News
Couva West Secondary closed indefinitely
PLUMBING problems, a leaking roof, non-functioning and inadequate toilets, mouldy walls and ceilings, have resulted in the indefinite closure of the Couva West Secondary School.
Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh said the school has been plagued with prolonged problems and recalled this is one of the schools which Education Minister Anthony Garcia alleged sabotage for the continuing sewer problem. He called on Garcia to urgently address the situation. Read more here…
New bridge over Yarra river in Blanchisseuse
A new 26-metre bridge with two traffic lanes and two pedestrian sidewalks was formally opened along Paria Main Road, Blanchisseuse on Saturday.
At the opening ceremony, Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan said the original bridge collapsed decades ago and residents have been using a single-lane Bailey bridge for about 20 years. The bridge, which crosses the Yarra river, was tendered at $17.5 million and was completed for about $13 million. The savings is expected to be used for other infrastructure projects in the area, Sinanan said Read more here…
Politics
Rohan: $1b PoS flood plan scrapped
A $1 billion loan to be used to alleviate flooding in Port of Spain could not be accessed because a prerequisite study on flooding in the capital was not up to scratch, said Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan yesterday.
He told that to the Standing Finance Committee of the House of Representatives in reply to Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal why the ministry last year spent only $486,000 on flood mitigation out of an initial estimate of $8 million. Read more here…
UNC moves to block sale of Petrotrin
The United National Congress (UNC) is seeking an injunction temporarily blocking the sale of Petrotrin’s Pointe-a-Pierre refinery.
The party, through its former senator Wayne Sturge, filed the injunction application yesterday as part of a constitutional motion lawsuit over the failure of Finance Minister Colm Imbert to hold a Joint Select Committee (JSC) on Energy Affairs for the past 19 months. Read more here…
Business
Ministry makes $15m from inspection stickers
The rush for inspection stickers led to a windfall of more than $10 million for Ministry of Works and Transport (MOWT) according to the draft estimates of revenue.
MOWT has estimated that it would make $4.2 million from the sale of inspection stickers last year; instead, it made more than three times the amount. Read more here…
Credit unions: Don’t call us small
WITH the credit union movement boasting over 600,000 members and an asset base of some $10 billion, a call is being made to stop referring to the movement as a small enterprise.
President of the Palo Seco Credit Union, Alvin Stephenson, who made the call, also advocated for a name change to the Ministry of Labour and Small Enterprise Development under which the movement falls. Read more here…
Regional
Port Headache - Fee Hikes, Jams Hit Cargo As Fears Mount Of Christmas Crunch
There are fresh jitters and deepening anxiety about “increasing inefficiencies” at the Port of Kingston that have caused a logjam in cargo movement and an uptick in storage fees that has rattled stakeholders amid heightened concerns as the Christmas season approaches. Read more here…
Alliances for electoral victory
THE alliances formed by the Coalition Government, which yielded a resounding victory in the General and Regional Elections of May 2015, will see a repeat come March 2020. This is the prediction of Minister of Communities, Hon. Ronald Bulkan. Read more here…
International
Canada election: Trudeau's Liberals win but lose majority
The Liberals are projected to win 157 seats, 13 short of a majority, and will find it harder to pass legislation in Mr Trudeau's second term.
The opposition Conservatives are expected to win the popular vote but have not translated that into seats. They are projected to take 121, up from the 95 they held before. Read more here…
Brexit: Boris Johnson in last push to get deal through
MPs will vote on the PM's Withdrawal Agreement Bill and if they back it they will be asked to approve a three-day timetable to consider the legislation. But the decision to curtail the scrutiny of the bill to three days has sparked anger from opposition MPs.
The BBC's Norman Smith said the PM looks set for a "deeply damaging" defeat over the timetable. Read more here…
22nd October 2019