NEWS
Trinidad and Tobago's mixed history of presidential nominations
Have political parties over the years been either consistent or convenient in their attitudes towards nominating active politicians for the presidency? A review of media reports and the Hansard record of Parliament may shed light on this question, in view of the Prime Minister's nomination of Senate President Christine Kangaloo, and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar's subsequent objection on the basis of being an active PNM member. Arthur NR Robinson, Minister Extraordinaire in the Basdeo Panday government, was nominated as president and then elected by the Electoral College chaired by Hector McClean on February 14, 1997, amid complaints by the then PNM Opposition which put forward a rival nominee. Read more here
Girl, 6, shot dead as gunmen storm Grande home
A family of four were ambushed at their home in Sangre Grande during the wee hours of Sunday morning and shot, including a six-year-old girl who later succumbed to her injuries at hospital. The girl has been identified as Kylie Maloney of Foster Road. The three others who were wounded included her mother, 26, who was shot in the left leg; the mother’s close male relative, aged 34, and a 45-year-old relative. According to a police report, at about 2 am three men dressed in camouflage, pretending to be police shouted “Police, police” as they entered the home at Blake Avenue Extension belonging to the 34-year-old victim. Read more here
POLITICS
NEDCO boss: Govt may have to write off millions in bad debts
Last June, a Public Accounts (Enterprises) Committee (PAEC) into the examination of the National Entrepreneurship Development Company Ltd (NEDCO) audited accounts, balance sheet and financial statements discovered that the company had paid out $66 million in “bad loans” for the period 2016-2017. Appearing before a 2017 PAEC, the State-owned company had also reported a “bad loans” loss of $94 million between 2008 and 2014. These bad loans amounted to $160 million of taxpayers’ money over a nine-year period. Read more here
BUSINESS
IDB: T&T’s exports grew 68.7% in 2022
The value of exports from Trinidad and Tobago is estimated to have increased by 68.7 per cent for the first 11 months of 2022, according to a report from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) entitled “Trade Trends Estimates Latin America and the Caribbean 2023 edition”. The report states that T&T’s exports “maintained a remarkable growth rate in 2022, driven by high oil and gas prices”. Read more here
REGIONAL
High interest in Guyana’s oil
India will pursue its longstanding interest in Guyana’s oil when its Prime Minister, Narendra Modi meets with President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, who is on an official visit to the Asian country, and will be conferred with a highly prestigious award in coming days. President Ali and his delegation arrived in India on Saturday. Since then, Guyana’s Head of State has participated in several events at Indore, Madhya Pradesh and held bilateral talks with India’s Minister of External Affairs, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. According to a Facebook post from the Office of the President, President Ali and Dr. Jaishankar held discussions on co-operation in the areas of energy, infrastructure, and digital technology. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
China Covid: More than 88 million people in Henan infected, official says
Nearly 90% of people in Henan, China's third most populous province, have now been infected with Covid, local health officials say. Provincial official Kan Quancheng revealed the figure - amounting to about 88.5 million people - at a press conference. China is battling an unprecedented surge in cases after abandoning zero-Covid policies in December. The move followed rare protests against lockdowns, quarantines and mass tests. Mr Kan did not specify a timeline for when all the infections happened - but as China's previous zero-Covid policy kept cases to a minimum, it's likely the vast majority of Henan's infections occurred in the past few weeks. Read more here
9th January 2023