CALL US AT:

Just over one week after her party’s defeat at the polls Kamla Persad Bissessar has conceded.

On the night of August 10^th Kamla Persad Bissessar refused to concede after the victory of the Peoples National Movement.

Yesterday, in her concession speech, Mrs. Persad Bissessar said she has accepted the loss of her UNC.

Mrs. Persad Bissessar also noted the comments of some on social media and the offensive racist invectives.

She also said she will not be resigning as Political Leader of the UNC, because now is not the time for her to run away.

Many have been calling for her resignation.

Mrs. Persad Bissessar said she has a responsibility to develop the young people elected to serve the country under the UNC.

A new government will be in place by the end of the day.

Dr. Keith Rowley and members of his new government will take their oath of Office one week after the General Election.

At the end of contentious recounts in 5 constituencies Dr. Rowley told reporters yesterday he received word from the President of the Republic.

Five of the recounts were at the request of the United National Congress.

The numbers changed in some areas, but the outcome remains what was initially tallied, 22 seats for the Peoples National Movement and 19 for the UNC.

Not giving away too much Dr. Rowley said the new Cabinet would show his focus on agriculture.

He also said the presentation of a National Budget is being contemplated.

The Sangre Grande District Court has been shut down for sanitisation.

In a statement the Judiciary says vacating the building has become necessary as a precautionary measure given that a member of staff has been exposed to someone who has been tested for COVID-19 and is awaiting test results.

As such the Judiciary says operations at have been halted adjusted until further notice.

It says no one will be allowed into the court building until sanitisation has been completed.

The Judiciary says while the staff member has not been confirmed as COVID-19 positive, the usual precautions for this level of exposure has called for the current course of action.

It says the sanitisation of the facility will be conducted and there shall be no in-person hearings or activities.

The Judiciary says virtual court hearings will continue.

It says services such as Court Pay, the Domestic Violence Hotline and E-Filing are available.

Twenty-two Venezuelans have been held during police operations in Palo Seco.

The operation last Sunday afternoon was led by Senior Superintendent John and ASP Ramdeen.

Officers of the Southwestern Division Task Force went to the Palo Seco Beach after receiving information about the arrival of a boatload of illegal Venezuelan nationals.

When officers got to the scene they are reported to have noticed the group of migrants walking in the James Street area.

Officers were able to detain 22 of them.

They were taken to the Siparia Health Facility where they were medically examined.

The group was then taken to the Erin Police Station.

Police say they were to be taken to the Coast Guard base at the Heliport in Chaguaramas.

The Supermarkets Association president stands behind its decision to call for the boycott of Ramsaran products.

However, Rajiv Diptee is also saying the lifting of the boycott by the association was correct.

Mr. Diptee yesterday responded to criticisms of the association’s boycott after the posting of racist comments by employee and member of the Ramsaran family, Naila Ramsaran.

The criticisms came from former association member, Dr. Rolph Balgobin, who said the boycott took the form of a lynch mob.

Mr. Diptee is surprised by the utterances of the former Senator.

Two days after urging its members to pull the products from their shelves, the association relented.

Mr. Diptee said that decision was not taken lightly and was done after the company and the individual apologised.

Dr. Balgobin has said the association has never done such a thing before and it was wrong.

Principals are assuring primary schools will be ready for Thursday’s Secondary Entrance Assessment.

The association representing the principals says while there were earlier concerns about conducting the examination in this time of COVID -19, it is preparing to make sure all is in place.

President of the National Primary Schools Principals Association, Lance Mottley says the responsibility of his members is to keep children safe while they are writing the exam.

Mr. Mottley says among the measures for which there will be no compromise is the wearing of masks.

Over 19,000 primary school students will write the examination on Thursday.

Amidst the growing number of cases in the country, there is concern that too many panic buttons are being pressed.

Urologist and former Member of Parliament, Dr. Fuad Khan says the deaths are unfortunate, but may not be linked to the COVID-19 virus.

He feels the government and the medical experts are doing an injustice to fighting the pandemic.

On The Morning Show on i95.5fm yesterday, Dr. Khan held his view that locking down the country is not the way to go.

He said there are many examples in Europe where the authorities did not choose to shut down the country and there are successes.

Relatives of the man who became the 11^th COVID linked death are asking questions.

They feel if he had been treated in a timely manner, he would have lived.

The 45-year-old man died at the Couva Hospital last Saturday hours after he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.

But relatives say the system failed to treat with the father of 3 in a timely manner.

They say it began with him having to wait 7 days before he received his positive results.

The Marabella man also had pre-existing conditions such as heart disease and hypertension.

Relatives say he started experiencing breathing problems and the ambulance arrived on Saturday and he was taken to the Couva Hospital.

He died on Saturday night.

Relatives say they were told, on his way to the Couva Hospital, he went into cardiac arrest 3 times.

The 12^th death occurred yesterday morning.

The Ministry of Health says the male patient had pre-existing health conditions as well.