Trinidad and Tobago
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Government gets support for multi-billion dollar supplemental budget
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago government Thursday received parliamentary approval for a TT$2.8 billion (One TT dollar = US$0.16 cents) supplemental budget that Finance Minister Larry Howi said would be use mainly to meet outstanding payments to public workers. But opposition legislators refused to support the new fiscal measure saying that the coalition People’s Partnership…
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Mandela’s legacy
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – AS I write this Nelson Mandela is still with us. He may even still be living at the end of this year. But this is his fourth hospitalisation in six months, and the prognosis for 94-year-old men with persistent lung infections is not good. How will South Africa do without him? Wrong question, actually. In…
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What does the future hold for Clico?
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Many an insurance company fancies itself as being both an insurer (that is, a risk manager) and an investment manager of sorts. The main reason for this tendency is that they use the pre-paid portion of insurance premiums (both short-term and long-term) to invest. In some aggressive cases, they price their products very competitively and…
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AG steps aside
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Attorney General Anand Ramlogan has temporarily relinquished his responsibilities for the Central Authority, paving the way for the police investigating the e-mail matter to seek foreign assistance if they need it. Sources said yesterday that Ramlogan wrote to the head of the Central Authority, Netram Kowlessar, last month recusing himself from all duties and responsibilities…
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Regional governments advised: Control use of pesticides to ensure food safety
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Caribbean governments must ensure food safety in the region is not compromised as they increase food production to meet growing consumer demands. So said Gregg Rawlins, the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA) representative in T&T, as he stressed the need to monitor pesticide use in food production. Rawlins, addressing the formal opening of…
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Poor show by Ramdin
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The suspension and fine of West Indies wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin sent a firm, tough reminder that the International Cricket Council still values fair play and honesty in the gentlemen’s game, despite the ugly incidents of spotfixing and matchfixing in recent years. On Friday, Mr Ramdin claimed a low catch off Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq before he…
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Trinidad minister defends local manufactures as well as Jamaican counterpart
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Trinidad and Tobago Trade and Industry Minister Vasant Bharath Tuesday defended his Jamaican counterpart, AJ Nicholson, who has come under pressure to “step aside” amid the ongoing trade dispute between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Bharath, speaking on local radio here, described the call for Nicholson’s departure by the Jamaica Manufacturers Association (JMA) as…
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Of trade, aid and silence
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – THE RECENT virtual back-to-back visits by the USA’s Vice-President Joseph Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping have served to fuel optimism for increased trade and economic investment among Caribbean Community states. Current realities in our trade relations with these major and quite influential powers should remind us that given the nature of small and vulnerable…
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Govt taps $833m from Chinese
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Trinidad and Tobago is already beginning to put some $833 million of the US$3 billion in concessional loans from China to use. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced yesterday this country will be able to immediately access $833 million of these funds to accelerate the development of Business/Commercial and Industrial Parks throughout Trinidad and Tobago. “We…
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Countries slow to ratify Cariforum/EU EPA
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Political will is needed for all the countries in Cariforum and the European Community to ratify the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), British High Commissioner to T&T Arthur Snell said yesterday. He admitted that implementation of the agreement has “not been as speedy as we would have wished.” Snell, who spoke with reporters during the lunch…
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