NEWS
Business chambers want more time to convert 'old money bills'
Several business chambers are calling for an extension of the demonetisation of the $1, $5, $10, $20 and $50 notes issued before 2020. In June, the Central Bank announced the demonetisation process in which the old notes would cease to be in circulation as a legal tender from January 1, 2022. Already some businesses and financial institutions have notified customers and the public of their dates to stop accepting the cotton notes. State-owned National Petroleum Marketing Co Ltd (NPMC) advised customers that 'old bills' will not be accepted form December 17," it said in a notice on Tuesday. Read more here
Discussions underway for vaccines for children ages 5 to 11
Government is in talks with major pharmaceutical manufacturers of cutting edge drugs and is also discussing utilising COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5 to 11. Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh revealed the information yesterday in Parliament, as he responded to questions from Opposition Chief Whip David Lee on measures to deal with the third wave of COVID-19 in the country. Deyalsingh said the Delta variant is now in 193 countries and noted that he said back in August that it was not a matter of if but when the variant would hit T&T. Read more here
POLITICS
Senator Richards: Children are watching our conduct
Independent Senator Paul Richards warned parliamentarians that their behaviour was being watched by children and was setting the tone for the behaviour of people in their personal lives across the country. He spoke in the Senate on Tuesday in support of a private motion by Independent Senator Anthony Vieira chiding opposition senators for their conduct at a sitting of the Electoral College in Parliament on October 21. The Electoral College had met to vote on a motion brought by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to have a tribunal established to examine the actions of President Paula-Mae Weekes, the first step in the process of having a sitting president removed from office. That motion failed. Read more here
BUSINESS
‘Govt should expand safe zones’
With positive Covid-19 cases increasing daily, the Barkeepers and Operators Association of Trinidad and Tobago (BOATT) is calling for an expansion of the safe zone initiative to all non-essential retail businesses and the entertainment sector. BOATT president Sateesh Moonasar said on Tuesday, that since the start of the initiative on October 11th, no Covid-19 cluster has been linked to a safe zone establishment, with about 95 per cent of participating businesses following the prescribed guidelines. Read more here
REGIONAL
Nurses welcome special $400M payout
Several nurses have welcomed the special $400 million for frontline health workers but are of the view that a wide group of health workers should benefit from the allocated sum and not just those who dealt directly with COVID-19 patients. The nurses at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), who spoke with the Department of Public Information (DPI), pointed out that every health worker at the institution, came into contact with the deadly COVID-19 virus through working in the health system. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Ahmaud Arbery: Three US men guilty of murdering black jogger
Three white men have been found guilty of killing a black jogger last year in a case that became a rallying cry to racial justice protesters. Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was shot on 23 February 2020 in a confrontation with Travis and Gregory McMichael and their neighbour, William Bryan. The defendants said they acted in self-defence during citizen’s arrest; prosecutors said race was a factor. The men now face minimum sentences of life in prison. A mainly white jury of 12 people deliberated for about 10 hours before returning their verdict at around midday on Wednesday. The trio were found guilty of murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal intent to commit a felony. Read more here
25th November 2021