Ban­dits dug a tun­nel in order to gain entry in­to the Couva branch of Re­pub­lic Bank Limited (RBL) some time over the long weekend. Alarmingly, that branch is located op­po­site the Cou­va Po­lice Sta­tion. Po­lice have not dis­closed if any­thing was stolen.

The ban­dits re­port­ed­ly made a hole in the wall at the back of the build­ing in which the bank is sit­u­at­ed while a sec­ond hole was dis­cov­ered un­der an­oth­er build­ing on the same com­pound.

RBL announced on Tuesday (31st May 2022) that the branch is now temporarily closed “until further notice,” and encourages customers to utilize its mobile app, website and ATM services. Customers can also visit nearby branches if needed.

According to reports, Po­lice re­ceived a call about the break-in short­ly be­fore 8am on Tuesday morning and were told by bank of­fi­cials that the bank would have last been se­cured on Fri­day (27th May 2022). None of the tools used in the break-in was found at the scene.

Mean­while, Gen­er­al Man­ag­er of Group Mar­ket­ing and Com­mu­ni­ca­tions, Karen Tom Yew-Jar­dine, con­firmed the break-in but did not dis­close any de­tails about how en­try was gained. She al­so de­clined to say whether any­thing was stolen. How­ev­er, Yew-Jar­dine as­sured that cus­tomers' files were not com­pro­mised and the cash vault was not breached.

RBL said in a state­ment that an in­ves­ti­ga­tion has been launched in­to the in­ci­dent and they are co­-op­er­at­ing ful­ly with the au­thor­i­ties. “We can con­firm that all cus­tomers’ records and files re­main se­cured and the branch’s cash vault was not breached.” The statement added, “As this is an on­go­ing in­ves­ti­ga­tion, the bank will be lim­it­ing any fur­ther state­ment on this mat­ter at this time.”

Officers from the Cou­va Po­lice Station are in­ves­ti­gat­ing the incident.

This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

​[Source: T&T Guardian]

The Ministry of Health is advising the public of the following revision to the National Guidelines for entry into Trinidad and Tobago. Effective from 1st June 2022, persons entering the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago will no longer be required to complete the TT Travel Pass application form.

The Ministry notes that all travelers must submit proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR or Lab Approved Antigen test result. The test should be taken no earlier than forty-eight (48) hours prior to entry into Trinidad and Tobago.

The Ministry added, “Any passenger that does not present a negative COVID-19 test will be required to enter into State-supervised quarantine upon their arrival, at their own cost and must provide a negative PCR or Lab Approved Antigen test, at any time during their quarantine period, as a condition for release.”

The public is reminded to adhere to the latest Public Health Guidelines [2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)] (No. 7) Regulations, 2022 and the 3Ws including frequent hand washing, social distancing and mask wearing.

Persons can visit the Ministry of Health's official social media pages or website, www.health.gov.tt, for further information.

In a News Release today (Tuesday 31st May 2022), Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TSTT), said it has initiated its restructuring exercise with 468 employees receiving retrenchment notices. The company notes that of this number, 403 employees, comprising a mix of Junior and Senior Staff and Estate Police Officers will, “in keeping with the Collective Agreements with their representative Unions, each receive payment in lieu of the regulatory forty-five (45) days' notice.”

The News Release added, “On January 17, 2022, TSTT invited its employee representative unions to consultations regarding the proposed restructuring and refinement of its operating/business model. Consultations with employees and the Representative Majority Unions (RMUs), including the Communications Workers' Union (CWU) and Estate Police Association (EPA) began on February 1 and were conducted in good faith and in line with best Industrial Relations practice. The company engaged with the RMUs and its employees by meeting virtually and by exchange of communication on matters related to the need for change, the rationale for the proposed structure, and its staffing.”

The company went on to explain that the need to restructure TSTT is “urgent and critical, necessitated both by the impact of challenging economic conditions brought on by the COVID-19 Pandemic and the drastic effect of changes in technology on the company's operation and performance.”

In the financial year ended 31st March 2021, TSTT's revenue fell by TT $453 Million — 18% less than the prior year. “This material decline was partly due to issues related to the COVID-19 Pandemic and a combination of economic and technological factors both unique to the Trinidad and Tobago market as a direct result of the global digital revolution in the telecommunications industry. Regionally and internationally, networks are under pressure: internet traffic is growing exponentially, but the price per gigabyte is declining almost as rapidly, and the result is a downward pressure on revenue growth and margins,” the company said.

TSTT CEO Lisa Agard said, "Given our challenges, TSTT has no option but to restructure to remain competitive. We are moving to an operating model that is more in line with industry benchmarks, and one that will enable us to adapt and evolve with the constant developments in technology. This is our only option if we are to return to sustainable profitability.”

​“In devising the new organization, TSTT leveraged the model of ‘customer journeys’ to envision what a new, streamlined, customer-obsessed organization could look like, post-restructuring. TSTT believes that it has developed a dynamic and visionary future-state organization that leverages the significant capital investments that the company has made in the technology areas, leading to its networks being at today's cutting-edge level and able to support growth in the foreseeable future."

Meanwhile, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) is gearing up to challenge TSTT after retrenchment notices were allegedly given to 468 employees on Tuesday.

Speaking with Loop via telephone shortly after TSTT issued its News Release on Tuesday, CWU Secretary General Clyde Elder said his Association represents 376 of the retrenched individuals, making the CWU the recognized RMU. He, however, declined to state what type of action would be undertaken by the Union. Elder said plans are already in the works for members to mobilize in the Capital this Friday (3rd June 2022).

“I don't want to say what action we will be taking at this time but we are not going to sit idly by and allow them to do what they want. They have written to employees and told employees that the retrenchment is to take effect tomorrow. The law says 45 days,” he said.

This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

​[Source: Loop]

The Ministry of Health revealed in its daily COVID-19 update this afternoon (Tuesday 31st May 2022) that there are 149 new COVID-19 cases in Trinidad and Tobago plus one (1) additional death. T&T’s total active positive cases is currently at 9,207.

​The number of new cases is the lowest for the month and represents a 34.36% decrease in reported cases from yesterday. This is the third consecutive day of decreasing cases.

There have been 13,717 new cases and eighty-eight (88) deaths in the month of May. Compared to April, cases increased by 37.07% and deaths increased by 11.39%.

The Ministry reported 227 new cases yesterday plus four (4) more unfortunate deaths. The country’s death toll has increased to 3,917. As of 25th May 2022, 278 deaths were fully vaccinated persons while 3,231 deaths were not fully vaccinated. 390 deaths were recorded prior to 24th May 2021 (date at which the first group of vaccinated persons became fully vaccinated).

A total of 712,537 persons have been fully vaccinated, representing 50.9% of the population. Meanwhile, 687,463 persons are not fully vaccinated (only received a first dose or no doses), representing 49.1% of the population. 158,472 persons in total have taken a booster shot.

Based on data from 22nd July 2021 - 25th May 2022, 3,520 patients in the parallel healthcare system (Hospitals and step-down facilities) are fully vaccinated, representing 18.8%, while 15,183 are not fully vaccinated, representing 81.2%.

The Ministry states that the number of positive cases reported reflects the samples taken during a 3-day period between 28th - 30th May 2022 and not the last twenty-four (24) hours.

The Ministry also notes that there are currently 184 COVID-19 positive patients in total being treated at Hospitals and step-down facilities (up 0.55% from yesterday). Four (4) are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and six (6) are in the High Dependency Unit (HDU).

This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

The Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service (TTMS) said on Tuesday (31st May 2022) that it has been tracking an approaching Tropical Wave, which is currently located near 49° West longitude — about 1,350 Km East of Trinidad and Tobago.

According to the Met Office, an increase in cloudiness associated with this Tropical Wave is expected from late Wednesday (1st June 2022), into Thursday. There is a 60% or greater chance of Thunderstorms and/or heavy showers over Trinidad and Tobago during the passage of this Tropical Wave. An increase in low-level wind speed and wind gusts can also be expected. The weather associated with this Wave is likely to last until Friday evening (3rd June 2022).

This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

Republic Bank Limited (RBL) announced on Monday (30th May 2022) that its Promenade Centre branch in Port-of-Spain will be permanently closed from 1pm on Thursday 30th June 2022.

RBL said, “We look forward to now serving you at our Independence Square branch, where you can also access our ATM and Night Safe services.”

The bank is directing customers to its website (www.republictt.com) for more information.

Additionally, RBL announced on Tuesday (31st May 2022) that its Couva branch is now temporarily closed “until further notice,” and encourages customers to utilize its mobile app, website and ATM services. Customers can also visit nearby branches if needed.

No reasons were given for either the permanent closure in Port-of-Spain or the temporary closure in Couva.

RBL apologizes for any inconvenience caused.

A 38-year-old moth­er of five (5) was killed in a hail of bullets in her front gallery in Mau­si­ca on Sun­day night (29th May 2022). She has been identified as Lin­da Dalips­ingh, of Cres­cent Dri­ve, Mau­si­ca Road, D’Abadie. Her 27-year-old male friend from Wa­ter­hole, Co­corite, was also wound­ed in the incident.

Ac­cord­ing to re­ports, the shoot­ing took place around 7pm, as Dalips­ingh was sit­ting in her front gallery with her friend. A man re­port­ed­ly walked in front of Dalips­ingh’s home, drew a gun and be­gan shoot­ing in their di­rec­tion. Dalips­ingh and her friend at­tempt­ed to run in­to the house but were shot be­fore they could make it in­side. Dalipsingh’s friend suffered a gunshot to his left leg during the melee. The gun­man then quick­ly ran away in the di­rec­tion he came.

Dalips­ingh’s 11-month-old child and the child’s fa­ther were both in­side the house at the time of the shoot­ing, but luckily es­caped un­scathed. Dalips­ingh and her friend were tak­en to the Ari­ma Dis­trict Hos­pi­tal by Emer­gency Health Ser­vices (EHS) per­son­nel. The mother of five (5), however, died around 9:45pm while un­der­go­ing emer­gency surgery. Meanwhile, her friend re­mained ward­ed in a sta­ble con­di­tion up to late Sunday.

Ten (10) spent 9mm shells were recovered at the scene by Homicide Detectives. Po­lice sources believe that based on the cir­cum­stances of what tran­spired, Dalips­ingh’s friend may have been the target of the gun­man, and not her.

A group of per­sons, who claimed to be friends of Dalips­ingh and her child’s fa­ther, vis­it­ed the scene af­ter hear­ing re­ports of the shoot­ing. They stat­ed that Dalipsingh pre­vi­ous­ly worked for the Com­mu­ni­ty-Based En­vi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion and En­hance­ment Pro­gramme (CEPEP and that she lived at the lo­ca­tion with her youngest child and the child’s fa­ther, while her old­er chil­dren lived with rel­a­tives.

Police are said to have conducted a search to ap­pre­hend the gun­man, but up to late Sunday no arrests were yet made.

Dalips­ingh’s mur­der and that of En­ter­prise res­i­dent Avinash ‘Kr­y­sis’ Seep­er­sad recently, raised the mur­der count for this year so far to 217, com­pared to 142 for the same pe­ri­od last year — which is a jump of al­most 53%.

In­spec­tor Pitt, Sgt Mo­hammed, Cpl Oliv­er, PC Ali and WPC White of the Re­gion Two Homi­cide Bu­reau are con­tin­u­ing in­ves­ti­ga­tions.

This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

[Source: T&T Guardian]

40-year-old Avinash ‘Krysis’ Seepersad, who was alleged to be the leader of the ‘Unruly ISIS’ gang in Enterprise, Chaguanas, was shot dead shortly before Midnight on Sunday (29th May 2022). According to reports, he was walking along John Street, off Mano Street, Enterprise, when a car pulled alongside him and opened fire before speeding off. Seepersad was also known by his Muslim name, Abdul Wakeel.

Police, responding to reports of gunshots in the area, found him lying face down on the side of the road, bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to the Chaguanas District Health Facility where he died while being treated.

Despite his alleged reputation, relatives insist Seepersad was not a gang member. Speaking with Newsday in a phone interview following his murder, a relative said while he was “not perfect” he still did not deserve to die the way he did. She was disappointed with the way he is being portrayed in death. The relative said, “People are passing him off as a gang member when he wasn’t. It is even in the media.” She added, “It is high-class bullying. It is a shame there isn’t a law for that in TT.”

Seepersad was arrested several times in connection with several investigations for activities involving firearms and drugs. He was arrested in 2017 after making homophobic remarks to Police Officers during an exercise in Chaguanas. He was also investigated for making several threats online and bragging about criminal activities in videos. He often spoke about alleged corrupt Police Officers and gang members.

He previously insisted at a Press Conference that he was not a member of the gang and, although he was seen and heard promoting violence in a 2016 music video, had changed his ways.

This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

​[Source: Newsday]

The Ministry of Health revealed in its daily COVID-19 update this afternoon (Monday 30th May 2022) that there are 227 new COVID-19 cases in Trinidad and Tobago plus four (4) additional deaths. T&T’s total active positive cases is currently at 9,233.

​This is the second consecutive day of decreasing cases and hospitalizations. The number of new cases represents a 29.5% decrease in reported cases from yesterday.

There have been 13,568 new cases and eighty-seven (87) deaths so far in the month of May.

The Ministry reported 322 new cases yesterday plus three (3) more unfortunate deaths. The country’s death toll has increased to 3,916. As of 25th May 2022, 278 deaths were fully vaccinated persons while 3,231 deaths were not fully vaccinated. 390 deaths were recorded prior to 24th May 2021 (date at which the first group of vaccinated persons became fully vaccinated).

A total of 712,537 persons have been fully vaccinated, representing 50.9% of the population. Meanwhile, 687,463 persons are not fully vaccinated (only received a first dose or no doses), representing 49.1% of the population. 158,472 persons in total have taken a booster shot.

Based on data from 22nd July 2021 - 25th May 2022, 3,520 patients in the parallel healthcare system (Hospitals and step-down facilities) are fully vaccinated, representing 18.8%, while 15,183 are not fully vaccinated, representing 81.2%.

The Ministry states that the number of positive cases reported reflects the samples taken during a 5-day period between 26th - 30th May 2022 and not the last twenty-four (24) hours.

The Ministry also notes that there are currently 183 COVID-19 positive patients in total being treated at Hospitals and step-down facilities (down 6.15% from yesterday). Four (4) are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and five (5) are in the High Dependency Unit (HDU).

This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

In her Indian Arrival Day statement, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said, “As Trinidad and Tobago celebrates the 177th anniversary of the arrival of indentured labourers from India, today must be a day of reflection on the resilience of our East Indian forefathers, the resilience of those from other lands that they met here, a day to recommit to National unity and a day in which we strengthen our appreciation for all who built our Nation.”

Mrs. Persad-Bissessar also said, “Today as we celebrate Indian Arrival Day, we congratulate those who have fought hard to preserve East Indian culture, preserve the culinary arts, the music and even dance as they all play an invaluable role in creating one of the most unique and beautiful National cultures in the Caribbean.”

​Read her full statement below: