NEWS
Shots fired as rival gangs face off at nightclub - MAYHEM ON THE AVENUE
A fight between rival gangs, in which shots were fired and bottles thrown, brought a party in a nightclub on Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook, to a premature end during the early hours of Sunday. The mayhem, caught on video which was shared to social media, which quickly went viral, came mere hours before this country hosts a two-day Caricom symposium on crime as a public health issue. In the video, people are seen pouring out of the club and seconds later, gunshots are heard and a voice says, “Shots fired.” Read more here
Fire destroys Sangre Grande block factory, house
Fire officers were up to late yesterday trying to ascertain the origin of a fire which destroyed a block factory in Sangre Grande earlier in the day. Losses were said to be millions of dollars. A report said apart from the warehouse, one truck two forklifts, a concrete mixer and other machines were destroyed. Owner of the Pallet and Brick Factory claimed fire officers from the Sangre Grande Fire Station took more than an hour to respond and when they arrived they went into the compound of XTRA Foods. “I had to go across to XTRA Foods and tell the fire officer the fire is next door,” he claimed. Read more here
POLITICS
Moonilal to call for JSC meeting –Erla has questions on home invasions, switched off body cams
Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal said he will ask Parliament's National Security joint select committee (JSC) to urgently seek answers from Commissioner of Police Erla Harewood-Christopher about the alarming increase of home invasions and reports that police are not switching on body cameras assigned to them. Moonilal made this disclosure to Newsday during a free legal clinic held at his constituency's sub-office on Mohess Road, Debe on Sunday. Read more here
Caricom leaders: Unified region needed to fight crime
Ahead of today’s regional symposium that will address Crime Violence as a Public Health Issue—the Crime Challenge, some regional prime ministers are calling for a unified region in the fight against crime. Dominican prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit, who will be addressing the community approach, said there was need for the population to help in fighting crime. Speaking with Guardian Media upon his arrival at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain, last night, Skerrit called on the media as well, to highlight the issues and play their part in crime fighting. “The most important thing is that we’re here to discuss as heads and the rest of the community. It will require a societal response to address crime that we can’t only look to the government to resolve. Read more here
BUSINESS
T&TEC boosting capacity
The Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission will get a boost to its transmission capacity when it commissions its new Union/Gandhi 220 kV double circuit tower line on Tuesday. The Union/Gandhi 220 kV circuit will serve as a secondary back-up to take electricity from the country’s largest electricity generating company, Trinidad Generation Unlimited (TGU) in La Brea, to T&TEC’s transmission substation in Gandhi Village, from where it will be distributed across Trinidad, the Commission noted in a media invitation on Saturday. Read more here
REGIONAL
All set!
All employees of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) are ‘set and ready’ to perform their duties as members of the country’s largest political parties and other political players prepare to submit their respective lists of candidates for the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGEs). Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle on Sunday, GECOM’s Public Relations Officer, Yolanda Ward, said that 80 offices have been established for GECOM officers countrywide. “Staff are all set and ready for the offices to be opened on time to receive the lists of candidates from 10:00hrs. All the administrative sets and procedures that have to be done, the staff are fully knowledgeable and are prepared to execute their functions to the best of their professionalism.” With confidence in the staff, Ward does not anticipate any major hiccups. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Sudan fighting: The military rivalry behind the clashes in Khartoum
The fighting that has erupted in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country is a direct result of a vicious power struggle within the country's military leadership. There are clashes at strategic places across the capital as members of a paramilitary force - Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - and regular soldiers fight. Here is what you need to know. What has led to the fighting? Since a coup in October 2021, Sudan has been run by a council of generals, led by the two military men at the centre of the dispute: Read more here
17th April 2023