NEWS
‘Kill Bad Men’
Anguishedrelatives of 25-year-old construction worker Adam Boney - who was gunned down on Monday night - yesterday pleaded with Government to take drastic action and kill criminals similar to what is being done in the Philippines where over 3,000 suspected drug dealers/users have been killed by State-sanctioned kill squads. Speaking to reporters yesterday at the Forensic Science Centre in St James, Boney’s relatives appealed to Government to take action similar to that done by Filipino President Rodrigo Duerte. “Let them do like what the Philippines government are doing now,” cried Amanda Haynes, one of Boney’s sisters. “Let them take the badmen off the street. How many more mothers and families would have to cry? When will this stop? Someone needs to intervene. Bring the police or bring some other measures. Bring something! Deal with these criminals, because they have no respect for life.” Boney’s mother Joan Haynes told reporters yesterday that he was at his home in Dass Trace on Monday night, when he got a phone call. She said that Boney told her he was going out near their home for a while and that he would return shortly. Minutes later, she added, loud, rapid gunfire was heard. Read more here
‘Church boy’ killed in Enterprise
Enterprise, a Chaguanas community now heavily associated with criminality, would not have such a stigma if more men like Adam Boney, who was killed on Monday night, lived in the area. This is the view of one neighbour of Boney who said the 25-year-old was a “church boy” who would try to speak with his peers about the life they lived in the hopes of encouraging them to turn from criminality. Speaking yesterday near the box drain where Boney collapsed after being shot, the woman, who asked not to be identified, said she knew the young man for most of his life and “he was not in nothing.” She added that he would mostly be seen liming with the men in the Chris Trace, Enterprise, area where he lived, telling them about their ill choices and how not to continue in a criminal lifestyle. Read more here
No bail for illegal Venezuelan student
A Venezuelan student was denied bail yesterday on a charge that she illegally entered the country. Saranes Janes Galindo Espitia, 20, of Barcelona, Venezuela, entered a not guilty plea in the San Fernando Fourth Magistrate’s Court. She was held last Saturday at the beach without any documentation. Unable to speak English, Espitia was assisted by interpreter Luz Marina Tapias D Copilah. The court alleged Espitia entered Trinidad at a beach unknown at a designated area not deemed for entry and failed to report to an officer for examination.
Magistrate Natalie Diop asked if Espitia had an attorney and she said no. She said she was not aware of the offence. She said she did not have a fixed place to reside in Trinidad. Read more here
POLITICS
Ramdial calls on Dillon to shape up
Citing another shooting in Central Trinidad on Monday evening, Couva North MP Ramona Ramdial has again called for the establishment of joint police and army patrols in the Enterprise area. In a strongly worded media statement yesterday, Ramdial also called on National Security Minister Edmund Dillon, to “shape up and start working in the best interests of the people of our country or ship out.” “Last night there was a triple shooting in Enterprise, Central Trinidad, where one person died,” Ramdial said adding that shootings and killings have become the norm in Enterprise and Central Trinidad. “Central Division Police are doing all they can within their remit to fight the crime surge but need additional support from the army and Coast Guard,” Ramdial stated, and pointed out that there were currently no 24-hour rotation joint police and army patrols in Enterprise. Read more here
PM: T&T will help storm-hit Haiti
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says T&T will provide assistance to Haiti if requested following passage of the Category 4 Hurricane Matthew, which hit the Caribbean nation yesterday. Rowley said so in response to questions from reporters after yesterday’s launch of the PNM’s 60th anniversary Nation Building Calypso Competition at Balisier House, Port-of-Spain. The finals of the competition will take place at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, on November 12 from 7 pm. Asked to comment on the hurricane which had just started to affect the country, Rowley responded: “Oh, poor Haiti. Every time there is something bad happening in the Caribbean Haiti has to get a piece of it.” Read more here
Economist: Mixed signals from Govt
Economist Dr Roger Hosein has chastised the Government for sending mixed signals to the population, saying the State has, on the one hand, lamented a lack of revenue, but has, on the other, indicated a misleading confidence in the prices of oil and gas. Hosein, speaking at the San Juan Business Association’s budget review and panel discussion at Maritime Plaza, Barataria, on Monday night, stressed on the “powerful” economic concept of “signalling” , where one party has information the other does not and therefore signals, to the other, the facts.
Hosein said Finance Minister Colm Imbert, who delivered the 2016/2017 national budget in the Parliament last Friday, had sent the signal to the population that the Government was more confident in energy prices, and this could skew the priorities of citizens. Imbert stated the budget revenue is predicated on an oil price between US$48 and US$50, and a gas price of US$2.25 per MMBTU. Read more here
BUSINESS
ILP against online tax
The Independent Liberal Party (ILP) views the imposition of a seven percent tax on online imports as a punitive measure in an otherwise dull national Budget. A statement by ILP leader Rekha Ramjit said this tax on courier airfreight should not be inflicted on citizens “The Government could have explored other ways to direct local resellers into being more competitive, since the reasons people purchase items online are because the items are either unavailable in TT or they are overpriced on the local market. In some cases, sub-standard goods are being sold,” Ramjit said. She said the new tax helps excuse local resellers from being competitive in the price and quality of their goods. The ILP leader said the Budget speech had nothing extraordinary nor exciting, but was “less money with more talk.” She added, “We would have hoped that the ‘more talk’ might have resulted in the minister providing more ideas and inspiration for how citizens could partner with the Government in boosting productivity and our economic capacity; instead we were treated to about three hours of ‘buffing’ as to why we have to do what the minister says, and why we must endure his fiscal offerings.” She deplored Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s tone of delivery. Read more here
Enill at post-budget session: Discipline before diversification
Former government minister Conrad Enill says public expectation that diversification can, by the wave of a magic wand, solve T&T’s economic woes, including the $20 billion shortfall in energy revenue, is not in keeping with reality. In his assessment of the 2016-2017 budget, during Eastern Credit Union’s Annual Post Budget Review at La Joya Complex, St Joseph, on Monday, Enill said the missing link in achieving diversification is discipline. “You cannot be talking about diversification with your expenditure profile increasing at a rate faster than your energy sector contribution can maintain. For diversification to make sense in T&T, you need to have economic discipline,” he said. “You cannot be spending $10, $15 or $20 billion a year when energy prices are high and expect that when energy prices get low the other sectors within the society will fill it. It’s a manager’s business.” Read more here
AMCHAM against 7% online tax
The American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago (AMCHAM T&T) says it is disappointed that Government chose to tax online purchases without first discussing the issue with the chamber and other stakeholders. “AMCHAM T&T does not support this tax, as we believe that this tax would not assist the Government by means of addressing foreign exchange demand nor raise material revenue, but rather it can be unnecessarily inflationary, as many businesses use online shopping for raw materials and machinery,” the chamber’s president Ravi Suryadevara said yesterday. Read more here
REGIONAL
Hurricane Matthew Slams Eastern Cuba In Short Dash Across The Island
Hurricane Matthew made a short, intense dash across the easternmost tip of Cuba yesterday, toppling trees and power lines, washing out a bridge, sending waves crashing ashore and pelting communities with torrential rains. High winds began whipping Cuba late yesterday afternoon and just before 6 p.m. Matthew’s eye made landfall near Punta Caleta on the sparsely populated southeastern tip of Cuba. Highest sustained winds were near 140 mph. Landfall was further east in Guantánamo province than originally forecast, putting more distance between densely populated areas and the US Naval Station at Guantánamo Bay than initially anticipated. Read more here
Bloodshed Again - Man Killed On Birthday, 62-Y-O, Two Others Battle For Life As Guns Bark In MoBay
As most of Jamaica sighed with relief at the minimal impact of Hurricane Matthew, the ongoing lawlessness in Montego Bay, St James, yesterday claimed yet another victim when one man was shot and killed in the volatile 'Vietnam' area in Flanker. Three other persons were shot and seriously injured in the incident. The dead man, who residents identified only as 'Sassa', is believed to be in his late 40s or early 50s. He was reportedly in a buoyant mood minutes before the shooting, as he was said to be celebrating his birthday. "Dem kill de man pon him birthday. What a wicked act!" said a man who identified himself only as a friend of the deceased man. "When di shots dem start buss, the younger man dem run off, so dem just turn di gun dem pon di old people dem who couldn't run." According to eyewitness reports, approximately 8:30 a.m., a silver Toyota motor car drove into 'Vietnam' and several armed men alighted and started firing shots. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Hurricane Matthew: Thousands displaced in Haiti
Philippines' President says he'll 'break up' with US, tells Obama 'go to hell'
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's vitriol against the United States took another caustic turn Tuesday, when he threatened to "break up" with the US and said President Barack Obama can "go to hell." Duterte's latest remarks came just as the US and Philippines started joint military exercises -- perhaps for the last time. The war drills began Tuesday in Manila and will last until October 12. Last week, Duterte said this round of joint drills with the US would be the last. "I serve notice to you now that this will be the last joint military exercise with US," Duterte said. Read more here
5th October 2016