NEWS
CoE hears Paria survivor’s tale: Nightmare
Christopher Boodram, the sole survivor in the Paria tragedy which claimed the lives of four divers, gave a harrowing account on Tuesday of being sucked into an undersea oil pipeline before escaping. "I did not know if I was in heaven or hell, or in a pipe," Boodram said at the Commission of Enquiry (CoE) at the International Waterfront Centre, Port of Spain. He wept openly at times as he spoke. Chairman Jerome Lynch, KC, allowed him to step outside briefly to compose himself. He summed up his experience inside the pipeline as “an unbelievable nightmare.” Read more here
Beetham, El Socorro residents count losses after floods
The effects of flooding are still causing havoc for some residents of Beetham Gardens and El Socorro South, and many are counting their losses. Beetham Gardens resident Naladar Edwards, a mother of six, yesterday said she has been a flood victim several times. Flooding in Beetham Gardens seems uncommon, but they face it every time it rains, she said. Naladar, a CEPEP worker, told Guardian Media all her appliances and baby supplies were washed away in the floodwaters. Read more here
POLITICS
Indarsingh: Wages of sin are political death for PNM
Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh has said there must be no forgiveness for the People’s National Movement (PNM), as sought by former labour minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus. He was responding from the United National Congress (UNC) platform on Monday night to the appeal she made last week, during the party's internal elections campaign in Tobago. Indarsingh said people must reject the call from Baptiste-Primus, who is seeking to return as labour relations officer in the PNM elections, “just as the PNM and the Prime Minister rejected her as a candidate in the last general election. Read more here
Al-Rawi lashes back as lawsuits pile up PNM will be great for another 100 years
Whatever happens in Karen Nunez-Tesheira's court matter on Wednesday over the People's National Movement's internal election, the party is destined for another 100 years of being great, and the UNC needs to get ready to pay costs on its court matter against Government, says Local Government Minister Faris Al-Rawi. Al Rawi aimed these messages to PNM leadership candidate Nunez-Tesheira and UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar when he spoke at Tuesday night’s Leaders in Service (LIS) meeting in Point Fortin. This was ahead of Nunez-Tesheira’s case seeking to delay the party’s internal elections. It was also after Persad-Bissessar said on Monday the UNC's filed further court action to expedite its recent court matter against the postponement of Local Government elections. Read more here
BUSINESS
Tobago Tourism Agency launches customer service training programme
The Tobago Tourism Agency Ltd (TTAL), in collaboration with the Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute (THTI) and international award-winning customer service leader, Uplifting Service, recently officially launched the Tourism Industry Customer Service Training (TICST) programme by hosting a Customer Service Leaders Forum which took place last week. The TTAL said, “this three-year bespoke programme aims to improve the quality of customer service delivered at all key contact points in Tobago to a standard equivalent to those experienced in sophisticated markets, destinations and facilities globally, thereby improving the life of Tobagonians and adding value to the tourism product and enhancing the visitors’ experience, which is expected to be achieved through the training of both public and private front-line staff, their supervisors and managers in customer service delivery and customer service management respectively.” Read more here
Carbon tax or carbon trade?
In a previous article, we began to explore the concept of carbon pricing as the Minister of Planning and Development had recently stated that such policies would be considered in Trinidad and Tobago. That article delved into the utilisation of carbon taxation as a tool to facilitate the mitigation of climate change as well as revenue generation. In the same vein, we will now explore the concept of Emissions Trading Systems (ETS), another form of carbon pricing, as a tool in these initiatives. The International Energy Agency has defined ETS as market-based instruments that create incentives to reduce emissions where these are most cost-effective. In most trading systems, the government sets an emissions cap in one or more sectors, and the entities that are covered are allowed to trade emissions permits. It is generally accepted that the two types of ETS are “cap-and-trade” and “baseline-and-credit”. Read more here
REGIONAL
All pumps, sluices activated to drain city following heavy rainfall
Citizens moving through Georgetown at midday on Tuesday were drenched and somewhat inconvenienced after heavy rainfall inundated the capital city, prompting quick action from central government to activate all pumps and sluices. In a Facebook post showing the Princes Street pump constrained by shredded rice bags, President, Dr Irfaan Ali called on citizens to desist from irresponsible dumping of garbage in the waterways. In a subsequent post, the President confirmed the status of the city’s drainage equipment noting that Main and Quamina Streets were drained through the Church Street sluice; Hardina, Princes, Halley and Durban Streets through the Princes Street sluice and Robb, Camp, Regent and Croal Streets through the Commerce Street sluice. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Zaporizhzhia strike kills newborn baby at Ukraine hospital
A newborn baby has been killed in a Russian missile strike on a maternity unit in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, emergency services say. The baby's mother, who was the only woman in the facility at the time, and a doctor were rescued from the rubble. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of bringing "terror and murder" to his country. The Zaporizhzhia region, where a key nuclear plant is located, has been the focus of repeated Russian attacks. Ukrainian emergency services said the Russian missiles struck the maternity ward of a hospital in the Ukraine-held town of Vilnyansk, close to the frontline, overnight. Although the area is held by Ukraine, the whole Zaporizhzhia region is claimed by Russia after self-styled referendums in September. Read more here
23rd November 2022