25 October

Sticky

Trinidad and Tobago’s relationship after 60 years

in Newspaper Articles, Tobago Business Chamber

Official and private events have been planned to celebrate TT's 60 years of independence. Central Government has organised celebratory events, while the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) has its own activities planned to mark the occasion. Politically, economically, structurally and socially, there have been many changes since TT raised its own flag on August 31, 1962. And still, there are many in Tobago who wish to see even greater changes on all fronts, arguing that Tobago's true potential can only be achieved if its fate is in the hands of Tobagonians. Some take umbrage at the name Trinidad and Tobago, preferring to say Tobago...

25 October

0 Comments

Sticky

Nunez-Tesheira awarded $18m in medical negligence case

Posted by site_admin

in Newspaper Articles

FORMER Government Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira will receive more than $18 million in compensation from Gulf View Medical Centre and one of its doctors. This after the Privy Council upheld the ruling of a High Court judge and the local Appeal Court. The judgement was delivered today. The local courts had found that the doctor and medical centre were liable, by way of negligence, for the death of Nunez-Tesheira’s husband. In 2017, the Appeal Court had dismissed the appeals filed by Gulf View and Dr Crisen Jendra Roopchand in which they were seeking to have the court overturn the ruling of Vasheist Kokaram which was...

23 October

0 Comments

Sticky

Tobago gets set to host inaugural carnival

Posted by site_admin

in Newspaper Articles, Tobago Business Chamber

TOBAGO is set to create history this week, hosting its first-ever Carnival, titled Ritual, Revelry, Release, from October 28-30. And as the journey to the long-awaited event enters its final leg, hundreds of visitors are expected on the island to participate in the festivities. Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association vice-president Carol-Ann Birchwood-James estimates that the occupancy rate in the accommodation sector is about 95 per cent among its membership. But she expects to get a clearer picture by Tuesday. Birchwood-James said two weeks ago four of the big hotels, two guesthouses and one villa were not fully booked. “But I would say at this...

13 October

0 Comments

Sticky

Attorneys: A money trail of millions, Faris has to account

Posted by site_admin

in Newspaper Articles

The millions of dollars in taxpayers’ money spent in the persecution of former attorney general Anand Ramlogan raises issues of misbehaviour in office on the part of former attorney general Faris Al-Rawi. This is according to Pamela Elder, SC, who represented Ramlogan in the criminal proceedings brought against him by the State. Those matters against Ramlogan and former senator Gerald Ramdeen, an attorney, have now been discontinued by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). In a telephone interview with the Express yesterday, Elder said a statement submitted by Al-Rawi to the DPP, which contained exhibits, disclosed “astounding” fees paid to a junior attorney...

12 October

0 Comments

Sticky

Collapse of Ramlogan/Ramdeen case ‘a fiasco’, ‘mockery of justice system’—legal expert

Posted by site_admin

in Newspaper Articles

‘A mockery of the justice system’ is how attorney-at-law Martin George is describing the decision to discontinue the corruption charges case against former Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, SC, and former Opposition Senator Gerald Ramdeen. The legal fee kickback case against the men collapsed after Jamaica-born British King’s Counsel Vincent Nelson declined to begin his testimony in the duo’s preliminary inquiry. “When you gave him these guarantees and these immunities, you ought to have ensured that whatever deal you were making was an airtight and a watertight deal that would guarantee that you would get your end,” Martin George points out. The attorney-at-law says...

18 September

0 Comments

Sticky

THA to elect new deputy tomorrow
…confusion over the legality of Duke’s resignation

Posted by site_admin

in Newspaper Articles, Tobago Business Chamber

A special sitting of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) is scheduled for tomorrow at 10:30 am to elect a new Deputy Chief Secretary. This, according to the Office of the Chief Secretary (OCS), will be done "in accordance with Act 40 of 1996 Section 8, which says inter alia" … the Assemblymen shall elect from among their number, the Chief Secretary and the Deputy Chief Secretary in accordance with Section 11 and following such election, the President shall administer to the Chief Secretary and the Deputy Chief Secretary respectively, the oath of office set out in the Third Schedule." A release...

15 September

0 Comments

Sticky

Politicians, business heads concerned about Farley, Duke feud

Posted by site_admin

in Newspaper Articles, Tobago Business Chamber

There is huge concern about the fallout among Tobago House of Assembly “jefes” and its impact on Tobago’s economy, image and Carnival. The Opposition United National Congress and Congress of the People are urging THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine and deputy Chief Secretary Watson Duke to resolve their issues speedily. And Tobago’s stakeholders have also expressed concern about the impact of the warring leaders on the island. Simmering tensions between Augustine and Duke have thrust Tobago into the spotlight, after the situation erupted publicly last week over funding for the Roxborough Folk Performers on a New York trip. On Tuesday, Augustine challenged Duke to...

09 August

0 Comments

Sticky

‘A subsidised fare for Tobago residents and an economic fare for non-residents’

Posted by site_admin

in Newspaper Articles, Tobago Business Chamber

RETIRED chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority, Ramesh Lutchmedial, is sounding alarm over the domestic operations of Caribbean Airlines, noting that even if airbridge flights are operated at 100 per cent load factors, the revenue earned by airfare and subsidy is well below the economic cost of providing the service. CAL had previously responded to a public statement by the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Farley Augustine who knocked the airline for not providing enough flights to Tobago. CAL’s responded by stating that its airbridge operations are plagued by heavy and consistent losses amounting to millions of...

09 August

0 Comments

Sticky

Tobago Business Chamber condemns CAL’s losses
“Do not blame the domestic airbridge”

Posted by site_admin

in Newspaper Articles, Tobago Business Chamber

Chairman of the Tobago Business Chamber Martin George is blaming Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL), not domestic flights, for the company’s losses on the airbridge. This after CAL issued a statement last Thursday stating that domestic operations have amounted to consistent losses of US$9,613,100 as at June 2022, while its operational costs for the airbridge was US$18,777, 648. In what he described as an “attempt by CAL to lay blame on the poor performance of the domestic airbridge for sustained losses over the years” George said the situation has nothing to do with the domestic airbridge and it is not fair to Tobagonians...

07 August

0 Comments

Sticky

Tobago chamber angry over CAL airbridge claim

Posted by site_admin

in Newspaper Articles, Tobago Business Chamber

The Tobago Business Chamber (TBC) has condemned what it calls an attempt by Caribbean Airlines (CAL) to lay blame on the poor performance of the domestic airbridge for sustained losses over the years. The chamber said yesterday that it rejects this, especially if it is an attempt to castigate Tobagonians and the domestic airbridge service, as it noted that the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) has recently indicated it is willingness to take responsibility for some of the financial burden to make extra flights available on the airbride by paying for keeping the airport open later. Addressing a CAL statement on the...