TTMA IN THE NEWS
More business groups concerned at rate hikes
More business groups are coming forward to express their disagreement with the electricity rate increase proposed by the Regulated Industries Commission (RIC). While some groups echo the sentiments of many residential customers standing totally against any rate increase at all, others also questioned RIC’s “bad timing” considering the present and increasing cost of living. Speaking to the Express via phone yesterday, President of the Greater San Fernando Area Chamber of Industry and Commerce (GSFCC) Kiran Singh questioned how chambers would be able to absorb such costs at this time. Read more here
NEWS
Integrity Commission to act on those who didn't declare
Having named dozens of public officials who have not officially declared their assets and income, the Integrity Commission said it was going to court to try to force them to comply, in a paid advertisement in Newsday on Monday. The ad listed non-declarants for each year from 2014-2021. Prominent MPs and senators featured among the dozens of individuals named as having not yet filed declarations, as listed in the online TT Gazette on February 1. These annual declarations are required of each public officially to compare their income to their assets and liabilities, under the Integrity in Public Life Act. Read more here
Machel defends Fantastic Friday event... Soca Monarch was wasting taxpayers’ money
Soca star Machel Montano is defending his decision to host his One Show on Fantastic Friday (Carnival Friday), while also dismissing the suggestion that it is responsible for the cancellation of this year’s International Soca Monarch (ISM) competition. The ISM organisers surprised fans of the event a few weeks ago when they announced they had decided to cancel the show due to a lack of financial support. Tourism, Culture and the Arts Minister Randall Mitchell subsequently revealed that Government was unable to give the organisers some $10 million and other concessions to host the show and instead offered $3 million and concessions. Read more here
POLITICS
Shell boss happy with Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela talks
Vice president and country chair of Shell TT Eugene Okpere said he was happy that conversations were being held between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. But he did not comment on the status of the Dragon gas deal which is expected to be finalised owing to US approval of licence to explore the field off Venezuela which stalled in 2018 due to US-imposed sanctions. Okpere made the statement as a TT delegation, including Energy Minister Stuart Young, TT ambassador to Venezuela Edmund Dillon and NGC president Mark Loquan visited met with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodrigues in Caracas earlier this week. Read more here
Hinds: 34,000 FUL applications before CoP
There are over 34,000 pending applications for firearm user’s licenses (FULs) before the Commissioner of Police, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds has said. He made the disclosure while speaking in the Senate in the early hours of yesterday, as the debate on the Firearms Amendment Bill (2022) was wrapping up. “There are over 34,000 applications for firearms in front of the Police Service and that is in addition to the licenses which exist, which are on the books in Trinidad and Tobago in the region of 25,000,” Hinds said. Read more here
BUSINESS
Out of UWI Campus Carnival, Jamborii invests in mas
The recently launched Jamborii mas band is offering people of all walks of life to play mas or J’Ouvert for what the organisers say is a a reasonable price, given the current economic situation. Jamborii is located on Woodford Street, Port of Spain. Franklyn Mayers, better known as Stryker, is the band's founder and the brain behind the variety of designs offered by this mas band. Mayers is also a radio announcer and DJ on Red Hot 96.7. Read more here
Who or what is Pesh Money Ltd?
When the Central Bank announced last week that it had issued provisional registrations to two companies; Telecommunications Services of T&T Ltd (TSTT) and PESH Money Ltd, many had the question? Who or what is PESH Money? At the time of the Central Bank release, the company had no visible online presence but it had been waiting on this moment for almost half a decade. Minnesota-based software developer Simon Fortuné, founded the company in 2017, as he noted the lack of e-money options available in the local market. “The company was registered in 2017. How I got the idea is, you know, I’m a born and raised Trinidadian, I live in the US now. And I realised visiting home that there are lots of services that I use in the US on a daily basis. And I was wondering, why don’t these services exist in Trinidad?” said Fortuné who is originally from St Augustine. Read more here
REGIONAL
Sol opens US$2.8M facility at Mandela Avenue
Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips has said that interventions made by the government over the last two years have resulted in the strengthening of the business climate and the diversification of the economy. In his address at the opening of the new Sol Guyana Incorporated’s US$2.8 million Shell Service Station at Mandela Avenue, he said: “The government is committed to ensuring the provision of an enabling environment and incentives for the expansion of new and existing businesses by removing obstacles to business growth, fostering an environment for investment, and empowering businesses…” High on the agenda, according to the Prime Minister, is the creation of a more competitive economy with expanding opportunities. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Turkey-Syria earthquake: First aid convoy reaches opposition-held Idlib
The first convoy of UN aid for opposition-held north-west Syria since Monday's huge earthquake has reportedly crossed into the region from Turkey. Officials said six lorries carrying hygiene kits and other items had gone through Idlib's Bab al-Hawa crossing. The shipment had been due before the disaster, which caused damage to roads and temporarily halted deliveries. Rescuers there say at least 1,900 people have been killed and that many more are trapped under destroyed homes. Even before the earthquake struck, 4.1 million residents - most of them women and children - were relying on humanitarian assistance to survive. Read more here
9th February 2023