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FILE PHOTO: Central Bank of Trinidad & Tobago –

THE Central Bank issued a provisional registration to PayWise Ltd to become an electronic money (e-money) issuer on Wednesday.

E-money is an electronic store of monetary value on a technological device (including mobile phones) that may be widely used for making payments to entities other than the e-money issuer.

The device acts as a prepaid bearer instrument which does not necessarily involve bank accounts in transactions.

E-money can be used for payment transactions with or without bank accounts. Examples of e-money include pre-paid cards or web-based services, such as PayPal.

In a statement, the bank said the provisional registration authorises PayWise to issue e-money in TT from September 1.

Under the terms of the provisional registration, PayWise will be allowed to enlist new customers in a controlled environment monitored by the Central Bank.

PayWise is a company incorporated in TT in 2013. The company was registered as a payment service provider since 2019 by the Central Bank. On its website, the company said its mission is to “provide alternative means of payments that are easy to use, convenient and secure.”

PayWise will be the first company, apart from banks and non-bank financial institutions, authorised to issue e-money domestically. This is allowed for under Section 17(4) of the Financial Institutions Act.

Entities allowed to apply to become e-money issuers include money remitters registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and credit unions. A money remitter is a payment service provider that accepts funds from a payer for the purpose of making them available to a payee, without necessarily maintaining an account relationship with the payer or payee.

Information on the Central Bank’s website showed that entities applying to become e-money issuers must comply with all anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing regulations of the FIU.

The bank also states that e-money issuers in TT are prohibited from doing certain things. These include issuing or allowing joint accounts and only issuing e-money in TT currency.

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Opposition leader Allen Chastanet told reporters Wednesday that he had presented documents to House Speaker Claudius Francis regarding a claim made in parliament the previous day.

The claim came amidst debate on the Special Prosecutor Act aimed at addressing corruption by incumbent public officials and others who have demitted office.

Chastanet had declared in the house that Castries South MP and former Saint Lucia High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Dr. Ernest Hilaire had a joint account with late Saudi billionaire Walid Juffali.

Juffali received an appointment in April 2014 as Saint Lucia’s Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

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Chastanet made the joint account claim while calling attention to the Hilaire Range Rover controversy, which the opposition United Workers Party (UWP) dubbed ‘Rovergate’.

But Hilaire, accusing the Micoud South MP of ‘stepping out of line’ and misleading the house, told parliament that he never had a joint account with anyone in his life.

However, Chastanet declined to withdraw his statement and promised to present evidence the next day.

“I have provided to the Speaker of the House already a letter from the Auditor General indicating that the account existed,” the former Saint Lucia Prime Minister told a news conference on Wednesday morning.

According to Chastanet, the letter indicated that no permission was sought to open the account, that 66,500 pounds were placed in it, and monies from the fund went to some staff members.

He said he also provided the Speaker of the House with letters from the Accountant General.

“I also have copies of the opening of the account and that the account was in the name of Ernest Hilaire as High Commissioner and that the co-signature on it was Juffali as the Ambassador,” Chastanet told reporters.

And he explained that he would provide the remaining documents ‘early next week’.

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Education Minister Kay McConney has congratulated the full cohort of over 3,000 students who wrote the 2022 Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination (BSSEE), commonly known as the 11-plus and Common Entrance.

With many parents and adults putting much stress on students about passing to the “good schools”, the Minister took a moment to encourage all students to be happy with their results.

“I offer my congratulations to all of the students , all of you…

“Remember it is not where you go but what you do when you get there,” she advised.

Furthermore, she called on the students, “be proud to go to your secondary school and wear the colours well, do your best and give your best. Know that the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training will do everything in our power to support you in the best of outcomes.”

From today, parents could apply for reviews of scripts in-person at the Ministry of Education or for transfers via the online form on the Ministry’s website.

As it pertains to the applications for transfers, Acting Chief Education Officer Joy Adamson told parents and guardians desirous of a switch that the Ministry will assess that all the requirements are met and “it is not a first come first served basis.” She insisted it depends on spaces available and if the students fall within the particular range.

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Chief Secretary Farley Augustine at a recent press conference. Photo by David Reid

CONTRACTORS owed by the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) will only be paid “the true value of their work” and not the terms of their contracts. Contractors are owed over $390 million by the THA.

Speaking on Tobago Channel Five’s Rise and Shine programme on Wednesday, Chief Secretary Farley Augustine said the contractors will soon start receiving payment. But he warned: “I am only paying contractors the value of their work. So in instances where we saw inflated invoices, where we saw invoices for works that are incomplete, you are only going to be paid the value of the work that was done – the true value of the work that was done.”

He has blamed the previous administration’s pre-election spending for the exorbitant debts of the THA.

Questioned how they will determine the “true value” to be paid to each contractor, he said the ongoing THA audit will assist.

“So quantity surveyors would look at the work done, look at the material used, they would also look at the quality of the materials used and cost it – that would determine the true value of the works done, and that process has already started. It is already ongoing.

“Payments would actually come before the fiscal year, sooner rather than later. In fact, I have been pushing the division to make first payments in this month of August.”

He said he is going to ensure that where corruption is suspected, that the fraud squad is involved.

“It would show that those who are now in the Minority aided and abetted and participated in some very slack behaviour and they must answer to the Tobago public for why that was so. It is frightening that some of what was discovered has become standard practice within the THA and that must be something that we have to address, and we have to treat with forcefully.”

At a July 22 news conference Augustine had announced that contractors would begin to individually meet with an independent team to discuss the way forward to receive their money.

In an interview with Newsday on Wednesday, a contractor, who wished to stay anonymous, said this has yet to materialise.

Responding to Augustine’s latest statement he said, “We have no problem with the valuation, but the evaluators have not spoken to any contractor. We’ve never had a meeting.”

He said a date needs to be confirmed when these payments would begin.

“Time is running out. Everybody has been given by the banks up to month’s end to regularise their accounts or to head to foreclosure – everybody.”

Asked about only being paid the “true value of the work,” another contractor said some contractors are willing to provide a percentage of their contract back to the assembly, but there would need to be some negotiation and discussions.

“You can’t tell me I have $100 million (contract) and I would only get $8 million; you have to have some kind of negotiation with people. They (the evaluators) know what was under the ground before concrete? They know the extent of the work? They don’t have the pictures, they don’t have the videos; so the evaluators did not, as far as we know, spoken (sic) to anybody, and this was up to this morning.”

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