NEWS
Girl, 10, among 8 wounded in Barataria shootout
The mother of a 10-year-old girl who was shot in a shootout between two rival gangs says she has no malice in her heart for the men responsible, but wants them to change their ways and put the guns down. In a telephone interview on Tuesday, the woman said she has been at the hospital with her daughter since the shooting. The child was among eight people shot at 9th Street, Malick, Barataria. The others are a 36-year-old man who was shot in his leg and upper back, a 32-year-old man shot in his right hand and legs, a 23-year-old man shot in his left arm, a 22-year-old shot in his lower back and is said to be in critical condition, a 51-year-old grazed on his left temple area, an 18-year-old shot in his right shoulder, and an 18-year-old shot in his groin and is in critical condition. Read more here
Adverse Weather Alert to run until 6pm
The Met Office has advised that the rainfall across Trinidad and Tobago can continue until sometime this evening. It has issued an Adverse Weather Alert to run until 6 pm. It says periods of rain and/or showers of varying intensities are expected from morning, starting with southern parts of Trinidad, due to a combination of the ITCZ and a low-level trough. There is also a high (70%) chance of thunderstorm activity. Read more here
POLITICS
Le Hunte encouraged by start of WASA transformation
Former public utilities minister Robert Le Hunte said recently-announced steps by his successor Marvin Gonzales to reduce the operating costs of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) by 25 per cent are a step in the right direction. The measures are aimed at improving WASA's efficiency. "The height of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result," Le Hunte said. "In this regard, an organisation with income levels of $700 million and expenses of over $2 billion is not sustainable and will continue to be a drain on the Treasury." He recalled having said publicly on many occasions that there was no single "silver bullet" to fix WASA. Read more here
PM continues to recover from second case of COVID
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is continuing on the mend from his second case of COVID-19 and continues running the Government while in isolation. This was confirmed yesterday by officials. Rowley tested positive for COVID last Friday morning. The Office of the Prime Minister said he was having very mild symptoms and was in isolation. His engagements were cancelled. Rowley first had COVID in April 2021 and had mild symptoms. Since then he was vaccinated plus having two booster shots. Communication Minister Symon de Nobriga didn’t answer calls yesterday on Rowley’s condition. But Government officials said the PM continues to in very good spirits, has been complying with all COVID protocols, and has also been fitting in work and monitoring issues as he follows the recovery protocols. Read more here
BUSINESS
RFHL records $1.15B in third quarter profits
Chairman of Republic Financial Holdings (RFHL), Vincent Pereira, has announced profit attributable to its equity holders of $1.15 billion for the nine-months ended June 30. This is an increase of $109.7 million or 10.6 per cent over the $1.04 billion reported in the corresponding period of the last financial year. In a statement issued on Tuesday, Pereira said, “Our performance for this period of 2022 reflects a modest improvement over our core pre-COVID 2019 third quarter performance, by $6.3 million or 0.6 per cent.” He added during the third quarter of the group’s fiscal year all the countries where it operated in continued the relaxation of COVID related protocols which positively impacted the tourism dependent areas, where economic activity continues to improve steadily. Read more here
WiPay founder, Aldwyn Wayne: I was born into business
Aldwyn Wayne, the founder and CEO of WiPay, the region’s largest payment company, started his first business venture as a six-year-old attending a private primary school in Point Fortin. In Standard 2, at St Catherine’s Prep School, located in upscale Clifton Hill, Wayne made his first money by taking the blade from a pencil sharpener, shaving off the yellow coating of the pencils of his classmates and replacing the paint on the shaved pencils with a rainbow of colours from markers. Read more here
REGIONAL
‘All our programmes have accelerated development
Investments in various economic sectors over the past two years have accelerated development across Guyana, according to President, Dr. Irfaan Ali. Those investments and programmes have created tremendous opportunities in areas such as agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, human development and many other sectors. In a virtual message on the second anniversary of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration, President Ali went a step further to say that the PPP/C government, through its plethora of initiatives, has already delivered on several of the promises in its manifesto. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Taiwan: Pelosi leaves Taipei to sound of Chinese fury
US Speaker Nancy Pelosi has left Taiwan after a brief but controversial visit. Ms Pelosi - the most senior US politician to visit in 25 years - departed on Wednesday after meeting leaders in the capital Taipei. But her visit, as part of a wider Asian tour, sparked fury in Beijing after she ignored its warnings not to travel to the island. Taiwan is self-ruled - but China sees it as a breakaway province that will eventually unite with it. In a statement issued on Wednesday, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said "those who play with fire will not come to a good end, and those who offend China will be punished". "The United States is violating China's sovereignty under the guise of so-called democracy," he added. The US walks a diplomatic tightrope with its Taiwan policy. Read more here
3rd August 2022