NEWS
Japanese Foreign Minister visits Trinidad and Tobago
Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and a delegation from Japan visited TT on Monday, meeting with Energy and Energy Industries Minister Stuart Young, Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Amery Browne, and holding a luncheon with Japanese residents in TT. This is the first time a Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister has visited TT. A release from the Energy and Energy Industries Ministry said discussions surrounded the relationship between Japan and TT regarding further investments in TT’s energy sector. Young welcomed continuous trade relations with Japan and expressed the Government’s willingness to have discussions with Japan inclusive of other sectors outside of energy such as trade, education and natural disaster management. Read more here
Customs, BIR workers wary as TTRA set for Aug 1 start-up
The activation date for the T&T Revenue Authority is August 1 and following the proclamation of sections of the TTRA Act yesterday (May 1), Inland Revenue and Customs employees are being given information this week on work transitions. This was indicated in a notification circulated from the office of TTRA chairman Nigel Edwards to employees of the Inland Revenue (IRD) and Customs and Excise Division (CED). Both divisions will be integrated in the TTRA. Employees also confirmed they expected to get letters from yesterday. The notice stated that 2023 is moving apace, “and the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority (TTRA) is keeping up as we enter the middle of the second quarter.” Read more here
POLITICS
Gonzales hopes 70% of country will get water 24/7
Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales is optimistic that within the next three-five months, 70 per cent of consumers across the country could have a 24/7 supply of water. He identified a series of wells being drilled as one initiative that could bring relief to communities that have been unserved or underserved for years with respect to water. Gonzales made this comment to the media during a tour of three water well sites in the Freeport-Couva area. On taking office after the August 10, 2020 general election, Gonzales said he was briefed on water-supply issues in different areas. Read more here
Political scientist wants PM, Kamla in public talks on crime
Political scientist Dr Bishnu Ragoonath wants a public meeting between Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and the Opposition Leader to discuss crime. His comments follow the recent spat between both leaders on the issue of T&T’s crime woes. Speaking with Guardian Media yesterday, Dr Ragoonath said, “We need to have a conversation between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition but not behind closed doors where afterwards both of them would come out and say the talks were cordial and then what happens after? The population is looking on and we need to see and we need to hear what their proposals are and what their solutions are and there upon, force them into working towards some solution.” He said politicisation of crime has been happening for a very long time, with successive governments producing crime plans, but there has been no real fix. Read more here
BUSINESS
$786.8m half-year profit for RFHL
Republic Financial Holdings Ltd (RFHL) has recorded a half-year profit of $786.8 million. The country’s largest banking group said yesterday it had recorded profits attributable to shareholders of $786.8 million for the half-year ended March. RFHL’s chairman Vincent Pereira yesterday said the profits represent an increase of $58 million or 7.96 per cent over the profit reported in the corresponding period of the last financial year. He said total assets stood at $114.1 billion on March 31, an increase of $760.2 million or 0.67 per cent over the total assets in March 2022. Read more here
REGIONAL
President Ali: Worker unity compromised by fractured labour movement
Given the security a united labour movement provides, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali has highlighted the need for the government, the private sector, and the labour movement to co-operate for the upliftment of workers. “I am prepared to be part of fashioning a new era of relations among government, labour movement and the private sector,” the Head of State said during his 2023 Labour Day message. He recognised that yet another ‘May Day’ finds the local labour movement divided, which undermines worker solidarity; this is far from desirable in protecting workers’ rights and consolidating their gains. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Sudan crisis: Civilians facing 'catastrophe' as 100,000 flee fighting – UN
More than 100,000 people have fled Sudan since heavy fighting broke out between rival forces on 15 April, the UN has said. Officials warned of an "all-out catastrophe" if fighting does not end. A further 334,000 people have been displaced within Sudan. Fighting is continuing in the capital, Khartoum, between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), despite a ceasefire due to be in force. On Monday, the UN special envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, told the AP news agency that the two sides had agreed to enter into talks to negotiate a "stable and reliable" ceasefire. Saudi Arabia was a potential venue for the talks, he added. Read more here
2nd May 2023