NEWS
Mom Hides Baby From Gunmen
A quick thinking 17-yearold girl grabbed her sleeping seven-month-old baby daughter from their bed, ran to and clutching the sleeping babe to her chest, hid behind a wardrobe just as gunmen burst into a Marabella house and riddled the baby’s father with bullets on Monday night. Police yesterday took the teenaged mom and her baby into protective custody as the killers remain at large. The teen’s common-law husband Selwyn John, 35, a fisherman subsequently bled to death in the living room of their Train Line, Bayshore West, Marabella house. It is believed two gunmen walked up the shoreline, entered a yard and kicked down the front door of John’s house at 11.30 pm. As he got up from his bed and went to the living room, John was cut down in a hail of bullets. Read more…
Millions on empty office buildings
Several million was paid by various People’s Partnership government ministries in rent for certain unoccupied buildings over 2014 to 2015, including large sums for a St Clair property leased by the past People’s National Movement administration which the PP continued to pay for, according to the Auditor General’s latest report. The Auditor General’s report for October 2014 to September 2015 was laid in Parliament yesterday, along with the Public Accounts of T&T for 2015. The report revealed ...numerous instances at various ministries /departments where financial regulations and instructions “continue to be disregarded.” Read more…
Mahabir: Agency has done little in 20 years
The Strategic Services Agency (SSA) should not be allowed more power as it has failed in the past two decades to bring any major drug lord to justice, says Independent Senator Dr Dhanayshar Mahabir. e was speaking in the Senate yesterday during debate on the The Strategic Services Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which seeks to expand the investigative powers of the agency from dealing with not only drug-related matters but other serious crimes such as homicide, treason, human trafficking and crimes that carry a penalty of not less than five years in prison. Read more…
POLITICS
Rowley: Diego Martin to get modern sport facility
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has assured that in the near future the entire Diego Martin constituency will benefit, after a long wait, from a modern sporting facility at what is now known as the North Diego Martin Playing Field. Officially declaring open the Diego Martin West and Diego Martin Central First Family Fun Day on the weekend at the Diego Martin Central Secondary School playground on Wendy Fitzwilliam Boulevard, Diego Martin, Rowley said that contractors have moved onto the site of the “north ground”, and work has begun. By the time the next family day comes around, Rowley said that it will be held at the modern facility which will be equipped with pavilions, and that caters for cricket, football, tennis among other sports. He said that the programme to upgrade the North Diego Martin Playing Field had been put on hold over the past eight years, but that the long awaited facilities will finally be completed under the stewardship of MP for Diego Martin Central and Sport Minister Darryl Smith. Read more…
T&T never had scorpion anti-venom—Deyalsingh
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh has dismissed as unfounded the theory that the country has run out of antidote for scorpion venom. “Let me make it crystal clear, T&T never had scorpion anti-venom. Never had it, so it is difficult to run out of something which was never available.” Nevertheless, he said, “I want to reassure the public that if you are bitten by a scorpion, your chances of survival are excellent, once we start aggressive supportive therapy as soon as possible with or without a vaccine.” He said the crucial thing is timing. Read more…
Al-Rawi slams low conviction rate for money laundering
Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi yesterday slammed the low detection and conviction rate for money launderers and other criminals. Piloting the Strategic Services Agency Amendment Bill in the Senate the Attorney General said that of the $3.6 billion which passed through the monitoring eyes of the Financial Intelligence Unit, the meagre sum of $250,000 was forfeited. Read more…
BUSINESS
CARIFORUM-EU EPA facilitate training
The Ministry of Trade and Industry in collaboration with the CARIFORUM Secretariat and the European Union facilitated a training workshop on Customs and Trade Facilitation yesterday. The one day training session which targeted stakeholders of Customs and other trade regulatory agencies and the private sector formed a part of the capacity building programme related to the Customs and Trade Facilitation aspects of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Karlene Roach, Act ing Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, in opening remarks said that Trinidad and Tobago’s Policy Framework was focused on maximizing the benefits and opportunities under the EPA. “As such capacity building in customs and trade facilitation is critical to enable Trinidad and Tobago to take advantage of opportunities afforded by the EPA. The training was geared at enhancing human, legal and institutional capacity of both the public and private sector to better allow TT to honour its commitment and attain the objectives of the EPA. She also thanked the CARIFORUM Secretariat, Consultants at Equinoccio and the European Union for their contributions in making this training course a reality. Read more…
‘OAS or not, we need the highway’
Construtora OAS or not, the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension to Point Fortin needs to be completed. This was the opinion of representatives from several regional corporations and business chambers who maintained yesterday that they see value in the project. Read more…
REGIONAL
Worker Exodus - Salary Review Speeds Up As Key Staff Quit Ministry Jobs
The Andrew Holness administration has committed to continuing a review of the compensation policy in the public sector even as there are growing concerns about an increasing number of professionals in critical state entities that are leaving these positions in droves to take up jobs in the private sector or to migrate. Without providing data, Finance and the Public Service Minister Audley Shaw told members of the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament yesterday that in his few weeks in office, the problem of brain drain in the public sector has confronted him forcefully. He said critical professionals in the public sector are taking up positions not only in the private sector but many are going overseas. "It is something that is very urgent, and, in fact, I have asked the financial secretary to take whatever steps are necessary to speed up that process of review." Read more…
US-based Caribbean bank under consideration
The region is being urged to look into the feasibility of establishing a Caribbean bank in the United States to address the loss of correspondent banking services being experienced by banks in the Caribbean. Deputy Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) Trevor Brathwaite said that’s an option that can’t be ignored, WINN reported. “In London there are a number of banks that are owned by foreign nationals from other countries and so it’s doable. The feasibility study ought to say once you look at the terms of reference for the feasibility study the modality for establishing a Caribbean bank let’s say in New York, it could be an outright purchase or maybe a second tier bank or the establishment of a bank by private interest collectively,” Brathwaite said. ECCB governor Timothy Antoine said the option is not a far-fetched one. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Migrant crisis: EU plans penalties for refusing asylum seekers
GOP wakes up to Trump victory -- and plenty of questions
A once unthinkable idea is now the Republican Party's new political reality: Donald Trump is its presumptive presidential nominee. Ted Cruz's sudden exit from the 2016 race Tuesday night following a devastating loss in Indiana all but brought to a halt the hard-fough battle for the GOP nomination, virtually ensuring Trump will garner the 1,237 delegates needed before the Republican convention this summer. Now, a party fractured by more than a year of campaigning, personal insults and threats of third-party runs has to figure out how to move forward. Read more…
4th May 2016