NEWS
NGC Green launched to improve energy use in Trinidad and Tobago
Compressed natural gas (CNG) supplier NGC CNG was rebranded as NGC Green with an expanded remit of renewable energy and energy efficiency in a launch on Wednesday at Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain. The NGC will take a 30 per cent stake in the Project Lara solar farms at Orange Grove and Brechin Castle. NGC chairman Dr Joseph Ishmael Khan said just like tourists watching an approaching tsunami on a Thailand beach, so too a huge wave was approaching the world in the form of climate change, requiring action now. "We can no longer stand around on the shore," he warned. Read more here
Suspect wanted for killing teen surrenders to cops
The man wanted for questioning by the police in connection with the shooting death of 15-year-old Isabella Teelucksingh in Las Lomas, has surrendered to officers and remained in custody last night. Police said the suspect, along with his attorney, turned himself in to police officers at the San Fernando Homicide Bureau around 4 pm on Tuesday. He was reportedly on the run since Sunday. Police are also said to be reviewing CCTV surveillance footage which showed how the incident unfolded at Savary Road on Sunday. Police and residents claimed Teelucksingh was shot when the suspect allegedly opened fire on a group, including her brother, on the way to confront him for reportedly beating and robbing an elderly man in the area. Read more here
POLITICS
Young touts green, hydrocarbon energies
Energy Minister Stuart Young on Wednesday urged the National Gas Company (NGC) to seek new opportunities in renewable energy projects. But Young also said TT will continue to rely on hydrocarbons for the foreseeable future and will not be dictated to by countries re-opening their own pollution-causing coal mines. He spoke at the launch of NGC Green at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain, where the NGC's Compressed Natural Gas division, NGC CNG, was rebranded with expanded duties. Young said the world was now in many crises, including climate change, which had rendered 2023 one of the hottest years ever. Read more here
Licks for PNM, UNC over failing to stage anti-crime talks
Politicians are taking a beating from business groups that are frustrated over their failure to collaborate to hold discussions that can ultimately lead to curb the country’s rising crime wave. Taking both the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) and Opposition United National Congress (UNC) to task yesterday, Guardian Holdings Limited (GHL) CEO Ian Chinapoo said this country’s leaders should move swiftly to find solutions to the crime scourge. Chinapoo was responding to questions about the failure of Government and the UNC to meet for anti-crime at the American Chamber of Industry and Commerce’s (AMCHAM) Economic Outlook Forum 2024 at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain. He said politicians across the divide should put country first and focus less on holding office. Read more here
BUSINESS
Phoenix, a familiar story
With the formal ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Phoenix Park Industrial Estate last week, the Government has achieved two seemingly complimentary objectives. First, it has signalled its commitment to economic diversification and to the concept of “industrial park” as a key means of achieving that diversification. Second, it has continued mutually beneficial ties with China. But if diversification is about not putting all your eggs into one basket, then there is something decidedly obstinate and unambitious about simply continuing the approaches of the past. There is the whiff of the same ole, same ole in all of this. Read more here
Traffic imposes heavy burden on T&T
Vehicle traffic congestion imposes a direct economic burden of roughly 1.37 per cent of annual GDP on T&T. This measure represents a lower bound estimate of economic costs, given that it does not include other social and environmental costs typically associated with the phenomenon, according to an assessment published this month by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC) titled, “Assessment of the economic costs of vehicle traffic congestion in the Caribbean: a case study of T&T.” Authored by Willard Phillips, Elizabeth Thorne and Esther Chong Ling, the 51-page document also noted that traffic challenges are also likely to have important public policy implications for this country, as it seeks to implement strategies for mitigating the problem in the future. Read more here
REGIONAL
‘More we grow, less we import’
Outlining the vision to transform Guyana’s agricultural sector, which has a large-scale farming and food-production industry, a mammoth investment of $97.6 billion has been budgeted for the fiscal package of 2024. And according to stakeholders, these funds could see the country fast-tracking regional food- security goals, thereby not only increasing the Caribbean’s food production, but also reducing the region’s expenditure on food imports. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Australian Open 2024 results: Emma Raducanu loses to Wang Yafan
Emma Raducanu battled valiantly before running out of steam as her Grand Slam return was ended by China's Wang Yafan in the Australian Open second round. Britain's Raducanu, 21, was beaten 6-4 4-6 6-4 in only her fourth match back after wrist and ankle surgeries which kept her out for almost nine months. Raducanu looked like she was going to be sick early in the third set and had her blood pressure checked by a doctor. Despite that, she had chances to break back in the decider but Wang held on. Raducanu's exit came after Katie Boulter, who has taken over as British number one, lost to Chinese 12th seed Zheng Qinwen on the same Kia Arena court. Read more here
18th January 2024