Today is budget day in Tobago.
It will be the first for the Progressive Democratic Patriots since it assumed office 6 months ago.
Chief Secretary Farley Augustine will deliver the package, as Secretary for Finance.
He has promised a package with a difference.
Finance Minister Colm Imbert says steps are afoot to implement electronic payment for the public service.
This after Opposition Senator Wade Mark challenged the government on an Inter American Development Bank loan to do same.
Debate began yesterday in the Senate on the Bills of Exchange Amendment Bill 2022.
It seeks to facilitate electronic processing of cheques by commercial banks cutting the waiting time in half.
In his contribution Senator Mark asked about the loan.
But in response Finance Minister Colm Imbert would say it was a complex issue.
Mr. Mark would blame the government for its reliance on the checking system.
Minister Imbert said changes are coming.
The Bill was passed after going before a committee of the whole.
Three more COVID-19 deaths are recorded.
This now brings the total number of deaths due to the virus to 3,987.
The Ministry of Health says the deceased are 1 elderly man, 1 elderly woman and 1 young adult man.
The Ministry says 2 of the deceased had multiple comorbidities, while 1 had a single condition.
The Ministry also reports 145 new infections.
There are now 7,077 active cases of COVID-19 in the country.
The Labour Minister is rubbishing the trade union movement’s “No Confidence” Motion in the Prime Minister saying it is baseless and unfounded.
The motion was brought on and unanimously passed by trade unions and their members during the annual Labour Day celebrations last Sunday.
However Minister Stephen Mc Clashie said yesterday the motion makes no sense.
Minister Mc Clashie also pointed out that the process of negotiations is ongoing.
Minister Mc Clashie urged the different arms of the labour movement to return to the negotiating table in good faith.
Consumers are today digging deeper in their pockets to buy flour.
The National Flour Mills says the wholesale price increases by 33%.
There is also a suggested 28% average retail price increase.
NFM says a 2-kilogram bag of Ibis flour will cost $18.93, up from $14.77.
The company’s Chief Executive Officer Ian Mitchell says with flour being an important ingredient new sources have been found…. but at a price.
He admitted this increase could impact other sectors using flour.
President of the Supermarket Association Rajiv Diptee the NFM’s decision is a blow to the consumer.
He says it was expected.
NFM last raised its prices on flour in January this year.
And in the Senate yesterday, Trade Minister Paula Gopee Scoon was asked to explain the government’s plan to deal with the rising cost of living.
The question came from Senator Wade Mark.
Senator Gopee Scoon said there are many items, which have been VAT zero rated.
She also explained that the Central Bank in March gave some good news on inflation in Trinidad and Tobago.
She responded during the question for oral answer segment.
Some school principals in Spanish Town, St. Catherine are reporting that student and staff turnout has improved greatly, when compared to last week.
A State of Public Emergency has been implemented in the Parish in response to the violence.
School administrators have been trying to continue operations, even as many students and staff expressed fear for their safety.
Vice principal of the Spanish Town High School’s first shift, Janet Tenaydo said yesterday at least 84% of students have returned to the classrooms.
Ms. Tenaydo said while all teachers have turned out for their duties, many of them were delayed due to the police checkpoints established across St. Catherine.
Meantime, Principal of the St. Catherine High School, Marlon Campbell said yesterday although students have returned to school, administrators had to make repeated appeals to parents to send them.
A State of Public Emergency was declared in St. Catherine last Friday following an upsurge in gang violence, particularly in Spanish Town, which forced some businesses to close their doors.
The Emancipation Support Committee unveils its Yoruba Village Monument, in tribute to the Yoruba Village Community and its rich heritage.
The monument, located at Yoruba Square in east Port of Spain, was unveiled during the Yoruba Drum Festival held over the weekend.
During the 19th century, east Port of Spain was known as Yoruba Village, or Yoruba Town, due to the large number of Yoruba-speaking people.
Founder of the Emancipation Support Committee Khafra Kambon described the event as a proud moment.
Also at the unveiling was National Security Minister and MP for Laventille west Fitzgeral Hinds.
Minister Hinds noted that African consciousness is critical to Trinidad and Tobago’s culture.
And Attorney at Law and MP for Port of Spain Keith Scotland said he was happy to reunite with his ancestral heritage.
The Yoruba Village Monument will be named on Emancipation Day 2022.
A Motion of No Confidence in the government of Prime Minister Keith Rowley has been moved and passed in what has been dubbed the “Workers Parliament”.
The motion was passed on Sunday during the Labour Day March, in the Seat of Labour, Charlie King Junction in Fyzabad.
Joint Trade Union Movement President Ancel Roget loudly proclaimed there was no speaker to stall the motion.
Before hundreds of workers and their union leaders, Mr. Roget made out a case for the motion, telling of job losses and looming retrenchment at various State agencies.
Then it was time for the motion to be moved.
And it was voted on and unanimously passed by the “Workers Parliament”.
Now the holders of the offices of the President, the President of the Senate, the Opposition Leader, the Speaker of the House and the chairman of CARICOM will receive copies of the motion.
Mr. Roget told the government to find the money to pay public sector workers.
It was the first time in the history of the labour movement such a motion was presented by its members and their leaders.
There have been 10 murders recorded over the long holiday weekend.
Among the victims 48-year-old Leeann Babb.
She was found beaten to death at her Siparia home last Friday.
The murder tally for the year is now 249.
This when compared to the same period last year, which had 171 murders.
The latest killings occurred in Couva and Tarouba yesterday morning.
Twenty-seven-year-old Enrique Gill and a yet to be positively identified man were killed along the Solomon Hochoy Highway during the early hours of yesterday.
They had just left the Stink and Dutty fete at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy when the occupants of another vehicle shot them.
A 3rd man who was in the vehicle was shot and wounded.
At the scene Acting Police Commissioner Mcdonald Jacob told reporters yesterday the incident is being investigated.
Also shot and killed yesterday was 27-year-old Jaffet Williams.
He was gunned down a short distance away from Teelucksingh Street at around 2pm.
The Acting Commissioner believes most of the killings are linked to gang activities.
The other murder victims include Desmond Jaisaree, Andrew Corbin, and Anthony Curtis Greene.
The Attorney General breaks his silence on the controversy involving his role in the Piarco Airport criminal case before a Miami court.
Attorney General Reginald Amour yesterday issued yet another lengthy statement giving his side of the situation.
He said although he swore he was just a Junior Counsel for former Finance Minister Brian Kuei Tung, he thereafter realised this was not so.
Senior Counsel Amour explained he was never given the opportunity to file an Affidavit correcting the record.
There have been calls from the Opposition for the AG to resign or removed from the Cabinet for not telling the truth in the matter.
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