NEWS
404 new covid19 cases, 17 deaths reported on Sunday
The country recorded 404 new covid19 infections and 17 more covid-related deaths according to the daily update for Sunday. This means that since the virus was first detected in TT in March 2020, the country has lost 3,197 people to the virus, while 100,994 have been infected. Up to Sunday, 81,278 people have recovered from the virus. As of Sunday, there were 16,519 positive cases with 610 people in hospital. The number of cases recorded on Sunday were not from the past 24 hours but were from test samples taken between January 8-15. Read more here
POLITICS
Opposition MP hits media for glossing over PM's breach admission
Barataria/San Juan MP Saddam Hosein has hit the media for glossing over comments by the Prime Minister, who at his press conference on Saturday, alluded to what Hosein said were clear breaches of the covid19 public health regulations. Speaking at the Opposition UNC's weekly Sunday press conference, he also claimed Rowley has steadfastly ignored allegations against Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi in relation to an ongoing police investigation into the hosting of a Boxing Day event on the MV Ocean Pelican. Read more here
UNC wants TTPS to probe PM’s public health breach
The Opposition is calling on the Police Service to investigate Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley for his self-confessed breach of ongoing public health regulations prohibiting the public consumption of alcohol. Naparima MP Rodney Charles and San Juan/Barataria MP Saddam Hosein made the call as they addressed its weekly media briefing at the Office of the Opposition Leader in Port-of-Spain, on Sunday. “We are challenging the TTPS. You have an obligation under the law to treat all of us equally,” Charles said. Rowley revealed the alleged breach as he was speaking at a media briefing at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s on Saturday. Read more here
BUSINESS
CEO: Massy to cross-list shares on Jan 27
Massy Holdings CEO, Gervase Warner, yesterday confirmed that the group is scheduled to cross-list its shares on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) on January 27, 2022. Massy published an abridged statement on the website of the JSE last Friday “in accordance with the listing requirements of the Jamaica Stock Exchange.” In the abridged statement Massy describes itself as an investment management/holding company engaged in three main industry portfolios; integrated retail, motors & machines and gas products in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean region. Read more here
REGIONAL
Over $300M in upgrades of D&I structures underway
As the government continues to address Guyana’s susceptibility to flooding, a conscious effort is being made to construct new drainage infrastructures and upgrade a number of existing ones all across the country. On Sunday, the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) of the Ministry of Agriculture indicated that it was embarking on construction works valued in excess of $300 million, during the first quarter of this year. These include the much-needed construction of three key pieces of drainage infrastructure at Vriesland, West Bank Demerara, Region Three. The northern drainage structure is estimated to cost $21,872,600, followed by the construction of a central drainage structure at an estimated cost of $23,019,700, and a southern drainage structure pegged at $21,668,500. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Tonga tsunami: Anxious wait for news after Tonga cut off
Tongans living overseas are facing an anxious wait for news of loved ones after a volcano triggered a tsunami. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano erupted on Saturday, about 65km (40 miles) north of the capital Nuku'alofa. The eruption, which was heard as far away as the US, caused waves higher than a metre to crash into Tonga. There have not yet been any confirmed deaths but communications are crippled, making it difficult to establish the scale of the destruction. Friends and family of British woman Angela Glover say she is missing. In social media posts, they say she was swept away in the waves. More than 10,000km away, two people drowned off a beach in northern Peru amid abnormally high waves. Read more here
17th January 2022