NEWS
Merry family homeless for Christmas
Three puppies died yesterday in a fire, which left homeless an Egypt Village, Point Fortin mother and son. They are CEPEP worker Judith Merry, 50, and 29-year-old Kent Merry of Egypt Avenue. The puppies were not yet named as they were born, along with two others, only on Sunday. According to police reports, residents saw flames coming from the two-bedroom wooden structure at about 10.30 am. No one was at home and, within minutes, the house was gutted. Read more here
Ex-EFCL chair: I was not forced out
Former Educational Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL) chairman Arnold Piggott has insisted he was not forced out from the organisation by the People’s National Movement (PNM) or by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley as publicly perceived, but rather left on his own volition. “I was not asked to resign despite what has been out in the public domain. There was absolutely no pressure placed on me to resign,” Piggott said as he appeared before yesterday’s Joint Select Committee in Parliament, where he cleared the air surrounding his departure from the EFCL. Read more here
WPC under probe over photo
A policewoman, who has been attached to the Police Service (TTPS) for less than a year, is currently under investigation following the circulation of photos on social media in which she was seen holding a child together with what appeared to be a firearm. Read more here
POLITICS
EFCL ex-chairman Piggott tells Parliament committee: Corruption made me quit
Corruption and his inability to have it dealt with, is what led former People’s National Movement (PNM) minister and MP Arnold Piggott to quit last year as chairman of the Education Facilities Company Limited (EFCL). Piggott found himself in the hot seat before Parliament’s Joint Select Committee (JSC) yesterday, three weeks after he refused to submit to questioning by the committee chaired by Independent Senator David Small. Read more here
BUSINESS
Farmers threaten lawsuit over NFM debt
Attorney Gerald Ramdeen has given State-owned National Flour Mills (NFM) until Friday to pay $1.9 million owed to 15 rice farmers, or face legal action. He said the money is for thousands of pounds of paddy delivered to the company since last December. Ramdeen, who is also an Opposition Senator, said the farmers continue to supply NFM with paddy because they had no other choice. Read more here
REGIONAL
Fuel Plant Folly - Production Stopped At $800m Ethanol Facility In Favour Of Imports
The Auditor General's Department, in a case study of the operational performance of Petrojam Ethanol Limited (PEL), has said that it was not assured that value for money was obtained from investment amounting to more than $800 million in the local ethanol plant. In 2005, PEL and a Brazilian company established a partnership to secure feedstock from the South American country for processing ethanol in a newly constructed 40-million US gallon plant in Kingston. The local company became the sole owner of the plant in 2008 when the partnership agreement expired. At that time, the plant had a value of US$9.3 million (J$823 million). Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
5 things to watch in Alabama's Senate election
On Tuesday, Alabama voters will deliver their verdict on Roy Moore. Twice ousted as state Supreme Court chief justice, criticized nationally for opposing the rights of LGBT Americans, Muslims and women, and accused of pursuing sexual relationships with teenage girls while in his 30s, the Republican could still be in position to win a Senate seat in the special election to replace former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Read more here
New York Port Authority attack: Akayed Ullah 'inspired by IS'
12th December 2017