disposal that may be relevant to such an investigation to the extent permitted by the laws of each country and in accordance with its policies and procedures. Read more here
POLITICS
Closed Uganda High Commission cost $7m a year
Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon says the TT High Commission in Uganda was closed because the desired agriculture and energy objectives were not achieved and the annual operating cost of $7 million annually could be better spent elsewhere. She was responding to a question in the Senate yesterday from Opposition Senator Taharqa Obika who asked whether a prior assessment was done to forecast the effect of the closure of the High Commission. The Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs, in a statement on its website, announced the closure of the High Commission at Kampala, Uganda from November 30, 2016, and urged TT nationals and other people wishing to access services to to contact the High Commission at Abuja, Nigeria. Read more here
BUSINESS
T&T must be wary of China factor
Trinidad and Tobago cannot disregard the “China factor.” That was the advice from Wendell Mottley, a former Minister of Finance, who also warned that Chinese loans can become “an albatross around our necks as they have become in some parts of Africa, but that’s not the Chinese’ fault.” Mottley focused on growing Chinese investment in the region in his contribution to a seminar on Growth and International Partnerships hosted by AmChamTT at the Royal Hotel, San Fernando, yesterday. Noting that China’s effort to gain influence in the region has caused the United States to respond accordingly, Mottley said T&T will have to be very sophisticated as it manoeuvres partnerships with the two countries. He asked: “As a country, are we taking loans or welcoming investments?” Read more here
T&T economy in ‘market failure’
Trnidad and Tobago’s economy has plunged into what economists are calling ‘market failure’, as an uptick in natural gas prices and production are masking underperformance the rest of the economy. Read more here
REGIONAL
Collared By Crime - Security Concerns Hinder Jamaica's Move Up Prosperity Index
Jamaica scored poorly in the category of safety and security but still gained four places, moving into the 54th position in this year's Legatum Institute Prosperity Index, which captured data from 149 countries. The ranking placed Jamaica eighth of the 23 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in the ranking produced over the past 12 years by the Legatum Institute, which is an independent educational charity based in London, England. Following the release of the index yesterday, director of policy at the Legatum Institute, Dr Stephen Brien, told The Gleaner that Jamaica has seen the greatest increase in prosperity in the region over the past five years and would have scored even higher if the security conditions in the island were better. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
'The word Jew was not a common insult when I went to school...it is now.'
Rachel always thought it was best to hide her religion from her high school students. The trouble started a few years ago when she let slip to a student that she was Jewish. "I found swastikas scribbled in their textbooks, they drew penises around my name on the blackboard, and they'd yell like 'Hey, Jew' at me during class," said Rachel, a teacher in Berlin. "It became harder... to do my job." Rachel, whose name has been changed because of safety concerns, went to her headmaster, and then to the police, but she said neither took her complaint seriously and would not intervene. Read more here
Lion Air crash: Investigators say plane was 'not airworthy'
28th November 2018