NEWS
NPTA responds to gunfire near schools: Wider crime solutions needed
ROSE Hill RC Primary School in Laventille is due to re-open on Monday after last Monday's incident where young pupils and their teacher had to cower on the floor during an exchange of gunfire between rival gangs nearby. National Parent Teachers Association (NPTA) president Kevin David told Newsday on Thursday evening that Ministry of Education officials had agreed to the re-opening at a meeting with the association. He said this would be under an enhanced police presence, although he had not yet received specifics. Read more here
Arima man killed while lighting up sons’ graves
A family dispute is believed to be behind the killing of an Arima man who was shot in a cemetery as he went to light up the graves of his two deceased sons on the occasion of All Saints on Wednesday night. Maurice Sylvester Koon Koon, 51, of Koon Koon Street, Malabar, collapsed and died on the grave of one of his sons. He was shot several times on Wednesday night while at the Tacarigua Cemetery on Crown Street. Koon Koon was accompanied by his wife Sharon and seven-year-old grandson. The child, who was also shot in the left toe during the incident, was treated at hospital and released. Gunshots were heard coming from the cemetery around 8.55 pm, following which police arrived to find Koon Koon dead and his grandson bleeding from gunshot wounds. Read more here
POLITICS
One more year for local government – Minister announces extended terms for councillors aldermen
Rural Development and Local Government Minister Faris Al-Rawi said under the Miscellaneous Provisions (Local Government Reform) Bill 2020, which will be partially proclaimed on Tuesday, the terms of all councillors and aldermen currently in office will end on December 3, 2023. He said this extra year will allow for rollout of the local government reform package. Local government elections were constitutionally due on December 3, 2022, or up to a three-month period thereafter. Read more here
THA saves $4m on Tobago Carnival spend ... Burris looks for much bigger, better event in 2023
Tobago House of Assembly Secretary of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities & Transportation Tashia Burris says the money used to host the Tobago Carnival was at least $4 million under budget. Burris made the announcement at news conference at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex yesterday. “I don’t want to pre-empt our mathematicians in the Festivals Commission and TTAL (Tobago Tourism Agency Limited) but we will not spend, as I said, the $17.5 million. I think we would spend in the region of about 12, 13 million after we tabulate all the expenses,” she said. She explained that one of the main reasons for this was that, “there were some elements of the budget that we weren’t able to execute this year, so that is where the cost savings, a lot of the cost savings, would be realised.” Read more here
BUSINESS
Consumer Division helps citizens recover $2 million from businesses
The Consumer Affairs Division (CDA) is reporting that between October 2021 and September 2022 it helped consumers recover over two million dollars from businesses. The Division said the $2,063,710 was returned to consumers in the form of full and partial refunds, exchanges, repairs and credit notes. In a statement the organisation said it successfully resolved 657 consumer cases, noting a resolution rate of 87.4 per cent. It also received 3277 inquiries from Facebook, emails and telephone calls and 752 complaints. The CAD said it also conducted two Adverse Trade Practices Order (ATPO) exercises in November 2021 and June 2022 to determine whether businesses were in compliance with the ATPO 2000. Read more here
Moonilal: Scrap housing project at Todd Street
OROPOUCHE East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal said yesterday the Government must “abandon its madcap plan” to construct houses at Todd Street, calling the area the “most crowded area of San Fernando, the country’s second city”. Moonilal is among those backing a group of residents opposed to a Ministry of Housing plan to develop low-cost residential units on a State-owned parcel of land allocated to the Ministry of Education. Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has also warned the Government that legal action will be taken to stop the project if the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) proceeds. Read more here
REGIONAL
Gas-to-Energy project: Agreements to be signed with land owners from this weekend
STARTING this weekend, the government is expected to begin the signing of agreements with private land owners from Nouvelle Flanders to Wales in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) for the acquisition of land needed for the pipeline for the gas-to-energy project. This is according to Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo during a press conference at the Office of the President on Thursday. Dr. Jagdeo noted that despite the government’s hoping for consensual agreements with the land owners, some of the lands may have to be acquired by means of “eminent domain”, which authorises the State to compulsory acquire private property for public purposes. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Scholz in China calls for economic ties 'as equals'
China's Xi Jinping has urged deeper economic co-operation with Germany, during a visit by Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Beijing. The trip has sparked controversy in Germany and concern elsewhere in Europe, after the Chinese leader cemented his grip on power. Mr Scholz spoke of having "economic ties as equals, with reciprocity". President Xi said the two countries should work together in "times of change and turmoil". The chancellor's visit - the first by a G7 leader since the coronavirus pandemic - follows an extraordinary and bitter row within the Berlin government. It had emerged that a Chinese company was poised to buy a significant stake in a part of the port of Hamburg. No fewer than six government ministers reacted furiously. Read more here
4th November 2022