NEWS
All hands on deck – Government calls on public servants to help with flood recovery
Amidst orange-level riverine and flood alerts, the government says public servants, once able, are to return to work to avoid any further unnecessary loss of productivity. Many entire communities are without water, owing to clogged water treatment facilities, while others are without electricity, primarily because of fallen power lines. All schools have been closed on Monday. Faris Al-Rawi, Minister of Rural Development and Local Government, said clean-up operations will follow immediately after flooding subsides, while everyday government services must continue, requiring a full workforce. Read more here
San Juan farmers hit hard by flooding ‘Christmas prices will be high’
Agricultural Society of T&T ASTT) president Darryl Rampersad is warning the country that the price of food will now be at an “all-time high” after flood losses once again inflicted on farmers over the last few days. Speaking to Guardian Media after touring the submerged fields in Aranguez South, San Juan, yesterday, Rampersad said the farmers had incurred 100 per cent losses with the most recent flooding event. “What we are seeing this morning (and) since yesterday, we have been receiving calls and we have been touring different areas, so from Orange Grove planting project down to Caroni, Trantrill, Macoya - all these areas are under water this morning. So, most of the agriculture that we have on the East-West corridor, we could safely say is out of production because of this,” Rampersad said. Read more here
POLITICS
UNC: Suspend Paria management until CoE findings are clear
The United National Congress (UNC) through its Pointe-a-Pierre MP David Lee is calling on Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young and the Prime Minister to suspend Paria’s management until the Commission of Enquiry (CoE) into the Paria Diving tragedy clears. Lee made the call at the Opposition’s weekly Sunday press briefing. The CoE is ongoing. Lee said, “The revelations of the CoE over the last few days have shown clearly that had there been proper leadership, had there been effective management and experienced authority four of nation’s son could have been alive. Read more here
Slightly better Sunday turnout for PNM election
There was a slightly better People’s National Movement internal election turnout yesterday - although the event was still affected by rain. However, the PNM’s Election Supervisory Team (EST) will meet by tomorrow to review the two-day voting exercise so far and will make any recommendations, if that’s necessary. The position was given by EST chairman Anthony Roberts by 4 pm yesterday. Voting was done in the 41 constituencies which had one polling station each. The third and final day of voting is on Sunday (Dec 4) between 1 pm and 4 pm at the Queens Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, as part of PNM’s 50th convention. The PNM’s membership is 105,894, it was confirmed last week. Party sources estimated there were approximately 10,000 voters over the two-day exercise. Read more here
BUSINESS
HSF declines 15% in first half
T&T’s Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF) declined by 15.14 per cent between January 1, 2022 and June 30, 2022, according to the two quarterly reports for the Fund for this year. The HSF reports, which are published on the Ministry of Finance website, indicate that at the start of 2022, the value of the assets in the Fund totaled US$5.62 billion. At the end of March 2022, the total net asset value of the HSF was US$5.29 billion, approximately US$323.63 million lower than the previous quarter’s closing value. And at the end of June 2022, the total net asset value of the HSF was US$4.77 bllion, approximately US$528 million lower than the previous quarter’s closing value of US$5,299.5 million. Read more here
REGIONAL
Leopold Street belongs in national development – President Ali
Continuing his mission to have government reach Guyanese where they are to advance development and defeat hate-based narratives from the political opposition, President Irfaan Ali on Sunday met residents of Leopold Street, Georgetown, to hear their concerns and invite them to be part of national development. Accompanied by Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn, who has now been designated as the Cabinet member to engage Leopold Street residents regularly, President Ali invited youths of the community to get involved in government’s aggressive housing-construction projects which he said previously are in need of labour. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
China's protests: Blank paper becomes the symbol of rare demonstrations
So often one item comes to symbolise an entire protest movement. In China, that item is a humble piece of blank paper. As dusk fell on Shanghai on Sunday evening, some of those who gathered at a vigil to remember the victims of a fire that catalysed the demonstrations came clutching sheets of paper. Similarly, in the capital Beijing, protesters came armed with scraps of paper to a demonstration at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University, once attended by President Xi Jinping. And in another striking video a young woman could be seen walking through the streets of Wuzhen - a town in the eastern province of Zhejiang - with chains around her wrists and duct tape over her mouth. In her hands was a sheet of unspoiled blank paper. Read more here
28th November 2022