NEWS
NCC: ‘Taste of Carnival’ events list out by Monday or Tuesday
National Carnival Commission (NCC) CEO Colin Lucas said on Sunday that the list of events to be held during, what has been termed, A Taste of Carnival should be finalised by Monday or Tuesday. He said Dimanche Gras is on the list. In phone interview with Newsday, Lucas said both the budget and events list are to be finalised during this week. Asked when the commission might have a final figure of what A Taste of Carnival will cost, Lucas said the commission could not determine when the government would respond concerning its allocation. Read more here
T&TEC planned maintenance to affect East and Central Trinidad
T&TEC customers in parts of East and Central Trinidad will experience a temporary disruption to their supply of electricity, Monday 24th January, 2022. Read more here
POLITICS
Robinson-Regis: Special economic zones won't be corrupt
NEW special economic zones will neither be susceptible to corruption nor chaos because of safeguards in new legislation recently passed to guide their operations, Planning Minister Camille Robinson-Regis said in a statement on Sunday. "The Trinidad and Tobago Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Bill 2021 has special clauses to ensure the highest levels of transparency facilitating public scrutiny and government accountability," she said. The bill was unanimously passed in the House of Representatives last Wednesday. Read more here
UNC: Is TSTT to suffer a Petrotrin fate?
Is the Government seeking to close down the Telecommunications Services (TSTT) as it did with the Petroleum Company (Petrotrin) back in 2018?It was among several questions posed by Princes Town MP Barry Padarath at the United National Congress (UNC) Sunday Media Briefing. Padarath, the UNC’s shadow minister of public utilities, said a previous People’s National Movement (PNM) administration articulated its plan to privatise TSTT. However, the People’s Partnership (PP) General Election victory in 2010 thwarted its efforts. He said the PP met TSTT in an unprofitable state and addressed the issues. Read more here
BUSINESS
‘Now is a great opportunity for healing’
A leading regional executive, who has been embroiled in the ongoing tiff between the business communities of Guyana and T&T, believes the situation, while it is unfortunate, provides a good opportunity to address all outstanding differences between the two countries. On January 11, Gervase Warner the chairman of the Caricom Private Sector Organisation issued a “routine internal communication” following an executive meeting where among other things Guyana’s new local content law was discussed. The email, however, included an email signature block with Warner’s substantive position as president and group CEO of regional conglomerate Massy, as well as the address of its headquarters in Port-of-Spain. Read more here
Special Economic Zones law promotes transparency
Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis said yesterday the Trinidad and Tobago Special Economic Zones Bill, 2021 has special clauses to ensure the highest levels of transparency facilitating public scrutiny and government accountability. The Bill was passed in Parliament last week with 32 members of the House voting for, none against and no one abstaining. The Minister added that it was extremely important for government to address the concerns and criticisms made by Opposition Members of Parliament that, if not properly managed, the new Special Economic Zone legislation would be open to corruption, poor labour practices and weak enforcement. The new law will result in the creation of a Special Economic Zone Authority. Read more here
REGIONAL
Budget 2022: historic and transformational
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, has expressed confidence in this year’s national fiscal plan, labelling it “historic” and “transformational.”“Budget 2022 – if I were to highlight a single sentence to describe Budget 2022 it would really be to say that it will be transformational in the sense that many of the big initiatives that we have alluded to in the manifesto, [and] subsequently in the major presidential speeches. One could easily get a good sense of the main priorities coming out of the manifesto,” the Finance Minister articulated during an interview with the National Communications Network (NCN) on Sunday. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Ukraine: UK withdrawing some embassy staff from Kyiv
Britain has started withdrawing staff from its embassy in Ukraine, amid growing fears of a Russian invasion. Officials say there have been no specific threats to British diplomats, but about half of the staff working in Kyiv will return to the UK. The US has ordered relatives of its embassy staff to leave, saying an invasion could come "at any time". Russia has denied plans for military action, but tens of thousands of troops have amassed on the border. Read more here
24th January 2022