NEWS
After legal threats by 122 police constables – Erla caves in, halts promotions
Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher has agreed to stop promotions from constables to corporals...for now. The commissioner’s position was telegraphed to attorneys representing the 122 constables who threatened to take her to court over the 2023 promotion exercise débâcle. On January 25, legal officer Anya Ramute-Mohan advised that Harewood-Christopher was “willing to give an undertaking not to take any further steps and/or make any decisions concerning the 2023 promotion to the rank of corporal, pending the substantive response to the issues raised.” Read more here
Heritage cleans up Vessigny Beach
Hundreds of volunteers from Heritage Petroleum did on a clean-up at Vessigny Beach yesterday, addressing a part of the pollution on the western coastline. While residents applauded the initiative they urged Heritage and other corporate entities to contribute to refurbishment of the dilapidated lifeguard facilities at the beach facility. Savanna Dickson said the lifeguard booth was in urgent need of repairs. “Lots of children come here and we need to have the lifeguards with better facilities,” she said. Dickson said the increasing number of beachgoers and inadequate facilities, posed a challenge for lifeguards, who cannot monitor the area effectively. Read more here
POLITICS
Divers' relatives, OWTU, UNC stage protest: Families demand meeting with Paria
The families of the five divers involved in the February 25, 2022 diving tragedy at Paria Fuel Trading Company's Pointe-a-Pierre facility, are calling for a meeting with Paria to discuss compensation for the trauma suffered after losing their loved ones. They made this call on Thursday during a protest by members of the Oilfield Workers' Trade Union (OWTU) at the Pointe-a-Pierre roundabout, outside Paria's facility. Divers Christopher Boodram, Kazim Ali Jnr, Fyzal Kurban, Yusuf Henry and Rishi Nagassar were repairing a 30-inch pipeline at Paria's Pointe-a-Pierre facility when they were sucked into it. Only Boodram escaped. Read more here
Gonzales ready to appear before JSC on TSTT fiasco
Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales says he’s prepared to appear before any Parliament Joint Select Committee to which he’s called on the TSTT cyberbreach issue—and he’s dared any past or present TSTT official to contradict anything he said in his statement on the issue to Parliament last Friday. This, after UNC MP Barry Padarath yesterday called for Gonzales and fired TSTT CEO Lisa Agard to go before the JSC on State Enterprises to have a “Come to Jesus moment” to “bare their souls” about recent controversial statements on the TSTT issue. Padarath made the call at yesterday’s UNC media briefing. Padarath spoke after TSTT management appeared before the JSC on Monday and claimed Agard had provided Gonzales with the inaccurate information he initially gave to Parliament on the October 9 cyberattack statements about the issue. Agard subsequently denied she provided any misleading or inaccurate information to Gonzales. Read more here
BUSINESS
Process to source new vessel ongoing
Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan says the process to source a vessel to replace the Cabo Star is still ongoing. This follows concerns raised about the progress of commissioning of a cargo vessel by Martin George, president of the Tobago Business Chamber, during a telephone interview with the Express yesterday. “The minister promised when last we spoke to him (last year), he is going to commission the construction of a new cargo vessel. We have not heard anything further. We would like to use the forum to call upon him to give us the details of when that vessel is going to be built; when it is going to be put into service,” George said. Read more here
REGIONAL
‘Guyana will not undermine judicial process’
On January 25, 2024, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Guyana and Venezuela held their first meeting of the Joint Commission in Brasilia, Brazil. This meeting was in line with the Joint Declaration of Argyle for Dialogue and Peace that was agreed upon after the meeting of the Presidents of Guyana and Venezuela on December 14, 2023. According to paragraph seven of the declaration, the two states agreed to immediately establish a joint commission comprising the Foreign Ministers and technical persons from both countries. The commission was to address matters that were mutually agreed, and an update was to be submitted to the Presidents of Guyana and Venezuela within three months. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Georgia's stolen children: Twins sold at birth reunited by TikTok video
Amy and Ano are identical twins, but just after they were born they were taken from their mother and sold to separate families. Years later, they discovered each other by chance thanks to a TV talent show and a TikTok video. As they delved into their past, they realised they were among thousands of babies in Georgia stolen from hospitals and sold, some as recently as 2005. Now they want answers. Amy is pacing up and down in a hotel room in Leipzig. "I'm scared, really scared," she says, fidgeting nervously. "I haven't slept all week. This is my chance to finally get some answers about what happened to us." Her twin sister, Ano, sits in an armchair, watching TikTok videos on her phone. "This is the woman that could have sold us," she says, rolling her eyes. Read more here
26th January 2024