TTMA IN THE NEWS
TTMA: VAT bonds unhelpful to SMEs
Some small and medium businesses may not survive the period of the Government’s new VAT bonds, warned TT Manufacturers Association (TTMA) head Franka Costelloe. She spoke at the Spotlight on Budget 2020 yesterday at the Radisson Hotel, Port of Spain. Finance Minister Colm Imbert has offered $3 billion in VAT bonds over five years at 1.5 per cent interest in place of now paying VAT refunds. Costelloe lamented, “The cost of doing business is rising while the ease of doing business is slipping. The fight is not with each other, but is out there.” She said businesses pay tax at a rate of 30 cents on the dollar, and overall foot 20 per cent of the country’s total tax bill. Read more here
NEWS
EU slaps 5-year tariff on TT fertilisers
Urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) producers in TT will now have to pay a €22.24 (TT$174.14) per tonne tariff on fertiliser shipped to the European Union. This follows a European Commission (EC) final ruling on October 8, based on a complaint by Fertilizers Europe in June last year, claiming TT, Russia and the US were dumping product, resulting in material injury to European producers. According to the ruling, the dumping margin (the per cent difference in price sold in the importing country versus the price sold in the exporting country) for TT’s product was 55.8 per cent and the underselling margin (considered a type of predatory pricing) was 16.2 per cent. The ruling came into effect yesterday and will last for five years. Read more here
Doctor: Wrong to place elderly with mentally ill
The description was given yesterday by gerontologist Dr Jennifer Rouse following the discovery on Wednesday of 69 people who were locked in cages at the Arouca-based Transformed Life Ministries Rehabilitation Centre (TLM) during a police raid. Of the 69 rescued, 65 were men and four women. Some were handcuffed. They were all between the ages of 19 and 70 years old. Rouse said those between the ages of 60 to 70 who were institutionalised at TLM could have been suffering from Alzheimers or dementia and should not have been placed among individuals who had mental disorders or behavioural issues. Read more here
POLITICS
PM: We aim high on housing
The Prime Minister yesterday defended his Government’s goal of aiming to build 6,000 housing units next year (and 3,000 in each year subsequent) as stated by Finance Minister Colm Imbert in his budget on Monday. At the Spotlight on the Budget forum at the Radisson Hotel in Port of Spain on Thursday, Newsday asked whether 6,000 units was realistic. “Well, it is the target, right,” Rowley replied. “If you aim for the sky and you don’t make it, you fall in the clouds and you’re still way above the ground.” The audience clapped. Read more here
Attorney: State acted appropriately
At least one Human Rights Attorney has expressed the view that the state followed the right process after it received a complaint about the conditions at the Transformed Life Ministries Rehabilitation Centre (TLM). Senior Partner at Hove and Associates, Farai Hove Mesaisai said it is too early to make a judgement on charges against the owners. He said more information needs to be had on the circumstances that led to the people being at TLM and evidence to back up any claims made. Read more here
BUSINESS
Davyn wins Microsoft partner of the year
Davyn, a local technology firm, was awarded the international Microsoft Partner of the year award for 2019. Davyn is a gold partner company with Microsoft TT that provides software solutions to businesses in the English and Dutch Speaking Caribbean territories. Davyn was nominated for their work with connecting home-grown systems of the Social Security Board of Belize (SSB) using Microsoft’s integrated cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure, Office 365, Power BI and Dynamics 365. Davyn, bid to connect different agencies in the Social Security Board of Belize to improve revenue collection and offer better e-services capabilities. This saved the board $102,500 USD per year. The project was also heavily focused on using technology to reduce fraud and increase customer service and accessibility to services digitally. Read more here
Imbert: Govt collected $2.4 billion from Tax Amnesty
Oil companies have contributed the most revenue during the 2019 tax amnesty that took place between June 15 and September 30. Speaking at the “Spotlight on the Budget” yesterday Finance Minister Colm Imbert highlighted the segments of society that made up the tax revenue. He said: “Look at that, $750 million came in, in taxes, just in that three months this year, from the oil companies.” Apart from the $750 million that came from oil companies, Imbert said corporation taxes amounted to approximately $600 million and taxes from foreign companies came in at $431 million. Read more here
REGIONAL
FAMILY AFFAIR - Court Hears That Reid Instructed Pinnock To Hire Wife At CMU As Charges Against Five Are Outlined
Discarded Education Minister Ruel Reid is alleged to have sent WhatsApp messages to Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) President Professor Fritz Pinnock instructing him, among other things, to hire his wife, Sharen Reid. Reid’s wife, 49, is employed at the CMU as manager of legal affairs. This was one of many allegations read out against the three, along with Reid’s daughter, Sharelle, and Brown’s Town Division Councillor Kim Brown-Lawrence, when they made their first appearance in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court yesterday. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Nobel Peace Prize: Ethiopia PM Abiy Ahmed wins
Catch up on the latest news on Rudy Giuliani, his associates and the impeachment inquiry
A version of this story first appeared in CNN's Impeachment Watch newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani was -- once again -- at the center of the political storm swirling around the impeachment inquiry on Thursday. Read more here
11th October 2019