Integrity Commission clears T&T PM

The Integrity Commission has cleared Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of breaching the Integrity in Public Life Act.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, – The Integrity Commission has cleared Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of breaching the Integrity in Public Life Act when she stayed at the home of two friends  whose family company won the bid for a multi-million-dollar government contract, after the 2010 general elections.

A complaint had been made to the Commission by the opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) which questioned whether Persad-Bissessar staying at the home of Ralph and Maureen Gopaul had anything to do with the family’s trucking company winning a TT$40 million (US$6.3 million) contract from state-owned National Petroleum.

The Prime Minister announced at yesterday’s post-Cabinet press conference that the Integrity Commission had found that her hands were clean.

Unions give ultimatum, warn of "mammoth" strike

The unions have flatly rejected a five percent increase over a three-year period offered by the Persad-Bissessar administration as settlement of terms and conditions of employment for the 2008-2010 period.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, – Trade unions representing public sector workers in Trinidad and Tobago have warned the government that unless it removes the five percent wage increase offer it has on the table within the next two weeks, there will be a "mammoth" national strike that would affect all sectors in the twin-island federation.

The ultimatum was given in one of the documents delivered to the Office of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday, after hundreds of trade union members and supporters took part in a march that ended at the Diplomatic Centre, where police formed a barricade between them and the entrance. The letter was received by the Prime Minister's Permanent Secretary.

EU supports Pan Institute

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- Head of the delegation of the European Union Trinidad and Tobago, Solomon Ioannou, says he was a “proud European” to see funds from the European Union, EU, being used to support the initiative of the Diatonic Pan Institute at a one-day conference on Saturday 11 June 2011 in Siparia, South Trinidad.

Head of the Diatonic Pan Institute, Keith Byer, conceptualized the conference, which was held under the theme: ‘Culture and Sports-A tool for social transformation’.

This was in keeping with the EU’s policy of investing and empowering youths.

“The strategy acknowledges that while young people are a precious insurance, they are in fact one of the most vulnerable groups in society, especially in the current economic and financial crisis,” Solomon said.

Jack Warner’s FIFA bombshell fizzles

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Embattled FIFA vice president Austin Jack Warner maintained his innocence of corruption charges against him, but the much publicised release of an email which he said had been sent to the President of the world’s football governing body, Sepp Blatter, fizzled yesterday.

Last week, Warner, who was suspended by FIFA pending the outcome of the investigations, said he would release the email sent to Blatter detailing what took place at the controversial meeting here last month that has become the centre of the corruption probe.

Warner and former FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam have been accused of offering US$40,000 to national associations of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) at a meeting here on May 10 and 11, in return for their votes in the FIFA presidential election last Wednesday.

REDjet appeals to CARICOM

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Thursday June 2, 2011 – Amid continuing delays in starting operations in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, REDjet’s CEO and Chairman Ian Burns has turned to CARICOM for assistance.

He has written to acting Secretary General Lolita Applewhaite saying that due to the critical nature of air transport infrastructure and “the widely reported obstructionism REDjet has faced trying to enter many regional markets”, the airline wanted consideration given to a motion to support open competition for inter-regional travel, as exists in much of extra-regional travel though open skies agreements.

EU trade pact brings both setbacks and opportunities

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Tuesday May 31, 2011 (By Peter Richards) - In his first address to the board of governors of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Warren Smith, the new president of the region's premier lending financial institution, warned of insecurities engulfing Caribbean economies.

He told the governors meeting here last week that the situation has been worsened by structural weaknesses and extreme vulnerability linked to Caribbean countries' small size, openness, narrowness of the production base and proneness to potentially devastating natural disasters.

COP leader stepping down

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Monday May 30, 2011 – Congress of the People (COP) political leader Winston Dookeran says that come July 3, when internal elections are held, he will not be seeking to retain the top position of the party he helped form in 2006.

He announced over the weekend, following an emergency meeting at the party’s headquarters, that he had decided to bow out of the race, noting concerns about his leadership style.

However, he said this would not affect his position in government and he would remain Finance Minister and parliamentary representative for the constituency of Tunapuna.

Jack must go!

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Monday May 30, 2011 – One of the five political parties in the People’s Partnership government is calling on Works and Transport Minister Austin ‘Jack’ Warner to resign, following his suspension from FIFA, even as the Prime Minister made it clear she is standing by him.

The Congress of the People (COP) made the call in a statement issued last night, saying that it noted “with distress” the decision of the FIFA Ethics Committee to suspend Warner, a FIFA vice president and president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), pending a full investigation into the allegations of bribery and corruption against him.

Trinidad PM stands by Warner amid FIFA suspension

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Monday May 30, 2011 – Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has declared that she and her government are standing by Works and Transport Minister Austin ‘Jack’ Warner who was “provisionally suspended” by football’s governing body FIFA over bribery claims, even though she is concerned about the allegations.

She said in a statement issued to the media late yesterday evening, hours after FIFA’s Ethics Committee announced the suspension, that Warner must be allowed every opportunity to present his side.

“I am fully aware that events like this involving a senior Cabinet Minister will be of immense concern to the people of Trinidad and Tobago. Likewise, I am concerned by the allegations made and expect an update from Mr. Warner upon his return, which he has assured he will do,” said the release issued by the Office of the Prime Minister.

Final Caribbean terror accused found guilty

NEW YORK, United States, Friday May 27, 2011 – Trinidadian Kareem Ibrahim now faces up to life in prison after being convicted yesterday of conspiring to attack the John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport.

Sentencing for Ibrahim, an Imam and leader of the Shiite Muslim community in Trinidad and Tobago, has been scheduled for October 21.

Ibrahim is the last of four Caribbean accused to be tried for the plot to explode fuel tanks and the fuel pipeline under the JFK airport.

Now, eTeck contract under scrutiny

Concerns have been raised about lucrative contracts awarded to PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PWC) by the Evolving Tecknologies and Enterprise Development Company Ltd (eTeck). The concerns centre around the role played by eTeck chairman, Jewan Ramcharitar, a retired partner at PWC, in the award of the contracts.

This concern formed the basis of a report prepared for line Minister Stephen Cadiz by eTeck officials. Ramcharitar, along with fellow partners Graham Mitchell, Peter Inglefield and Gerald Olliverre retired from PWC after 34 years of service on June 30, 2010. The report questions whether Ramcharitar recused himself during the board meeting or was part of the decision-making process which selected PWC.

Government to unveil initiatives in Tobago

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar will lead her Cabinet to Tobago on Thursday, where several government initiatives will be undertaken.

The visit is part of the government’s celebration of its one year anniversary in office, during which the month of May has been dubbed the month of delivery by the prime minister.


Trinidad and Tobago prime minister, Kamla Persad Bisssessar
The weekly Cabinet meeting will be held in Tobago, after which the prime minister and members of the Cabinet will travel to the Crown Point International Airport to preside over the official renaming ceremony of the airport to the Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson International Airport. This is in honour of former president and prime minister who is also a Tobagonian. The ceremony will take place at the Domestic Terminal.

St Lucia shootout fuels debate over extrajudicial killings

CASTRIES, St Lucia, By their own account, the police said they had been monitoring five men who attempted to rob a restaurant in the south of the island, and in the ensuing gun battle, four were shot and killed, while the fifth died a few days later in hospital.

Autopsies are to be performed on the five men Tuesday. But the May 5 killings have rekindled a simmering debate as to whether the police here are engaging in extrajudicial assassinations, following rumours that some alleged criminals killed since the start of the year were on a death list drawn up by St. Lucia law enforcement officials.

No cost to the State

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says her stay at a Tunapuna house owned by her friends Ralph and Maureen Gopaul was at no additional cost to taxpayers. “So there is absolutely nothing in terms of staying there,” she said. “The only cost that might have come to the State...it’s the time I was there they would have had security personnel.” Persad-Bissessar revealed this during an interview with reporters, after the opening of the Bon Air West Early Childhood Care and Education Centre. She said she did not rent, buy or lease the premises or even pay a contracted sum during her stay which ended last December. “What would have happened (was) I stayed there from time to time, while I continued to live at my private home at Charlo Village and at Phillipines,” the PM said.

REDjet seeks intervention to start Jamaica, T&T flights

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Monday May 16, 2011 – REDjet is appealing to regional politicians to intervene in the matter that’s preventing the airline from flying to Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. It says it will also take whatever steps are available to it, to get flights to those countries off the ground.

The Barbados-based airline, which began flights to Guyana last week, said it was extremely disappointed for its passengers in Trinidad and Jamaica who “are again victims of protectionism in the homes of two of the regional state owned monopolies”.

Parliament to discuss Manning’s fate

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Monday May 16, 2011 – The House of Representatives will today discuss what punishment to impose on former prime minister Patrick Manning.

This is after the Privileges Committee found the San Fernando East MP guilty of contempt of Parliament following statements he made about the acquisition of funding for the construction of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s home in South Trinidad.

Former UWI principal replaces fired minister

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Thursday May 12, 2011 – Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie, a former university lecturer and a Cabinet Minister in the 1980s and 1990s, has taken up the position of Minister of Planning, Economic and Social Restructuring and Gender Affairs following the Tuesday’s firing of former minister Mary King over the awarding of a government contract to a family business.

Dr. Tewarie said he had accepted the position with “mixed feelings” since King was a good friend. However, he said while the decision was a hard one, he was happy that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had the confidence to ask him to fill the post.

Caribbean on Wendy’s radar, Trinidad and Guyana up first

ATLANTA (AP) - Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. plans to develop 24 Wendy's restaurants in the next 10 years throughout the Eastern Caribbean, including Trinidad and Tobago and eight other markets.

 The first of these restaurants will open in Trinidad in 2011, the company said in a news release Wednesday.

Jazz on the Beach rocks Tobago

Saxophonist Arturo Tappin turned Jazz on the Beach into a lively Saturday afternoon party and had people dancing in the sand and sea with a happy mix of soca, pop and R&B selections. The Bajan artiste and top T&T musicians made the fifth anniversary of “Jazz on the Beach” a fitting celebration at the Mt Irvine Bay Hotel. The musicians added another level to the Tobago Jazz Experience.With the sun blazing, faithful supporters flocked the beach on Saturday for the free show which also included performances by Leston Paul, Errol Ince, Douglas Redon, Earl Caruth, Russell Durity, Patti Rogers and Arthur Marcial’s Jazz Ensemble.

Beginning with Tempted to Touch, Tappin immediately had the sizeable crowd swinging. When he followed with Michael Jackson’s Bad, almost everyone had abandoned their seats, and by the time he played Ready to go Right Now, the audience was overcome with joy. He kept the pace up with I Just Wanna Dance With You and Roll It Gyal and ended his almost hour-long performance with a serenade through the crowd. Earlier in the afternoon, Patti Rogers opened the show with a soothing session and Arthur Marcial ’s Jazz Ensemble followed her’s with a classic performance.

Underground bands launch After Jazz Fringe Fest

Musicians from T&T’s “underground” scene are making their bid for a piece of the spotlight. They’re taking advantage of the upcoming jazz festival taking place in Tobago to throw their own concert series, the After Jazz Fringe Fest. At a media launch held at Shakers on the Avenue in Woodbrook, representatives and members of popular underground bands got together to make their case. Sheldon Holder, lead singer of 12 the Band, and one of the chief organisers of the festival, said that all over the world, fringe festivals have sprung up around larger, more high-profile ones.