NEWS

‘Life in jail for bomb hoax calls’

Police Commissioner Gary Griffith is reminding the country that the punishment for making false reports of bomb threats, is life imprisonment. In a media release issued on Friday by the TTPS said that three bomb threats were investigated recently and all were deemed fake. According to the release, a caller who identified himself as a gang member, claimed there were bombs at the Arima Magistrates Court, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope and an IT store in central Trinidad. Read more here

MSJ PRO wants Carnival diversified

One of the founders of In­ter­na­tion­al So­ca Monarch, Gre­go­ry Fer­nan­dez, be­lieves T&T’s Car­ni­val is be­ing mo­nop­o­lised and eco­nom­ic ben­e­fits are not fil­ter­ing down­wards to those who need it most. Fer­nan­dez, who is al­so the pub­lic re­la­tions of­fi­cer for the Move­ment for So­cial Jus­tice, made the com­ment at an MSJ press con­fer­ence at St Joseph’s Vil­lage, San Fer­nan­do, yes­ter­day. As a cul­tur­al am­bas­sador, Fer­nan­dez said T&T will be eco­nom­i­cal­ly chal­lenged over the next few years and di­ver­si­fi­ca­tion of T&T’s Car­ni­val was need­ed. “Ven­dors are be­ing pushed out of Car­ni­val. We are see­ing cer­tain bands mo­nop­o­lised by one group. There have been ex­ten­sive bud­get cuts and rur­al com­mu­ni­ties com­plain that they are no longer reap­ing any eco­nom­ic ben­e­fit from Car­ni­val,” Fer­nan­dez said. Read more here

POLITICS

Carolyn: Too much violence against women

In spite of the many pieces of legislation passed in TT to protect women, Congress of the People (COP) leader Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan said there is still too much discrimination and violence against women. Exploring the laws which created offences for rape, domestic violence and sexual assault, she observed at an International Women’s Day (IWD) forum at the Susamachar Presbyterian Church, San Fernando, on Friday, “we still have so much of that in this country.” Read more here

Sinanan to hold talks with contractors

Works and Trans­port Min­is­ter Ro­han Sinanan says over­laden trucks be­long­ing to con­trac­tors the min­istry hires to re­pair the na­tion’s roads are caus­ing more dam­age to Gov­ern­ment in­fra­struc­ture. He made the com­ment at the open­ing of the new $3.2 mil­lion con­crete, drainage and road project at Up­per Laven­tille Road, Sou Sou Lands, Febeau Vil­lage, San Juan, yon Sat­ur­day. Sinanan said, “We do have a prob­lem in T&T with huge trucks over­laden that are caus­ing more dam­age to our in­fra­struc­ture. In most cas­es, the trucks are owned by the same con­trac­tors that we have to pay to re­pair the road. I have a prob­lem with that,” Sinanan said. Read more here

BUSINESS

WCO improves, PHL lower

This week, we at Bourse review the performance of West Indian Tobacco Company Ltd (WCO) and Prestige Holdings Ltd (PHL) for their financial years ended 2018. Read more here

REGIONAL

Record Justice - Sykes Pledges Fast Track For Divorces, Judgments And More

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes has promised record delivery of Supreme Court judgments, divorces and estate claims, outlining a three-pronged strategy aimed at strengthening Jamaica’s judiciary in order to achieve the country’s Vision 2030 ambitions. In a national address broadcast last night, Sykes said he believed that the Jamaican judiciary had the potential to be the best in the Caribbean in three years and among the best in the world in six years. “To support this vision, I give my commitment to put in place measures so that by December 31, 2019, all outstanding judgments in the Supreme Court will be delivered. As of 2020, a judgment should be delivered within 90 days, and, in exceptional cases, 180 days following completion of the case,” Sykes noted. Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

Kim Jong-nam: Indonesian woman freed in murder case

The Indonesian woman accused of killing Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korea's leader, has been freed after charges against her were dropped. Siti Aisyah had been accused of smearing VX nerve agent on Mr Kim's face in Kuala Lumpur airport in 2017. She and her co-accused, Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, deny murder and say they thought they were part of a TV prank. The brazen killing at an international airport left observers stunned and gripped international headlines. After several months of delay, the defence phase of the trial was set to begin Monday, with testimony from Ms Huong. However, the prosecutor in the case requested the murder charge for Siti Aisyah be dropped, without giving a reason. Read more here

Boeing faces safety questions after second 737 crash in five months

Boeing's bestselling passenger jet is facing increased scrutiny after being involved in two deadly crashes in less than five months, a situation that threatens to tarnish the US plane maker's reputation for safety. Chinese aviation authorities on Monday told airlines in the country to ground all their Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, citing the need for "strict control of safety risks." Some individual airlines are taking similar action elsewhere. And Boeing (BA) has postponed the debut of its new 777X jetliner, which was scheduled for this week, as it deals with the fallout from Sunday's disaster in Ethiopia. The flurry of negative headlines unsettled investors. Boeing shares dropped nearly 9% in premarket trading early Monday in New York. Read more here

11th March 2019

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