NEWS
UWI covid19 trials to use several drugs
The anti-covid19 drug trials in which UWI will take part will include a number of drugs, but not hydroxychloroquine. Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Roshan Parasram disclosed that the Health Ministry has given approval for UWI to be part of World Health Organization (WHO) trials as part of its contribution to the regional effort to deal with the covid19 pandemic. Read more here
National Energy fails to deliver projects
State owned National Energy, which has as its mandate the conceptualisation, promotion, development and facilitation of energy-based and downstream industries in Trinidad and Tobago has only delivered one project in the last twelve years and none in the last five years. The only project the company has delivered is the Caribbean Gas Chemicals, methanol to DME plant, which five years after construction started is yet to export a single metric tonne of methanol. Read more here
POLITICS
New Public Utilities Minister: Unreliable water supply in 2020 unacceptable
New Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales said it is unacceptable in 2020 to have communities without a regular water supply. He was speaking with the media on Wednesday after being sworn in by the President at President's House. Asked what were his priorities, Gonzales said as he campaigned in Lopinot/Bon Air West and spoke to MPs in the surrounding areas of Arima, La Horquetta/Talparo, Arouca and Tunapuna, there was the similar issue of water supply. Read more here
PM tells Cabinet don’t fall asleep at wheel
The new Dr Keith Rowley Cabinet retains most of the previous familiar faces in frontline portfolios - but with the Education Ministry in the hands of two mothers and the return of former Diego Martin Central MP Dr Amery Browne as Foreign Affairs Minister. And Prime Minister Rowley yesterday presented his new team to T&T with a public notice, “We’re starting on a 60-month journey, as it can be counted in months and no one will be allowed to fall asleep as conduct and performance will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.” Read more here
BUSINESS
Central slips into depression
The Point Lisas Industrial Estate has been an important staple in the country’s revenue generation with real major economic injections starting in the 1970s. It has been home to about 100 national and international companies in the petro-chemicals, chemicals, oil and gas, power generation and allied sectors. The global economic downturn has however contributed to significant changes in the operations of the estate, with even some companies such as ArcelorMittal and Central Trinidad Steel Ltd (Centrin) closing up shop and moving out. Together both companies terminated nearly 1,000 employees in 2016. Read more here
Lessons from Jamaica
It’s election season in the Caribbean. Suriname and Guyana have changed their governments, Trinidad and Tobago has stuck with the PNM and on September 3rd the people of Jamaica will decide if they are sticking with Labour or if the People’s National Party will be returned to power. If I were a betting man I would predict a JLP victory, if only based on the recent polling results and also Jamaica’s economic progress over the last five years. Read more here
REGIONAL
Shops Of JLP Operatives Set On Fire In May Pen
The shops of two Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) operatives were set on fire in May Pen, Clarendon late Wednesday evening in an incident that is alleged to be politically motivated. The Sevens Road shop of JLP polling division captain in Clarendon Central Sandra Mills was destroyed while that of JLP councillor caretaker for the May Pen West Division Lorraine Green Mason was damaged. Read more here
Govt secures US$60M to fight COVID-19
Government is mobilising some US$60M from the World Bank, OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Islamic Development Bank, in addition to a $4.5B package it had announced earlier to bolster the national response to COVID-19. President Irfaan Ali, on Wednesday, during an address to the nation from State House said that those sums are in addition to the US$1M grant received from the Government of India. Those, he said, were outside of other bi-lateral support received and were in the process of being received. The President said that he spent the last few weeks consulting with many stakeholders including the private sector, communities, trade union representatives, youths, and healthcare professionals, aimed at arriving at a national holistic plan that integrates every aspect in response to COVID-19. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Obama issues a dire warning about American democracy in stunning rebuke of Trump
From the Philadelphia ground where the American experiment was born, one former president -- in a stunning prime-time address to the nation he once led -- warned that his successor was on the cusp of destroying democracy itself. The latest installment of the long duel between Barack Obama and Donald Trump perfectly exemplified the jarring contrasts in personal and political temperaments of the two defining White House residents of this age. And it took their rivalry to a level unprecedented in the modern history of the presidency. Read more here
Kim Jong-un gives sister Yo-jong 'more responsibilities'
20th August 2020