NEWS
Father of murdered brothers laments: No hope in Trinidad and Tobago as 6 more killed
With three triple murders and eight double murders for the month so far, taking the toll to 59, the father of two men killed in one of them says there is no hope for the country. Speaking to Newsday at the home a neighbour, Joseph Paul said the country has “gone through.” Two of Paul’s sons, Curtis Dobson, 31, Justin Paul, 25, and Paul's girlfriend, Shalini Shivnanand, 25, were killed in Carapo on Saturday afternoon. The couple lived at Temple Street, Chanka Trace, El Socorro, while Dobson lived at Peytonville Road, Carapo. Read more here
Top Cop: Crime wave "storm before the calm"
Acting Commissioner of Police, Erla Christopher, says the Police Service is not daunted by the recent spate of murders in this country. Eleven killings were recorded over this past weekend. In a media release issued late on Sunday night, Ag CoP Christopher said: "The weekend has indeed been an unwelcomed one. However, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) continues to work assiduously to investigate the recent murders, pursuing several strong leads.” She said as it relates to the Central Division murders, early indicators suggest there are connecting features, which implies that the same group of individuals are responsible for these acts. "Our investigators are pursuing further leads," she assured. Read more here
POLITICS
Kamla assures of UNC's strength and hers: I feel like Hulk
Amidst concerns from within her membership about her leadership and suggestions that the party was at its weakest and she must go, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar maintained that she and her party were at their strongest. Raising a closed fist in the air, she asserted before members at the party’s national congress at Couva Multi-Purpose Hall on Sunday evening, “I feel like Hulk. “I am strong and ready to take on all comers.” Waxing religious, she quoted from the book of Psalms, "Yea though we walk in the valley of the shadow of death, we shall fear no evil,” she told detractors, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” Read more here
Moonilal queries $4.3M fee for stalled highway CoE
Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal wants the government to explain why $4.3 million in fees had been paid to the Commission of Enquiry into the land acquisition for the Point Fortin Highway when it had not started. Speaking at the United National Congress (UNC) convention at the Couva South Multi-Purpose Hall yesterday, Moonilal referred to a Sunday Guardian article that stated that the inquiry had been delayed by administrative challenges. He noted that retired judge Sebastian Ventour, the inquiry chairman, who was appointed in July 2019, had expressed disappointment that the inquiry has failed to start. Read more here
BUSINESS
Perenco GM: Now is the time to deliver, work on projects
Collaboration between the government and energy sector stakeholders must be sustained to ensure this country gets the best value for money going forward. These were among some of the key points discussed during the closing session of the T&T Energy Conference titled, Navigating a Complex Energy Future in which varied reflections of the three-day event were brought to the fore. Shaun Rampersad, chief operating officer, Ramps Logistics, who was among the panel emphasised the importance of energy security, saying that every molecule of hydrogen which sits in the ground remains a diminishing asset for this country. “The importance of collaboration; us in the private sector the Government, the upstreamers, the downstreamers, the midstreamers... how do we work together to ensure that capital gets to the best projects and how do we ensure that our best prospects in this country whether they lie within Trinidad or on the Venezuelan border, how do we produce these prospects as quickly as possible,” Rampersad explained, emphasising that the longer the molecules remains undiscovered the less value T&T will receive from it. Read more here
RBC Caribbean’s profit jumps 83%
RBC Financial (Caribbean) recorded after-tax profit of $907.82 million for the financial year ended October 31, 2022, an 83 per cent increase compared to the $496.13 million the bank declared in its 2021 financial year. The revenue of RBC Financial (Caribbean)—which is headquartered in Port of Spain, with the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) as its ultimate parent company—for the year ended October 31, 2022, was $2.42 billion. That was 12 per cent more than the $2.16 billion the bank generated in its 2021 financial year. In his report for the 2022 financial year, RBC Financial (Caribbean) CEO, Darryl White, said the improvement in the company’s profitability was “driven by improvements in total revenue and the release of provisions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic partly offset by higher operating expenses. Read more here
REGIONAL
‘Amaila Falls project was viable’ – PMAS the 2023 National Budget debate came to a close on Friday last in the National Assembly, Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips posited that there was evidence to prove that the Amaila Falls project, when originally tabled in 2013, was a viable one that would have garnered long-term benefits for Guyana. The Prime Minister was at the time addressing statements made by former Minister and Opposition Member of Parliament (MP), David Patterson, who denied that the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) opposition was responsible for blocking the project. Though he described the project as “stillborn,” Patterson said the opposition played no part in ‘killing’ the Amaila Falls hydro project. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Ukraine: Boris Johnson says Putin threatened him with missile strike
Boris Johnson has said Vladimir Putin threatened him with a missile strike in an "extraordinary" phone call in the run-up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The then-prime minister said Mr Putin told him it "would only take a minute". Mr Johnson said the comment was made after he warned the war would be an "utter catastrophe". The claim is made in a BBC documentary on Mr Putin's interactions with world leaders over the years. The Kremlin spokesman said it was a "lie". Mr Johnson warned Mr Putin that invading Ukraine would lead to Western sanctions and more Nato troops on Russia's borders. He also tried to deter Russian military action by telling Mr Putin that Ukraine would not join Nato "for the foreseeable future". But Mr Johnson said: "He threatened me at one point, and he said, 'Boris, I don't want to hurt you but, with a missile, it would only take a minute' or something like that. Jolly. Read more here
30th January 2023