NEWS
WASA lost 36m gallons of water per day during dry spell
Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales said during the recent hot spell, WASA was losing 36 million gallons of water each day from its reservoirs owing to fallout from climate change, speaking in an interview on June 13 with television personality Wendell Etienne, posted on WASA's YouTube channel. "Climate change is taking its toll upon us as a nation, as a region and as a world, and it requires urgent and decisive action," the minister said. Gonzales said 60 per cent of WASA's water comes from surface water, namely rivers and streams, but this source is a very vulnerable to climate change. Read more here
Princes Town farmer grows monster watermelon
Just over a year after he grew a monster pumpkin in his home garden, Princes Town retiree Shaheed Ali has now harvested a 94-pound watermelon. Beaming with pride during an interview with Guardian Media at his home, Ali said the Carolina Cross Watermelon seeds were sent to him by a friend who lives in Florida. It took 94 days to grow to that size. “I was hoping to get a bigger one. I was hoping to get at least a 125 pound,” he said with a chuckle. Although edible, he said, this variety of watermelon is usually grown for recreation and the largest on record is 350 pounds. “It is juicy, it is fibrous. It’s not red inside it is pink, but not as sweet.” Read more here
POLITICS
Rowley reiterates: No discussions, decisions about VAT in Cabinet
The Prime Minister says Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar should be more responsible and stop spreading false information that the government plans to increase VAT. He said she had been using an out-of-context document to push that agenda. At a UNC rally on Monday night, Persad-Bissessar said she had evidence, in the form of a document, of the government’s plans to raise VAT from 12.5 to 15 per cent. “I do not engage in fraud or (providing) false documents," she said. "Remember the fake e-mails in Parliament?” Read more here
PM: Govt wasting too much money on security
At a time when the Government is reviewing its costs toward social programmes such as the Chronic Disease Assistance Programme (CDAP), Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says the millions of dollars expended on crime-fighting could better serve the country elsewhere. During a post-Cabinet media briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, Whitehall, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, Rowley said a few people engaged in criminal conduct were damaging the country in more ways than one. “We have to spend a lot of money on security issues both in the public sector and the private sector. It’s a waste of national resources. A few people engaged in criminal conduct are causing us to direct a lot of resources to them; to control them and their behaviour, and to protect ourselves from them,” Rowley said. “You could imagine if they were behaving differently and those millions that we’re spending on national security were being spent on education, health and infrastructure and so on? We would’ve been a much better place. The more we have to spend (on security), the less resources we have to spend on those (other ministries), so they’re (criminals) damaging us in more ways than one.” Read more here
BUSINESS
Flour's rise, fall: Global conflicts, climate change affect wheat production
Over the past four years, the price of flour has seen frequent fluctuations. In 2021, two of the country’s major flour producers announced increases in the prices of their products, as much as 33 per cent in some instances and the first such move in several years. TT's flour industry has three main players – majority state-owned National Flour Mills and privately operated Nutrimix and Sheik Lisha. Read more here
Caribbean faces billions in financial losses
The Caribbean faces approximately US$12.5 billion in annual economic losses from natural hazards, the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB’s) executive director for the region Robert Le Hunte has said. And this is a financial burden that cannot be borne by Government spending and borrowing alone, Le Hunte said. “We need the active participation of the private sector, financial institutions, and investors. We need concessional and long-term financing, a need consistently championed by the Honourable Mia Mottley,” he said. Read more here
REGIONAL
African investors’ interest could spark massive transformations within CARICOM -President Ali says
Over the last three years, there has been a significant influx of investors from Africa to the Caribbean, a development President Dr. Irfaan Ali sees as having the potential to trigger massive transformations and the realisation of great opportunities for trade and collaboration within the region. The Head of State made the foregoing observations during his keynote address at the African Export-Import Bank’s (Afreximbank) 31st annual meeting being held in conjunction with the third AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum.
According to Dr. Ali, three years ago, sophisticated investors from Africa were not seen in the Caribbean region. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
G7 agrees $50bn loan for Ukraine from Russian assets
The G7 has agreed to use frozen Russian assets to raise $50bn (£39bn) for Ukraine to help it fight invading Russian forces. US President Joe Biden said it was another reminder to Russia "that we're not backing down", but in Moscow President Vladimir Putin said the move was "theft" which would "not go unpunished". Also at the G7 summit in Italy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Mr Biden signed a 10-year bilateral security deal between Ukraine and the US, hailed by Kyiv as "historic". The agreement envisages US military and training aid to Ukraine - but it does not commit Washington to send troops to fight for its ally. According to the White House, the security deal means Washington and Kyiv will work to build and maintain Ukraine's defence and deterrence capability, bolster the country's defence industrial base, and support economic recovery and energy security. Read more here
14th June 2024