NEWS
TTUTA uneasy as face-to-face classes restart in ten days
Just days aways before face-to-face classes resume for forms four, five, and six students, Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) president Antonia De Freitas has said teachers are uneasy and not confident. Face-to-face classes are expected to resume on October 1 for children in these forms who are fully vaccinated. On Sunday, De Freitas told Newsday some concerns must be addressed for the reopening to run smoothly. She listed concerns over school infrastructure and poor internet connectivity. Read more here
Couriers warn of Christmas shipping delays
People hoping to purchase Christmas gifts online are being advised to have a second plan, as the global shock waves of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to ripple through the shipping industry. Customers continue to report delays in their deliveries and courier companies are warning of longer waits due to setbacks. Customers say courier companies have been telling them they should have been ordering their gifts online weeks ago to escape the anticipated Christmas backlog. Guardian Media reached out to Shipping Association of Trinidad and Tobago head Hayden Alleyne, who urged people to place their orders “immediately.” Read more here
POLITICS
Couva North MP blames Works Ministry for flooding
Couva North MP Ravi Ratiram is calling on the Ministry of Works and Transport to do drainage work on the watercourses running through his constituency. Ratiram’s call comes after several parts of his constituency, including McBean, Roystonia, Exchange and Perseverance, were flooded on Saturday after heavy rain. In a release on Monday, Ratiram blamed the ministry for the area’s flooding problems. Read more here
Kamla calls on PSC board to resign
"Police Service Commission have some shame - resign now and let new people deal with the appointment of a police commissioner." That's the call from Opposition Leader Kamla Persad- Bissessar who's called for answers on whether the PNM government is working behind the scenes through the independent EBC to get acting CoP Gary Griffith out. "I don't have evidence but something is very very wrong..it is clear there is political interference in this situation regarding an appointment of a CoP," Persad-Bissessar said at last night's UNC forum. Read more here
BUSINESS
Labour ministry to have consultations on minimum wage and maternity protection
A national minimum wage rate was first introduced in Trinidad and Tobago in April 1998. That first minimum wage was $7 an hour. Eventually in January 2003 it was increased to $8 hour and then to $9 an hour in March 2005. In January 2010 the minimum wage reached double digits for the first time when it was increased to $12.50 an hour. After a subsequent increase to $15 in January 2015, it was again increased in December 2019 to $17.50 where it currently stands. Read more here
Matapal achieves early first gas
BP Trinidad and Tobago LLC (bpTT) yesterday confirmed that its Matapal project has safely achieved first gas. In a press release, T&T’s largest hydrocarbon producer said the major milestone was achieved seven months ahead of schedule and under budget despite the constraints brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. BP reported last year that Matapal was expected to come online in 2022 with the production capacity of the project estimated to be 400 million standard cubic feet (scf) of gas per day, with an average annual peak production of approximately 70 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (mboed). Read more here
REGIONAL
Uneven global response to pandemic affecting attainment of SDGs
The COVID-19 pandemic has already decelerated progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), has reversed many development gains, and the ‘uneven’ global response has not made attaining those goals any better, President Dr. Irfaan Ali said in his pre-recorded video address during the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. The Sustainable Development Goals or Global Goals, according to the United Nations (UN), are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. The SDGs were set up in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030. Read more here
Murder machines
The One Don Gang, a faction of the feared St Catherine-based Clansman Gang, was painted on Monday as a well-organised and ruthless criminal enterprise that carried out a slew of murders and arson attacks across the parish. Prosecutors pressed home the strength of those claims on Day One of the trial of 33 defendants in largest and most high-profile gang case in Jamaica, targeting the reputed leader Andre ‘Blackman’ Bryan started in the Home Circuit Court. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Joe Biden's challenge at his first UN General Assembly: Convince allies he's not another Trump
When President Joe Biden mounts the iconic green marble rostrum inside the hall of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, he will face an audience skeptical he really is as different from his predecessor as he likes to claim. For world leaders who were alternately addled and amused by former President Donald Trump -- who once encountered mocking laughter from the UN crowd in the middle of his big speech -- Biden represented hope for a different era in American foreign relations. He spent his first foreign trip in June declaring across Europe that "America is back." Read more here
Canada election: Trudeau stays in power but Liberals fall short of majority
Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party has narrowly won Canada's election, but it failed to secure a majority. This is Mr Trudeau's third federal election win, but his critics say the poll was a waste of time.The Liberals are projected to win 156 seats, short of the 170 seats needed for the majority Mr Trudeau was seeking with his early election call. The Conservatives have held onto their main opposition status and are expected to win about 122 seats. "There are still votes to be counted but what we've seen tonight is millions of Canadians have chosen a progressive plan," Mr Trudeau told supporters in Montreal in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Read more here
21st September 2021