Ukraine: Moscou dit avoir terminé son “évacuation” de civils de la région occupée de Kherson

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Guadeloupe FranceAntilles

Confrontée à l’avancée des forces ukrainiennes, la Russie a annoncé vendredi avoir terminé l’évacuation des résidents de la région ukrainienne de Kherson que Moscou occupe, un transfert de…

Confrontée à l’avancée des forces ukrainiennes, la Russie a annoncé vendredi avoir terminé l’évacuation des résidents de la région ukrainienne de Kherson que Moscou occupe, un transfert de population qualifié de “déportations” par Kiev.

L’armée ukrainienne s’apprête à livrer une féroce bataille pour reprendre la ville de Kherson et les districts environnants sur une rive du fleuve Dniepr.

La cité de quelque 288.000 habitants avant-guerre est occupée depuis les premiers jours de l’invasion russe. Et l’occupation a juré d’en faire une “forteresse” pour résister à l’offensive ukrainienne dans toute cette région dont le Kremlin revendique l’annexion.

Les autorités installées par Moscou à Kherson avaient réclamé le 13 octobre l’évacuation des habitants de la rive exposée du Dniepr vers l’autre rive puis vers des régions de Russie face à l’avancée des forces ukrainiennes. 

Ce transfert de civils serait donc désormais achevé. 

“Le travail organisant le départ des habitants (…) vers des régions sûres en Russie est achevé”, a déclaré jeudi soir Sergueï Aksionov, le dirigeant de la Crimée, péninsule avoisinante de Kherson annexée en 2014 par Moscou.

“Je suis heureux que ceux qui voulaient quitter rapidement et en tout sécurité le territoire bombardé par les forces armées ukrainiennes ont pu le faire”, a-t-il dit sur Telegram après un déplacement dans la région avec le directeur adjoint de l’administration présidentielle russe Sergueï Kirienko.

Mercredi, le chef de l’occupation russe à Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, a affirmé qu’au moins 70.000 résidents avaient quitté leurs domiciles en moins d’une semaine.

Le commandement militaire ukrainien a lui relevé dans son rapport quotidien sur les dernières 24 heures publié vendredi que “la prétendue +évacuation+ du territoire temporairement occupé de la région de Kherson se poursuit”.

Il a noté un “renforcement du groupe ennemi sur la partie de la rive droite” de la région de Kherson, tout en assurant infliger de lourdes pertes à Moscou.

Pertes tchétchènes

Signe de l’intensité des combats près de Kherson, le dirigeant de la république russe de Tchétchénie Ramzan Kadyrov, dont les forces combattent en Ukraine, a annoncé la mort de 23 de ses soldats dans un bombardement ukrainien qui a fait aussi 58 blessés.

M. Kadyrov est un partisan de la ligne “dure” face à Kiev, ayant appelé à des frappes nucléaires et assurant que ses troupes y menaient une guerre sainte contre des “satanistes”.

Ailleurs sur le front, les autorités ukrainiennes ont rapporté des bombardements russes ayant endommagé deux immeubles résidentiels et une boulangerie à Mykolaïv, dans le Sud, faisant un blessé.

Dans la région de Donetsk, dans l’Est, cinq personnes ont été tuées et 9 autres blessées ces dernières 24 heures, notamment à Bakhmout, autre point chaud du front que les forces russes tentent de prendre depuis l’été, selon le gouverneur régional Pavlo Kyrylenko.

Les responsables russes Sergueï Aksionov et Sergueï Kirienko ont eux annoncé jeudi soir avoir visité la centrale nucléaire de Zaporijjia, la plus grande d’Europe sous occupation russe depuis mars.

Moscou et Kiev s’accusent depuis des mois de dangereux bombardements de cette centrale dont Moscou a revendiqué l’annexion plus tôt en octobre, tout comme celle de quatre régions ukrainiennes partiellement occupées en septembre.

La Russie a multiplié ces dernières semaines les bombardements visant les infrastructures électriques ukrainiennes, si bien que le courant est rationné dans l’essentiel du pays.

Vladimir Poutine a aussi accusé l’Ukraine de préparer l’explosion d’une “bombe sale”, des allégations que Kiev et les Occidentaux ont dénoncé comme “absurdes” et pouvant servir à Moscou de prétexte pour une escalade.

S’exprimant lors d’un forum politique jeudi, le président russe a appelé à envoyer “au plus vite” une mission de l’Agence internationale de l’énergie atomique (AIEA) en Ukraine. Celle-ci compte mener cette semaine une “vérification indépendante”.

Enfin, Vladimir Poutine a estimé jeudi que le monde entrait dans sa décennie “la plus dangereuse” depuis la fin de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, inscrivant le conflit qu’il a lancé en Ukraine dans une lutte globale contre l’hégémonisme occidental.

bur/cpy

Une femme est évacuée de Kherson, ville ukrainienne occupée par les troupes russes, le 26 octobre 2022
• STRINGER

Carte de la situation en Ukraine au 28 octobre à 8h GMT
• Sophie RAMIS

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Werner Kioe A Sen officieel bevelhebber-‘U bent beschermer van de samenleving’

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: De Ware Tijd Online

door Jason Pinas PARAMARIBO — “Te midden van de storm waarin wij allen verkeren, staan wij van het leger, ondanks

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CDB, WTO Deepen Partnership With New Agreement – St. Lucia Times News

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: St. Lucia Times News

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 Following a declaration to global players that we reassess and revolutionize existing trading arrangements to increase opportunities for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr Hyginus “Gene” Leon signed a new agreement with World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will strengthen ties between the WTO and CDB and aims to improve capacity, accessibility and availability of trade resources to members of both organisations.

 Dr Leon speaking at the signing on October 25, in Geneva highlighted the prospects for the Bank’s 19 Borrowing Member Countries. “this agreement opens doors and expands opportunities for the Caribbean to increase trade, build prosperity and safeguard economic resilience. The latter is significant given the existing high reliance on exports and our acute vulnerabilities.”

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who signed the MOU said “The MOU aims to deliver specific things for the benefit of countries in the region, virtually all of whom are members of the WTO. So, for instance, as part of a food security package how can we work together to make sure that the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement is implemented. How do we collaborate on capacity building on fisheries management, how do we get countries to deposit their instruments of acceptance [for the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement] as quickly as possible and how do we work together on gender and trade, including collaboration with ITC.”

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The agreement will increase cooperation and collaboration in trade facilitation and the implementation of the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and its Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.

It also seeks to accelerate ongoing and future initiatives to reduce Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), address Sanitary and Phytosanitary issues and create mechanisms for the agencies to partner to improve capacity building, technology, data and knowledge transfer in tourism, education, culture and entertainment, and professional health and wellness while leveraging technology, public policy support, and innovation.

SOURCE: Caribbean Development Bank

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Invest Caribbean Invites Applications For A Cyber Security Grant

Black Immigrant Daily News

News Americas, FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, Fri. Oct. 28, 2022: Invest Caribbean, the global private sector investment agency of the Caribbean, is inviting applications from qualified English-speaking Caribbean nationals in the region or its Diasporas, for the Impact Caribbean Cybersecurity Grant Program.

The Impact Caribbean Cybersecurity Grant is a partnership with The Elizabeth Sloane Institute of Technology, (ESIT), and offers successful applicants the opportunity to be certified in the field of cyber security with a globally industry recognized cyber security certification.

Those approved will have the opportunity to join the communities of (ISC)², CompTIA, and Elizabeth Sloane Institute of Technology, (ESIT), a premier online higher education technology platform.

The grant will subsidize the cost of certifications such as CISSP, (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) education and examination at ESIT. Applicants must be citizens of the English-speaking Caribbean and can be living in the territory or located globally. They must have a degree in IT or experience in the field.

Successful applicants will receive highly subsidized training and examination cost, allowing them to become equipped with the abilities and tools to design, implement and manage a cyber security infrastructure effectively. They will also become a member of the (ISC)² and ESIT communities, unlocking a broad array of exclusive resources, educational tools and peer-to-peer networking opportunities.

“It is critical to support the upskilling of ICT professionals in the territories we serve,” said Melanie Wynter, the managing director of Elizabeth Sloane. “Data protection and cybersecurity have been at the core of all our digital solutions, and we don’t have the needed personnel.”

“Invest Caribbean is delighted to join in partnership with the Elizabeth Sloane Institute of Technology to offer this grant to qualified English speaking Caribbean nationals in the region and its Diaspora,” said Felicia J. Persaud, ICN’s founder. “It is critical that the Caribbean, where cyber security incidents continue to rise, expands its own human capital pool to address this global threat.”

The goal of the grant program, according to ESIT, is “to help Caribbean governments, the military, intelligence, telecommunication, private sector and the financial sector, address cybersecurity risks and threats to data protection through self-paced ICT upskilling.” The application process can take up to three weeks.

Certification programs, such as CISSP, are the first credentialled in the field of information security to meet the stringent requirements of ISO/IEC Standard 17024.

Applicants must complete the application HERE. Choose the C. Courtney Jackson scholarship when submitting the application.

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Inondations aux Philippines: au moins 31 morts, selon un nouveau bilan

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Martinique FranceAntilles

Au moins 31 personnes sont mortes dans des glissements de terrain et des inondations causés par de fortes pluies dans le sud des Philippines, a indiqué vendredi un responsable local, le pays se préparant à l’arrivée d’une…

Au moins 31 personnes sont mortes dans des glissements de terrain et des inondations causés par de fortes pluies dans le sud des Philippines, a indiqué vendredi un responsable local, le pays se préparant à l’arrivée d’une tempête tropicale censée toucher terre d’ici dimanche. 

Les eaux de crue ont envahi plusieurs villes et villages sur l’île de Mindanao depuis jeudi, a précisé le responsable local Naguib Sinarimbo. Un précédent bilan faisait état d’au moins 13 morts. 

Plusieurs habitants ont été pris de court par la rapide montée des eaux, a dit à M. Sinarimbo à l’AFP. “L’eau a commencé à pénétrer dans les maisons avant l’aube”, a-t-il affirmé.

Les secouristes ont retrouvé 16 corps dans la localité de Datu Odin Sinsuat, 10 dans celle de Datu Blah Sinsuat et cinq à Upi, selon M. Sinarimbo, relevant que plusieurs personnes ont été sauvées après être montées sur les toits de leurs maisons.

Les fortes pluies ont commencé tard jeudi dans cette région pauvre, déracinant des arbres et provoquant d’importantes inondations dans la ville de Cotabato (300.000 habitants).

L’intensité des précipitations est en partie due à la tempête tropicale Nalgae qui approche du pays, ont indiqué les services météorologiques à Manille. 

Nalgae se dirige vers le nord des Philippines, où la protection civile a évacué quelque 5.000 personnes en prévision de glissements de terrain et d’inondations après l’arrivée de la tempête sur les terres, samedi ou dimanche. 

str-cgm/qan/nzg/am

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Inondations aux Philippines: au moins 31 morts, selon un nouveau bilan

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Guadeloupe FranceAntilles

Au moins 31 personnes sont mortes dans des glissements de terrain et des inondations causés par de fortes pluies dans le sud des Philippines, a indiqué vendredi un responsable local, le pays se préparant à l’arrivée d’une…

Au moins 31 personnes sont mortes dans des glissements de terrain et des inondations causés par de fortes pluies dans le sud des Philippines, a indiqué vendredi un responsable local, le pays se préparant à l’arrivée d’une tempête tropicale censée toucher terre d’ici dimanche. 

Les eaux de crue ont envahi plusieurs villes et villages sur l’île de Mindanao depuis jeudi, a précisé le responsable local Naguib Sinarimbo. Un précédent bilan faisait état d’au moins 13 morts. 

Plusieurs habitants ont été pris de court par la rapide montée des eaux, a dit à M. Sinarimbo à l’AFP. “L’eau a commencé à pénétrer dans les maisons avant l’aube”, a-t-il affirmé.

Les secouristes ont retrouvé 16 corps dans la localité de Datu Odin Sinsuat, 10 dans celle de Datu Blah Sinsuat et cinq à Upi, selon M. Sinarimbo, relevant que plusieurs personnes ont été sauvées après être montées sur les toits de leurs maisons.

Les fortes pluies ont commencé tard jeudi dans cette région pauvre, déracinant des arbres et provoquant d’importantes inondations dans la ville de Cotabato (300.000 habitants).

L’intensité des précipitations est en partie due à la tempête tropicale Nalgae qui approche du pays, ont indiqué les services météorologiques à Manille. 

Nalgae se dirige vers le nord des Philippines, où la protection civile a évacué quelque 5.000 personnes en prévision de glissements de terrain et d’inondations après l’arrivée de la tempête sur les terres, samedi ou dimanche. 

str-cgm/qan/nzg/am

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Bullets miss baby as parents shot dead in St James

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

News

GUNNED DOWN: St James couple Korey Clarke and Samantha Patrick. –

Instead of preparing for the christening of his granddaughter on Sunday, a St James man is in mourning after his son and his son’s common-law wife were gunned down in the same house as their infant child.

Relatives said Korey Clarke and Samantha Patrick, both 30, were at their Aboud Circular, Dundonald Hill, St James, home at around 12.30 am when two gunmen stormed the house, shooting them both several times.

During the attack, Clarke and Patrick used their bodies to shield their seven-month-old daughter from gunfire.

Clarke’s father Anthony, who lives nearby, heard the gunshots and, on checking moments after the shooting stopped, found the baby crying near to her mother and father.

Police and a district medical officer went to the scene and declared the couple dead at 2 am on Thursday.

Speaking with Newsday at his Aboud Circular church on Thursday morning, Clarke said while he was grieving the murders, he thanked God his granddaughter survived the attack.

“They covered the baby, that’s why the gunmen didn’t get her.

“My thoughts are to give God thanks and say ‘Thank you Lord.’

“It could have been three of them I had to bury, and when I heard my granddaughter cry when I reach outside I pulled her out expecting to see bullet holes but I didn’t see any. Thank God it was only blood from her mother and father’s bodies.”

He said the timing of the murders were eerie as Patrick told her husband that she dreamed about their murders on Wednesday.

“Samantha is a God-fearing person. She dreamed and told him yesterday that she dreamed that people came to kill him and her.

“When you hear Samantha Patrick dream something, look out.”

Clarke said he got a call shortly before the shooting from a neighbour who had seen the gunmen walking around his son’s home.

He said the murders have shaken the family and the community as his son was well-known by residents.

Clarke said his son operated a parlour in the neighbourhood and sometimes received Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) contracts for construction projects.

Clarke, the pastor of Mt St Jude’s Spiritual Baptist Church, said he believes envy and jealousy were the motives behind the double murder.

Saying while he is still in pain over the murders of his son and daughter-in-law, he is prepared to forgive their killers.

“When I read my Bible, it’s a tedious time now. And for the youths and them, they are ignorant about what they are doing. They don’t even understand what they’re doing.

“I pray to God that some part of them could change sometime, and it’s only God who can forgive them.

“I hope God changes them before it’s too late.”

Clarke said the couple were preparing for the christening of their daughter and began cleaning the house and planning the meals for Sunday, earlier this week.

Newsday also spoke to Patrick’s mother Racquel Patrick at the Forensic Science Centre, St James. She said the couple were inseparable.

She said while the murders were upsetting to the family, they intended to go ahead with the baby’s christening and warned that God would ensure justice was done.

“Those fellas (killers) are heartless.

“These young fellas have guns and they feel they are powerful.

“We are still christening the baby on Sunday. They can’t kill our spirit because I know there is a God above and they (the killers) are going to get their judgment just now.

“The same way we are shedding our tears, their parents have to shed their tears too.

“She wasn’t a bottle-fed baby, she fed from her mother’s breast and now they took away that from her.”

Patrick said she remembered her daughter as a happy, easy-going woman who enjoyed eating.

She said she was proud of her daughter’s relationship with Clarke.

Contacted for comment, Western Division police said while the baby was not harmed in the attack, the incident was unsettling for them.

“The killers didn’t harm the child. And while we’re happy that she escaped unharmed, it is, nonetheless, a very troubling situation.

“Right now the atmosphere on the part of the police is to come back strong and supress this spate of murders in the Western Division and, by extension, the rest of the country. So we do intend to come back with a strong response.”

As of Thursday afternoon, no one has been arrested for the murders.

Police from the St James CID and the Homicide Bureau of Investigation Region I are continuing enquiries.

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UWI honorary graduand urges graduates to think global, act local

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

News

Kaia Smith, left, and Nicholai Lewis, graduates of the Faculty of Food and Agriculture, and Anastasia Mootoo who graduated from the Faculty of Science and Technology. – AYANNA KINSALE

UWI honorary graduand Dr Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted urged graduates of The UWI St Augustine’s Faculties of Science and Technology and Food and Agriculture to think and learn globally and act locally as they explore life outside the institution.

An honorary doctor of science (DSc) degree, honoris causa (as a mark of esteem), was conferred on her by the university for her dedication, scientific genius, and immeasurable contribution to global well-being.

At the graduation ceremony on Thursday at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya, Thilsted, who was born in Reform Village, remembered her graduation ceremony. She said when she graduated in 1971, all UWI faculties were able to graduate in one day.

Honorary graduand Dr Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted delivers an address at Thursday’s graduation. – AYANNA KINSALE

She said, presently the global situation is dominated by the disruptions and hardships caused by covid19, conflicts, and climate change. She said at the UN Food Systems Summit 2021, there was a unified call for transforming food systems for nourishing people and the planet, with a particular call to focus on youth.

“Your short-term goals for yourself and the more long-term goals for contributing to all people, including your community, your nation, and our planet can surely complement each other. Build on the support of your family and friends and make full use of the networks and platforms which you have developed. Make full use of the present-day data technologies, science and innovations which are accessible to you, however, combine them with the richness and diversity of traditional and local knowledge and culture to arrive at the best solutions that are appropriate for you. Think and learn global and act local. There are many opportunities to do this, learning about the innovations and solutions from islands in the Pacific as well as countries in Caricom.”

She said when she graduated, she realised she had the opportunity to explore many pathways, including untraditional ones.

“I decided to work as an agricultural officer in Tobago, in the field, with small-scale farmers. I was the only female agricultural officer in Tobago. This work experience showed me new horizons, and gave me the opportunity to spread my wings further afield, and with higher education, being comfortable to take on global assignments. My first, after acquiring my PhD, was as a junior professional officer with FAO posted in Tanzania. You can do the same as I did.”

Ashaki Jones, a former student of the Faculty of Science and Technology, shows off her mortarboard after she graduated on Thursday from the University of the West Indies at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya. – AYANNA KINSALE

UWI public orator Dr Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw said Thilsted is the winner of the 2021 World Food Prize, an award considered to be the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture. Her research on the nutritional composition of small native fish species commonly found and consumed in Bangladesh and Cambodia demonstrated that these affordable, locally available foods, offered life-changing benefits for children’s cognitive development in their first 1,000 days of life.

From 1960 to 1967, Thilsted attended Naparima Girls High School in San Fernando, and went on to study at The UWI St. Augustine. In 1971 she graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture with a BSc in Tropical Agriculture, and received her Doctorate in the physiology of nutrition from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Denmark. She holds several high-level positions in organisations dealing with food security and nutrition globally.

Graduates of the Faculty of Science and Technology Wisden Liverpool, left, and Daniel Liverpool smile for a photo with their parents, from left, Kevin Lewis, Narissa Lewis, Annette Bradshaw, and Kurt Liverpool after their graduation ceremony hosted by the UWI St Augustine campus at the Centre of Excellence in Macoya on Thursday. – AYANNA KINSALE

Valedictorian Ashleigh Ali said returning to campus after two years was surreal, and said she experienced longing and a wish to take back the last two years. She said she and her fellow graduates overcame this year’s obstacles because of their co-dependency on each other’s powers.

“I came to realise that each and every one of us has their own special powers. To our chemists, biologists, and physicists: you are the pioneers for future scientific progress and the discovery of life’s unanswered questions. These findings will allow our future agricultural economists and food scientists to be the catalysts for change. You will ensure that policies are implemented for food safety and guarantee that our Caricom nations have equal access to affordable and nutritious food.

“To my fellow nutritionists and dietitians: we will then share this evidence-based nutritional knowledge and safeguard the health and wellbeing of everyone on a local and regional level.”

UWI chancellor Robert Bermudez commended the graduates on completing a significant part of their programmes under trying circumstances.

“Higher education plays a role in the democratisation of societies by encouraging graduates to be critical thinkers, to be objective in assessing the information available, to be open to other schools of thought, in the hope that that information will be used for the advancement of the societies in which you exist. I ask that whatever you do in the future must be impactful, done at a high quality, with commitment to advancing not only your personal interests but those of the wider community.

“I urge you to be kind to yourself. We often forget the importance of taking care of our own health. In today’s new operating environment, mental health is as critical as physical well-being. Hold fast to your dreams, but remain rooted in reality.”

Graduation ceremonies for The UWI St Augustine will continue until Saturday.

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Golconda man, 18, remanded in custody for murder of boy, 15

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

News

Ryan Rampersad. – TTPS

Ryan Rampersad, the 18-year-old man charged with murdering 15-year-old Videsh Dookran, has been remanded in custody. He appeared before San Fernando Magistrate Armina Deonarinesingh on Wednesday.

Dookran’s body was found stuffed in a latrine behind a pluck shop in Golconda, south Trinidad on October 10.

His body bore chop wounds to his face/head, and gunshots to his chest, with his broken legs sticking out, leading relatives to ask what could have possibly brought him such a terrible fate.

Rampersad, of Church Street, Ponderosa, Golconda, was charged on the advice of DPP Roger Gaspard, SC.

He is scheduled to reappear in court on November 16.

A police statement said they received information on October 9 about the fatal shooting of a 15-year old boy and the concealment of his body.

“Extensive investigations were conducted by officers of the Homicide Bureau Region Three into the matter, which resulted in the arrest of an 18-year-old male suspect on October 18.”

Rampersad was charged on October 25 by WPC Tricia Knights. The investigation was led by acting Supt Sean Dhillpaul.

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Finance Ministry: Almost-balanced budget for 2022

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

News

Minister in the Ministry of Finance Brian Manning. –

MINISTER in the Ministry of Finance Brian Manning welcomed the news on Thursday that TT received higher revenue for the last fiscal year than was originally estimated.

But former minister in the ministry of finance Vasant Bharath did not believe this news painted a true picture of TT’s economic reality.

The National Transformation Alliance, led by former national security minister and former police commissioner Gary Griffith, welcomed the improved revenue, but said Government could not take credit for it.

The Opposition UNC believed the improved revenue announced by the Finance Ministry shows more evidence of a disconnect between Government and reality.

In a statement on Thursday, the ministry said when Finance Minister Colm Imbert presented the 2022/2023 budget in Parliament on September 26, the revenue figures for fiscal 2022 were based on actual figures from October 1, 2021-August 31, 2022 and estimated figures for September 2022.

“However, the Board of Inland Revenue has since finalised the actual revenue figures for fiscal 2022 and it has been determined that the total revenue in fiscal 2022 was $54.21 billion, which is $2.57 billion more than the revised estimate announced in September 2022, and $10.88 billion more than the original revenue estimate of $43.33 billion for fiscal 2022, made in October 2021.”

The ministry said, “With total expenditure for fiscal 2022 now estimated at $54.54 billion, the fiscal deficit for 2022 is now estimated at $329 million, which is less than 0.2 per cent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), well below the international benchmark for fiscal deficits of three per cent of GDP.”

The ministry added, “In essence, we have achieved an almost balanced national budget in Fiscal 2022, something that has not occurred in TT since 2008, 14 years ago.”

Manning said TT’s receiving better revenue than estimated for fiscal 2022 is good. But this was no reason to throw caution to the wind or make changes to measures outlined in the budget in September.

He said, ” We are still cautiously optimistic and believe that the measures implemented are the most prudent at this time.”

But Bharath countered, “For the Ministry of Finance to take any credit whatsoever for this temporary increase in revenues is a blatant attempt to hoodwink the population into a false sense of security when our reality is the complete opposite.”

Former minister in the ministry of finance Vasant Bharath. –

He argued the increased revenue for fiscal 2022 had nothing to do with fiscal policies implemented by the Government over the last seven years. The higher revenue was connected to circumstances outside of TT’s control such as the geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Bharath said, “The TT economy has suffered negative growth for six consecutive years, with real GDP falling by 15.7 per cent, during which time our Caricom neighbours have grown by 3.2 per cent and the rest of the world by 21.4 per cent.”

He said the recently published retail price index indicates the cost of living has increased by 18 per cent since 2015, without a commensurate increase in wages.

“There is sustained economic and institutional decline across the country, governance is at its weakest and reforms are not happening.”

Bharath said measures such as increased taxation via reductions in the fuel subsidy, proposed property tax, and withdrawals from the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund have failed to instil confidence or improve “growth prospects in a flat and failing economy.”

In a statement, the NTA said it was pleased with the increased revenue mentioned by the Finance Ministry.

But the party cautioned, “We must remain vigilant of the meaningful fiscal and structural reforms necessary to put us on a path to meaningful social and economic recovery.”

NTA Political Leader Gary Griffith. –

The NTA agreed with Bharath that TT’s improved revenue was due to global circumstances which contributed to higher energy prices and TT benefited as a result of this.

“The Government of TT was very fortunate for this windfall and should be seeking to build on it, not claiming credit for it.”

The NTA said Government should not be playing with statistics and semantics.

The party argued that even if the budget for fiscal 2022 is balanced, the deficit from fiscal 2016-2022 still needs to be reduced.

Against this background, the NTA said, “We still have a long way to go before we can have an actual balanced budget.”

UNC chairman Davendranath Tancoo claimed Imbert is living in an alternate universe if Government is speaking about increased revenue and balancing the budget.

UNC chairman Davendranath Tancoo. –

“Citizens are experiencing the worst standard of living that they have ever had in our country’s history.”

Tancoo said public protests against crime, poor infrastructure and high food prices are examples of this.

“It is clear that for Minister Imbert and his government, the PNM now stands for the ‘people never mattered.’”

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