NEWS
Wife-killer resentenced to time served, released from prison
A scorned husband who killed his estranged wife in 1994 after he allegedly found her with another man whom she said she preferred and refused to return to the marital home has been resentenced by a High Court judge and released after serving close to three decades in prison. On Monday, Tackoor Ramcharan, now 58, was sentenced to time served and ordered released by Justice Gail Gonzales. He was one of more than 50 death row inmates who had their death sentences commuted to life in 2008. In 2022, the Privy Council ruled these prisoners were entitled to be resentenced. Ramcharan was one of them. Read more here
Probe into cyberbreach at TSTT begins in 2 weeks
Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales said that the Terms of Reference (TOR) for an investigation into the October 9 data breach at the Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) is still being finalised and the company tasked to conduct the investigation should be on board in the next two to three weeks. “Once they are on board, it should take two to three months to complete,” he told Guardian Media. Gonzales said that an internal investigation was still being completed with support from a foreign team. TSTT has already engaged the services of a local independent cybersecurity company CyberEye, which is affiliated to Crossword Cybersecurity Plc in the United Kingdom, to do a root cause and log analysis, secure re-enablement, assess the effectiveness of TSTT’s current cybersecurity controls for protecting its information asset against cyber threats and finally, threat monitoring and detection as part of its internal investigation. Read more here
POLITICS
Youth MP: Milat can keep youths out of crime
The Military Led Academic Training (Milat) programme can play a critical role in keeping young people out of a life of crime. National security minister Tiffanie Greenaway expressed this view during the sitting of the 20th National Youth Parliament at the Red House, Port of Spain on Monday. Responding to questions from the opposition, Greenaway said government was treating crime as a public-health issue. She said that involved a collaborative approach between several stakeholders such as government ministries, police and the Tobago House of Assembly to deal with crime in a holistic manner. Read more here
PM hints at possible deals after visit to bp in London
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and bp’s interim chief executive officer Murray Auchincloss have discussed prospective initiatives including the pursuit of deep-water exploration and sanctioning of future projects. Dr Rowley met with Auchincloss at bp’s London headquarters yesterday, according to a statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister. He was accompanied by the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young as well as the president of bp Trinidad and Tobago David Campbell. At the talks, bp’s executive sought to affirm that Trinidad and Tobago remains an important part of its global operations. The negotiating teams working to restructure Atlantic LNG were also praised at the discussion. Read more here
BUSINESS
Imbert: Financial inclusion more than a plan
Finance Minister Colm Imbert says the government is committed to realising a future where financial inclusion is not merely a plan but a reality. He was speaking at a technical workshop organised by the TT International Financial Centre (TTIFC) in collaboration with the EU-UNCDF-OACP Partnership for Digital Financial Inclusion at the International Waterfront Complex, Port of Spain, on Monday. In a release, Imbert said financial inclusion is a significant priority for the government, aligning with its broader objective of empowering the public to engage in the economy. He stressed the importance of equitable access to the financial sector, irrespective of individuals' circumstances or backgrounds. Read more here
First Citizens profit rises by 5.89%
Majority state-owned First Citizens Group Financial Holdings Ltd yesterday disclosed that it recorded audited profit after tax of $776.75 million for its financial year ended September 30, 2023. That was an increase of 5.89 per cent over the $733.50 million the Port-of-Spain-based financial holding compared earned in 2022. The group’s 2023 profit of $776.75 million exceeds the $752 million profit after tax First Citizen declared in 2019, the full financial year before the COVID-19 pandemic depressed bank profitability. The bank’s profit before tax for its 2023 financial year was $1.069 billion, which was 15.94 per cent more than it earned for the 2022 financial year. The First Citizens profit before tax in 2023 just exceeded the $1.063 billion it reported in 2019. Read more here
REGIONAL
Guyanese economy triples in size from 2019-2023
THE International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its 2023 Article IV Consultation report published on Monday has commended the Government of Guyana for its economic management, including the implementation of policies and initiatives geared at transforming Guyana’s economy. The findings were published following an official IMF mission visit to Guyana in September. The IMF, in its findings, has highlighted that Guyana’s real GDP is expected to continue to grow rapidly, adding that Guyana achieved the highest real GDP growth in the world in 2022 – 62.3 per cent. The Guyanese economy has tripled in size since the start of oil extraction (end-2019), from one of the lowest GDP per capita in Latin America and the Caribbean in the early nineties. It is estimated that Guyana’s economy should record a 38.4 per cent real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate this year, while the country’s growth should continue with an expansion of an expected 26.6 per cent in 2024. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
COP28: Record number of fossil fuel delegates at climate talks
The number of delegates at this year's UN climate talks who are also linked to fossil fuel producers has quadrupled since last year, campaigners say. Around 2,400 people connected to the coal, oil and gas industries have been registered for the COP28 climate talks. This record number is more than the total attendees from the 10 countries most vulnerable to climate change. The jump is partly due to registration changes with attendees now required to be open about their employment. The analysis was carried out by a coalition of green groups opposed to the presence of delegates linked to coal, oil and gas at the talks. Read more here
5th December 2023