Black Immigrant Daily News

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Dr Roodal Moonilal.

OPPOSITION MP Dr Roodal Moonilal has accused Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales of being less than honest about a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and a secret deal with a Canadian company to restructure WASA.

He read from documents at the United National Congress (UNC) Virtual Report on Monday night, to counter Gonzales’ claims that Moonilal was telling lies.

Gonzales said he was baffled by Moonilal’s statement on Sunday which accused the government of entering into a secret deal with a Canadian company and signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to restructure WASA.

Gonzales said that was a “big lie,” but Moonilal read a newspaper report dated March 9, 2022, which quoted Gonzales as speaking about the arrangement and announcing, during a Conversation with the Prime Minister forum, the signing of a MOU with the Canadian company for a modulated water treatment plant.

Moonilal accused Gonzales of being in an alternative world after denying signing any such MOU.

“He is not following what is happening with his own speech. So, Mr Gonzales, tell us, were you lying at the conversation with the PM or were you lying today? Just tell us which day you were lying.”

Gonzales also rubbished Moonilal’s claim that while WASA managers were to be sent home under the restructuring programme, new managers were being secretly trained.

Gonzales said rather, some 50 OJT recruits were assigned to training at several agencies, including WASA, to access future employment.

Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales. File photo/Angelo Marcelle

He said the PP administration had had a plan to transform the utility and send workers home through an IDB loan programme, and had it stuck to its task, government would not be facing the difficult challenge it is today. Instead, he said, government had to repay a loan of almost $400 million to the IDB.

From the UNC platform on Monday night, Moonilal said the loan the PP received from the IDB was not intended to restructure WASA but to assist with a wastewater treatment programme.

He said this loan came with an approximately $11 million Voluntary Separation Employment Programme (VSEP) to negotiate with the unions to reduce staff, if possible.

“His argument was to blame the UNC, that they did not fire the people. The minister said the PP took a loan from the IDB and part of the conditionality was to fire people.”

On the contrary, Moonilal said, the initiative had nothing to do with restructuring, as Gonzales claimed, but was to finance two major wastewater treatment plants, one in Malabar and another in San Fernando.

While the Malabar facility was completed around 2018, the San Fernando plant is still outstanding and there is now a cost variation of some $90 million, he said.

“I am reading from the IDB release of December 2012, which talks about TT improving its environmental conditions with a $246.5 million loan.

“A conditionality of the loan was the offer of VSEP. Voluntary separation – not mandatory, not firing people, not sending them home.

“The minister said the PP signed a loan with the IDB for X million and part of it was to send people home. That fella don’t understand what is voluntary or involuntary. That is why he is a voluntary fool. “

Moonilal also spoke of a loan the PP government had accessed to deal with flooding in Port of Spain, “but when the PNM came into office, they fouled up everything, mismanaged everything and they could not access the loan, which went back to the IDB

“Today, just a drizzle in Port of Spain, and everywhere flood away.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Two young men who were fingered in several armed robberies were arrested on Monday during a police operation in Sophia, Greater Georgetown and its environs. Police stated that while conducting an exercise in Plum Park, Sophia, three-armed robbery suspects attempted to escape but they were pursued which led to the arrest of two.

The duo was taken back to their place of abode where a search was conducted where several electronic tablets, cellphones, and other electronic devices were found – all suspected to be stolen.

the items found during the raid

The teen suspects were taken to the Turkeyen Police station pending charges.

In addition, several cell phones were found at the home of a 25-year-old vendor of Block ‘E’ South Sophia. Again the items are suspected to have been stolen and as such, he was arrested pending investigations.

a television set confiscated during the operation

Further, a while in the Plum Park area the police observed a male riding away on a motorcycle. This prompted the ranks to search his premises during which they found two flat-screen televisions, a stereo set and several other electronics – all suspected to have been stolen.

Recently, the police have been conducting raids in several areas in Georgetown.

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NBC News: A federal appeals court unanimously ruled Tuesday that a House committee can access former President Donald Trump’s tax records following a yearslong legal battle.

A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that the House Ways and Means Committee has the authority to obtain Trump’s tax records from the Treasury Department, upholding a district court ruling from late last year.

Trump’s lawyers are all but certain to appeal the ruling. NBC News has reached out to a Trump spokesman and a member of his legal team for comment.

Former US President Donald Trump [File: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]The court ruling adds to Trump’s legal woes following an FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago home on Monday. A source familiar with the matter told NBC News that the search was tied to classified information Trump allegedly took with him from the White House to his Palm Beach resort in January 2021.

Tuesday’s appeals court ruling is the latest twist in a multi-year legal fight over his tax records. A federal judge in December tossed out Trump’s lawsuit seeking to block the House panel from obtaining his tax returns, rejecting the former president’s claim that Congress had no legitimate need to look at the returns and that Congress was simply snooping around in an effort to embarrass him.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., on Tuesday lauded the appeals court’s “long-anticipated” opinion. Neal first requested copies of Trump’s federal tax returns in April 2019, a request the Treasury Department initially refused.

“With great patience, we followed the judicial process, and yet again, our position has been affirmed by the Courts,” Neal said in a statement. “When we receive the returns, we will begin our oversight of the IRS’s mandatory presidential audit program.”

Neal had initially cited a federal law that requires the Treasury Department and the IRS to turn over individual tax returns when demanded by any of the three congressional tax committees.

“The Chairman has identified a legitimate legislative purpose that it requires information to accomplish,” the appeals court ruling states. “At this stage, it is not our place to delve deeper than this. The mere fact that individual members of Congress may have political motivations as well as legislative ones is of no moment. Indeed, it is likely rare that an individual member of Congress would work for a legislative purpose without considering the political implications.”

The ruling means Trump would have to ask the full circuit court to rehear the case or appeal directly to the Supreme Court. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the court’s decision a “victory for the rule of law,” in a statement Tuesday.

“Access to the former president’s tax returns is crucial to upholding the public interest, our national security & our Democracy,” Pelosi said. (NBC NEWS)

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Los deportes electrónicos ya cuentan con una reglamentación que rige su práctica en Puerto Rico. El Departamento de Recreación y Deportes (DRD) anunció el martes, la implementación del Reglamento Núm. 9388, “Reglamento para la Práctica de E-Sports en las Ligas de Categorías Menores de Puerto Rico”. 

“El DRD reconoce la acogida de los deportes electrónicos no tan solo en nuestra población, sino a nivel mundial. Es por esto que promulgamos este Reglamento con el propósito de promover la sana participación de los niños, las niñas, las y los jóvenes a la vez que proveemos las condiciones adecuadas de seguridad y propiciamos un mejor uso del tiempo libre. Este deporte formará parte integral del programa de Centros de Formación Deportiva del DRD. Será la Secretaría Auxiliar de Recreación y Deportes la responsable de desarrollar, promocionar y coordinar los centros de formación deportiva de E-Sports y los eventos relacionados dentro del Departamento”, dijo el secretario del DRD, Ray Quiñones Vázquez en declaraciones escritas.

Un punto para resaltar dentro de este Reglamento es que se establecen unos requisitos de actividad física que deben realizar los jugadores pertenecientes a asociaciones y equipos de acuerdo con su edad. Para ser más específicos, los niños y las niñas entre 5 y 9 años deben tener un tiempo máximo de juego de una hora, la cual se complementa con 30 minutos de estiramiento o ejercicios. Los de 10 a 12 años, cuentan con 90 minutos de práctica y media hora para ejercitarse. A su vez, se sugiere que los y las jóvenes entre los 13 y los 18 años dediquen como máximo dos horas a los E-Sports y las combinen con 30 minutos para practicar alguna rutina de ejercicios.

Al igual que en los deportes tradicionales, los entrenadores e instructores de E-Sportsdeberán contar con al menos dos horas contacto al año en temas relacionados con psicología deportiva, tener una licencia vigente del DRD y cumplir con las disposiciones de la Ley 6-2011, según enmendada, conocida como “Ley para crear el Reglamento de Entrenadores adscrito al Departamento de Recreación y Deportes”; así como el Reglamento 7690, “Reglamento para Licencia de Entrenadores y Oficiales Deportivos de Puerto Rico”, entre otras disposiciones.

Los E-Sports son un mecanismo innovador para el desarrollo cognitivo, la coordinación sensorial y motora, la agilidad mental, la comunicación y la conexión con sus pares, la inclusión social las destrezas estratégicas en equipo, el continuo ejercicio de la memoria, la superación de dificultades retando el tiempo y los estados competitivos. Además de fortalecer las destrezas antes mencionadas, los atletas pueden desarrollar ampliamente el pensamiento crítico para responder o reaccionar ante movidas del oponente.  

El Reglamento está disponible en la página web del Departamento de Estado y puede verse y descargarse a través del siguiente enlace: http://app.estado.gobierno.pr/ReglamentosOnLine/Reglamentos/9388.pdf 

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Rapper Fetty Wap was jailed Monday after, prosecutors say, he threatened to kill a man during a FaceTime call in 2021, violating the terms of his pre-trial release in a pending federal drug conspiracy case.

Wap, whose real name is Willie Maxwell, told the man, “Imma kill you and everybody you with,” and flashed a gun during the December 11 video call about two months after his arrest in the drug case, prosecutors said.

US Magistrate Judge Steven Locke, acting on a request from prosecutors, revoked Maxwell’s bond and sent him to jail following a hearing Monday in federal court on Long Island.

Messages seeking comment were left with Maxwell’s lawyers. The “Trap Queen” rapper is scheduled to perform in Mobile, Alabama, on August 19 and Austin, Texas, on August 27, according to his website.

Maxwell was initially arrested last October on charges alleging he participated in a conspiracy to smuggle large amounts of heroin, fentanyl and other drugs into the New York City area.

Maxwell, who pleaded not guilty, was released after posting a $500,000 bond, secured by property he owns in Georgia, and agreeing to certain conditions, including that he not violate any federal, state or local laws while on release and that he not possess a gun or other weapon.

Prosecutors say evidence, including a recording of the FaceTime call, showed probable cause that Maxwell knowingly violated the conditions of his release.

During the call, Maxwell repeatedly threatened, “I’m gonna kill you” and was seen holding a gun and pointing it at the screen, according to an FBI affidavit filed on the court docket. After the man on the other end of the call called Maxwell a rat, Maxwell responded by saying, “Your man is a rat,” according to the affidavit.

Prosecutors did not identify the person Maxwell is accused of threatening, referring to the man in court papers only as John Doe.

In the underlying drug case, Maxwell and five co-defendants are accused of conspiring to possess and distribute more than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine between June 2019 and June 2020.

The scheme allegedly involved using the US Postal Service and cars with hidden compartments to move drugs from the West Coast to Long Island, where they were stored for distribution to dealers on Long Island and in New Jersey, prosecutors said.

Maxwell rose to prominence after “Trap Queen,” his debut single, reached Number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 2015.

He has had other brushes with the law, including a 2019 arrest in Las Vegas for allegedly assaulting three employees at a hotel-casino. He was previously arrested in November 2017 and charged with DUI after police said he was drag racing on a New York City highway.

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