TTMA IN THE NEWS
TTMA pushing to increase exports
It is without a doubt that the covid19 pandemic has shattered world trade, but even as the profit margins were not as expected, the TT Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) said new markets have emerged which this country is more than capable of tapping into. At the TTMA president’s award dinner at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Port of Spain on Tuesday night, outgoing president Franka Costelloe said 2020 figures export showed a five per cent decrease to $3.3 billion. Read more here
NEWS
Griffith: I did not recommend using insecticide on attackers
Police Commissioner Gary Griffith is denying recommending or suggesting that people use insecticide or insect repellent as a weapon to protect themselves, as reported in one daily newspaper on Wednesday. In a release, the police service said Griffith, during Tuesday’s media conference to address the issue of missing people and domestic violence, was asked by a Newsday reporter if a woman would be charged if she were to use an illegal item such as a Taser, pepper spray, or penknife. Read more here
Lawyers petition IACHR to prevent deportation of Venezuelan children
Lawyers representing six migrant children, who were among a group of 25 Venezuelan children and adults that returned to this country after being repatriated last month, have successfully petitioned the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) over a potential move to deport them with litigation pending. In a press release issued, yesterday afternoon, the IACHR stated that it had granted precautionary measures against the move in relation to six children of the group of 16 children and nine adults, who did not receive orders from local judges. Read more here
POLITICS
PM: 461,000 covid19 vaccine doses coming
The Government will receive 461,000 covid19 vaccine doses, to inoculate a third of the population amid the ongoing pandemic, the Prime Minister told the House of Representatives on Wednesday. He was replying to an urgent question by Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal about Trinidad and Tobago pre-ordering the vaccine, which is set to become available globally within days. Read more here
PM: Cabinet yet to get Patriotic report
A report by Government’s Evaluation team on Patriotic Energies and Technologies’ (PET) proposal to buy the Guaracara refinery is being reviewed and will be sent to Cabinet, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said yesterday. The report is still outstanding beyond its scheduled November 30 delivery date for Cabinet. The team was mandated at the start of November to meet with PET on its proposal after a Cabinet sub-committee stated PET hadn’t met conditions to purchase. The evaluation team was mandated to present its report to Cabinet by November 30. Read more here
BUSINESS
Public, private sector contracts operate with ‘trust deficit’
Governments around the world have faced challenges with public procurement due to the covid19 crisis, testing their ability and capacity to react quickly and efficiently to deliver life-saving goods and services to the public, asserts a new research report from ACCA (the Association of Chartered Accountants) New Models of Public Procurement: A Tool For Sustainable Recovery. Read more here
REGIONAL
$5B to be invested in Region Two before year-end
President Dr Irfaan Ali has announced that more than $5 billion will be invested in Region Two before the end of the year, while emphasising that his Government stands committed to serving all Guyanese in keeping with its mandate. “Today, we have a very simple task, and that is to ensure we fulfill our mandate in public office, not impede service, [and] not increase the cost of service,” he said during his visit to the region on Wednesday. The main aim of the visit by the Head of State was to resolve many of the issues faced by residents, which he noted were “resolvable”. In this regard, he pointed to the importance of the exercise and the potential impact it will have on the lives of the beneficiaries. Read more here
Fowl Play - Producers Flap At Fraudulent Import Of Chicken Parts
Major Jamaican chicken producers are pressing the Government for 100 per cent inspection of all poultry imports in the wake of a damning report by the Integrity Commission citing fraud, duty evasion, and a permit process that lacks integrity and facilitates corruption. Some importers have been accused of blending in leg quarters among shipments of chicken back and neck to escape combined tariffs for premium parts that reportedly amount to as much as 240 per cent. Chicken neck and back are lower-grade parts that are consumed in huge volumes among Jamaica’s poorest households. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Trump asks Supreme Court to invalidate millions of votes in battleground states
President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to block millions of votes from four battleground states that voted for President-elect Joe Biden. Trump's request came in a filing with the court asking to intervene in a lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton seeking to invalidate millions of votes cast in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Read more here
Brexit: EU sets out plans in case trade talks with UK fail
The EU has published contingency plans in case of the possible collapse of Brexit trade talks with the UK. The plans aim to ensure basic UK-EU air and road connectivity, as well as allowing the possibility of fishing access to each other's waters. They come after talks between UK PM Boris Johnson and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen aimed at ending a deadlock over the deal ended without agreement. The UK is due to stop following EU trading rules on 31 December 2020. The UK left the EU at the end of January 2020, but a transition period of 11 months followed to allow the two sides to try to negotiate a deal. Read more here
10th December 2020