TTMA IN THE NEWS
Blue Waters, Nutrimix, Trinidad Tissues win big at TTMA awards
Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee-Scoon is urging those in the manufacturing industry to continue to "proudly showcase" this country's talent and capability regionally and internationally. She was speaking at the TT Manufacturers Association's (TTMA) 2022 awards ceremony on Tuesday night at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain. A total of nine awards were given out. The winner of the lifetime achievement award was ExporTT chairman Asheer Mohamed. TTMA CEO Dr Mahindra Ramesh Ramdeen said this award typically goes to someone who has significantly contributed to the growth of the manufacturing sector, the TTMA and the country "by way of service and other tangible and intangible contributions." Read more here
Plans to create stronger regional manufacturing linkages
Total output in manufacturing in 2022 is forecast at approximately $28.1 billion. Of that, food and beverage is expected to be the largest component (28 per cent), according to Trade Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon. In terms of export performance, she noted non-energy exports increased by 1.8 per cent while non-energy manufacturing sector exports increased by 24 per cent. This level of exports in fiscal 2022 was also 46 per cent higher than fiscal 2019, the minister said during the President’s Dinner and Awards Ceremony hosted by the T&T Manufacturers’ Association on Tuesday night. Noting that trade is a critical engine that drives economic and social transformation in T&T, Gopee-Scoon said global disruptions have resulted in the need for diverse, flexible and more integrated supply chains to “first and foremost to feed ourselves” and to make available essential items within the region. Read more here
NEWS
Two dead, nine wounded hours apart
A series of unrelated shootings across the east-west corridor on Tuesday afternoon led to the deaths of two people and the woundings of nine others. In the first incident 40-year-old Steffon Garrick was gunned down at the Pamberi panyard at around 4.45 pm. Police said they received a report of a shooting at the panyard and went to the area where they found Garrick's body and a wounded man. Officers took the wounded man to the hospital. Read more here
Packages returned anonymously to cops after robbery at Web Source
A total of 150 packages containing clothing, cosmetics and electronic items, estimated to be worth TT$250,000, were stolen from Web Source on Monday night. And although between 10 to 15 packages were “anonymously” returned to police by Wednesday, the company said it intends to fulfil its promise to reimburse all affected customers by Friday. Contacted for an update yesterday, CEO Lincoln Maharaj declined to say much more, as the investigation was ongoing. He said, “We have started to receive invoices for missing packages from customers and would be repaying customers by Friday as promised.” Read more here
POLITICS
Union seeks better answers on public service contracts
DUAINE HEWITT, head of the Industrial Court section of the Public Services Association (PSA), alleged a response to his queries about the landscape of jobs in the Public Service, as he spoke to a half-hour protest of about 150 workers at Independence Square, Port of Spain, on Wednesday. He lamented the responses garnered by his flurry of requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA.) Hewitt also said that while wider talks between the union and Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) Dr Darryl Dindial on a proposed four per cent wage hike were before the Industrial Court, smaller matters affecting workers could be addressed. Read more here
Mitchell certain Carnival 2023 will be safe one
Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts Randall Mitchell has assured the public that criminal activity will not deter Carnival 2023 celebrations. Speaking at Tourism Trinidad Limited’s Tourism Accommodation Upgrade Project at the Brix Hotel in Port-of-Spain yesterday, he said the T&T Police Service usually does a good job around the season. “Carnival season is extremely safe generally. The Commissioner of Police and the police service are one of the major stakeholders in the planning of Carnival, so I am not too concerned with respect to that (crime for Carnival), because they are in the process of planning. I have to commend the police service, especially during the Carnival season, all the protective services, they generally ensure that there is a very safe carnival season,” Mitchell said. Read more here
BUSINESS
Made868 facility helps designers move ideas to production
Creative people are plagued with the worry of making their ideas a reality along with marketing their products and ensuring their work gets the traction it needs. But Made868 aims to reduce that stress. The Made868 facility, set up by Sandra Carr, its supervisor, programme leader and senior lecturer at the Academy of Caribbean Fashion and Design, offers them the space to produce any and every idea they may have. She said with great emphasis that everyone with an idea can use the facility, as it is not just for fashion designers. Read more here
T&T’s Middle Class declines amidst inflation and stagnant wages
With the exception of 2022, this country’s economy has been declining consistently since 2014. As a redsult of the challenging economic conditions most citizens on fixed incomes have not benefited from major increases in salaries and with rising inflation the average citizen’s purchasing power continues to decline. It is these challenging economic circumstances that have seen more and more people slip from what would be considered to be the middle class to the working class. Read more here
REGIONAL
Additional 60,000 persons to benefit from improved water supply
The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), on Wednesday, awarded contracts for the upgrade of 12 existing water-treatment plants, slated to benefit 60,000 persons. The contract-signing ceremony between the utility and contractors occurred at GWI’s Headquarters on Vlissengen Road.The upgrading of these plants forms part of GWI’s Coastal Water Treatment Infrastructure Programme, which has an implementation timeline of 2021-2025. The total sum of these contracts is just under G$6 billion. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Ukraine war: Gas plant hit in latest Russian strikes
More strikes have been reported across Ukraine, days after one of Russia's most intense bombardments of the war. Officials say a gas production facility and a missile factory in Dnipro were among the latest targets and that at least four people died in one area. In recent weeks, Russia has looked to target key Ukrainian energy infrastructure, following a series of battlefield setbacks. Moscow has not yet commented on Thursday's alleged attacks. Four people died as a result of an overnight strike on residential buildings in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to the president's office. Read more here
17th November 2022