NEWS

Compliance professionals welcome new $100 bill

The Association of Compliance Professionals (ACPTT) welcomed the new polymer $100 bill as a move that will bolster the country’s anti-money laundering landscape. “The introduction of this new $100 bill, with its new material and other security features, is a positive (move),” the association said in a statement Monday. ACPTT urged the business community, in particular financial institutions and other listed businesses, to continue to be vigilant in their transactions, especially during this hectic Christmas season and where large cash transactions are being made. Read more here

Unipet, Paria reach fuel agreement

Unit­ed In­de­pen­dent Pe­tro­le­um Mar­ket­ing Com­pa­ny Lim­it­ed (Unipet) and State-run Paria Fu­el Trad­ing Com­pa­ny have come to a com­pro­mise in their dis­pute over un­paid ar­rears on Unipet’s fu­el sup­ply. In a press re­lease, Paria said the par­ties had en­tered in­to a set­tle­ment agree­ment which re­sult­ed in the re­sump­tion of Unipet’s sup­ply at 5 pm yes­ter­day. Un­der the agree­ment, Unipet agreed to set­tle its debt to Paria and with­draw its High Court law­suit and cor­re­spond­ing in­junc­tion ap­pli­ca­tion. Both par­ties will con­tin­ue to work to­geth­er to iron out a sup­ply agree­ment. Which will take ef­fect in Jan­u­ary. Read more here

POLITICS

Sangre Grande councillors sworn-in

One week af­ter los­ing the Peo­ple’s Na­tion­al Move­ment (PNM) con­trolled San­gre Grande Re­gion­al Cor­po­ra­tion (SGRC) to the Unit­ed Na­tion­al Con­gress (UNC), out­go­ing cor­po­ra­tion chair­man Ter­ry Ron­don is call­ing on new­ly elect­ed coun­cil­lors to avoid pol­i­tics from get­ting in the way of their work and pulling and tug­ging. The call was made by Ron­don yes­ter­day dur­ing the swear­ing-in cer­e­mo­ny of the cor­po­ra­tion’s five UNC and three PNM coun­cil­lors. In the com­ing days, the name of the cor­po­ra­tion’s chair­man and its four al­der­men-two of whom are PNM will be named. The swear­ing-in cer­e­mo­ny was the first for the UNC since win­ning sev­en of the 14 re­gion­al cor­po­ra­tions in last Mon­day’s lo­cal gov­ern­ment elec­tion. In the 2016 lo­cal gov­ern­ment elec­tion, there was a 4-4 tie be­tween the UNC and PNM for the SGRC. Read more here

‘Criminals will prey on bank customers’

Criminals will be out preying on law-abiding citizens going to the banks to deposit their money. Read more here

BUSINESS

24,000 households to benefit from food card

Some 24,000 households are expected to benefit this month from Government’s launch of its new “food card” debit system. Read more here

REGIONAL

$400m Market Fires - Vendors Devastated As Montego Bay Old Fort Razed

Nearly $400 million worth of damage has been left in the wake of market fires across Jamaica in the last five years, a worrying trend for municipal authorities that have grappled with safety and security concerns across cities and towns. Since 2015, there has been $385 million in losses from 18 market fires, crippling commerce and livelihoods in urban centres that are usually teeming with hundreds of shoppers. In response to queries by The Gleaner on the five-year period under review, the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) reported that there have been 11 such fires in Kingston and St Andrew, with estimated losses of $212.7 million. Read more here

270 Indigenous youths granted scholarships this year

Two hundred and seventy Indigenous youths received full scholarships this year to pursue secondary, tertiary and vocational education on the coast and within the hinterland regions, compared to 186 in 2018. This was announced by Vice President and Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock, during a Department of Public Information (DPI) exclusive interview on Monday. He revealed that the government plans to expand the hinterland programme in 2020, in keeping with the growing population and demand for more skilled individuals. “In the coming year we would like to add to this because the opportunity is there and its better than before. With education, we have seen better results, and we want to continue on this path. And, in this present state that Guyana is in there is a big call for really rounded individuals.” Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

Trump hits point of no return as Democrats ready impeachment articles

House Democrats are hours from crossing a somber point of no political return as they get set to roll out articles of impeachment Tuesday accusing President Donald Trump of abusing power and obstructing Congress. The momentous step toward making Trump only the third president to be formally impeached in nearly two-and-a-half centuries of US history comes in a tumultuous third year of his term and only 11 months before the next general election. "This is not a happy day," said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, one of several key Democratic leaders expected to make a formal announcement on Tuesday morning. "But I think we are doing what we have to do." Read more here

New Zealand volcano: Rescuer tells of 'Chernobyl'-like scene

A paramedic who flew to New Zealand's White Island to rescue tourists after Monday's volcanic eruption has said the scene was like something out of "the Chernobyl mini-series". "Everything was blanketed in ash," Russell Clark told TVNZ. Dozens of tourists were on the island at the time. Six have been confirmed dead. Eight others are feared to have died and about 30 have serious burns. New Zealand's PM Jacinda Ardern praised the crews of four rescue helicopters. "Those pilots made an incredibly brave decision under extraordinarily dangerous circumstances in an attempt to get people out," she told reporters on Tuesday. "To those who have lost or are missing family and friends, we share in your unfathomable grief and in your sorrow," she added. Read more here

10th December 2019

Back