Daily Brief - Tuesday 9th May, 2017

NEWS

Sabga’s life celebrated

Because he came from humble beginnings and was not able to achieve academically, two awards the late Chairman Emeritus of ANSA McAL Dr Anthony Norman Sabga cherished dearly were the Order of the Republic of T&T (ORTT) and the Doctorate of Laws bestowed upon him by the University of the West Indies. The ORTT presented to him in 2011 and the doctorate he received in 1998 meant the world to Sabga, his son A Norman Sabga, group Chairman and Chief Executive of ANSA McAL, said yesterday as he delivered the eulogy at the funeral service at the Church of the Assumption in Maraval. Read more here

Truckers: Cargo barge a disaster

The cargo barge that replaced the MV Super Fast Galicia on the Trinidad and Tobago seabridge transport route is a disaster, the Inter-island Trailers and Truckers' Association has claimed. Read more here

 

POLITICS

Ministry, US Embassy launch art project in 16 schools

The Ministry of Education is teaming up with the US Embassy to introduce an Integrated Arts and Technology Project in 16 secondary schools across T&T. During the launch which took place last Friday at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port-of-Spain, officials confirmed it was in keeping with the ministry’s thrust to improve literacy and numeracy among the student population. Set to be rolled out in 14 secondary schools in Trinidad and two in Tobago, the project will target Form One students in the areas of Mathematics, Science and Language Arts integrating Visual Arts, Music, Drama, Dance, and Information Technology (IT). Read more here

Gopeesingh calls for two investigations

The decision by Education Minister Anthony Garcia to make a specific payment to a single contractor breaches the official State Enterprises Performance Monitoring Manual, according to former education minister, Dr Tim Gopeesingh. Read more here

 

BUSINESS

TSTT acted with our consent

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says “it is wrong to say that TSTT has been acting without Cabinet’s knowledge and consent,” when it entered into a $255 million dollar Share Purchase Agreement with Massy Communications, a subsidiary of the Massy Holdings conglomerate. Rowley said: “At the level of the Cabinet the strategic plan that we approved pretty much covers that kind of transaction.” But he said: “Now that some people are trying to make it an issue the Cabinet will get into the details and make it available to the public as the Company would have done.” Read more here

‘Bouff’ for CAL execs 

A panel of Caribbean Airlines executives was yesterday in for a series of hard “bouffs” from the Joint Select Committee (JSC) of Parliament, over the company's questioning of JSC requests for information and for apparently forgetting the existence of a $2 million Lufthansa strategic plan. Read more here

 

REGIONAL

St Kitts-Nevis joins regional rejection of US State Department report

The federal government of St Kitts and Nevis has joined the chorus of outspoken criticism leveled at the 2017 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) published in March by the US Department of State, Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, calling the report grossly inaccurate and misleading, erroneous and unsubstantiated. The INCSR, which contains a number of questionable assertions in relation to Eastern Caribbean countries, all of which on their face are factually untrue in general or in detail, and unsubstantiated by evidence or independent research, previously prompted vigorous rejection by Antigua and BarbudaBarbados and the Nevis financial services regulator. Read more here

Chinese Land Saga Deepens - Knight Says Gov't Did Not Intend To Pay

The Jamaican Government had no intention of valuating lands owned by the Urban Development Corporations (UDC) that were earmarked for transfer to Chinese developers of the US$720-million North-South Highway, and only started negotiations after the board aggressively insisted on it, former chairman K.D. Knight has revealed. Knight, who served as board chairman from April 2012 to March 2016, also said the Simpson Miller Government did not plan to compensate the UDC. He told The Gleaner yesterday that he was "dissatisfied about the entire transaction" relating to how 1,200 acres of prime real estate was to be transferred to the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) with which the Government signed a 50-year concession agreement to develop the highway. Read more here

 

INTERNATIONAL

South Korea presidency 'won by liberal Moon Jae-in'

South Korean voters have overwhelmingly chosen the liberal candidate Moon Jae-in as their next president, an exit poll suggests. It put Mr Moon on 41.4%, with his nearest challenger, conservative Hong Joon-Pyo, on 23.3%. Mr Moon favours greater dialogue with North Korea, in a change to current South Korean policy. The early election was called after a corruption scandal led to the impeachment of the former president. Park Geun-hye is accused of allowing a close friend to extort money from companies. She denies all wrongdoing. Record turnout was expected and if Mr Moon's victory is confirmed he is likely to be sworn in on Wednesday. Read more here

After Yates, more questions for the Trump White House

Sally Yates didn't bring a smoking gun to the latest episode of the long-running political melodrama entwining the White House and Russia. But in a Senate hearing on Monday, the former acting attorney general produced just enough fresh intrigue to offer Democrats a new opening in the war of attrition they are waging against Donald Trump's presidency. Read more here

 

9th May 2017

Back

Copyright © . Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers' Association All Rights Reserved.