Trini Post

From as early as next week, the newly implemented ttconnect mobile service will allow T&T citizens to use their cellular phones and the SMS text messaging service to receive traffic updates as well as other important news about the Fifth Summit of the Americas. Public Administration Minister, Kennedy Swaratsingh, made the announcement last Tuesday as he delivered the feature address during the official launch of the ttconnect suite of services at the Chaguanas Service Centre located at Gaston Street, Chaguanas.

Swaratsingh said users of the ttconnect mobile service would be charged a small fee. He said that in time the service will be expanded to grant members of the public access to a wider range of Government services. “By July 2009, the public will be able to access more ttconnect services using their mobile phones such as subscribing for state news and weather bulletins,” Swaratsingh said. He said that the entire ttconnect service comprises the ttconnect service centres, ttconnect Self serve, ttconnect Online, ttconnect Hotline and the ttconnect Mobile all of which will help to improve the image of the public service and improve customer service delivery.

There are six ttconnect service centres in operation at St James, Princes Town, Chaguanas, Arima, Tunapuna and Bon Accord, Tobago, and five self serve kiosks located at the Piarco International Airport, Hi-Lo Foods Stores, Point Fortin, Trincity Mall and the Gulf City Malls in La Romaine and Tobago. Through the services, citizens may apply for a wide range of services including their first electronic birth certificate, home improvement grants, admission into the OJT, MUST and other training programmes and in the near future the issuance of provisional permits and applications for passports, and student visas.

“Such a multi-modal programme of access will help in directly addressing citizens major concerns of choice, convenience, accessibility, timeliness efficiency and satisfaction with Government’s current levels of service delivery. “For the various ministries and agencies, the decongesting of their respective departments is expected to act as motivation and assist in efforts toward the better alignment of services to customer needs,” Swaratsingh said.

By: CORI BAYNES of Guardian

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Petrotrin workers tried to break down the gates of the Petrotrin administration building yesterday as protest action escalated over non- payment of profit sharing. President general of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU), Ancil Roget, led the workers in a march outside the Petrotrin refinery in Pointe-a-Pierre as he warned the public, “Fasten your seat belts and get ready for a rotten ride.” The all-day demonstration crippled exploration and production operations in Santa Flora, Guayaguayare, Penal, Barrackpore, Forest Reserve, Trinmar and Point Fortin.

Trinmar workers used a wooden coffin in the demonstration to depict the alleged strangulation of the company. Police kept close watch over the demonstrators as they beat drums and chanted. Although the Petrotrin refinery operated with minimal staff, Roget warned that the protest will escalate step by step until Petrotrin’s management agreed to pay profit sharing to workers. He accused Petrotrin’s management of making a unilateral decision not to pay profit sharing for the 2007-2008 period. Roget said the company planned to make the payments over a three year period. However, he said workers did not trust this arrangement, as the company had reneged on promises in the past.

While his colleagues waved flags around him and sang, “We want we money, before they buss the company,” Roget said that Petrotrin’s 5,500 workers made a sacrifice to accept a lower wage in exchange for profit sharing. “Profit sharing is part of the compensation for employees to take lower wages instead of increases and for workers to share risks in exchange for a small percentage of the profits that Petrotrin earned. Now they are being told that they cannot get the money now,” Roget said. He said, “This is not new money that the union is asking for. It is money that these workers are entitled to get based on the profits that Petrotrin made for the 2007 and 2008 period,” Roget said.

“Petrotrin like a lot of State enterprises is not being accountable. We are not going to stand for that,” Roget said. He said the union will lobby for the total removal of all of Petrotrin’s executive. “They (Petrotrin) saying they have no money, yet they have created two redundant top positions. They have created the post of vice president, president and executive president and we are saying that we will not allow the workers of Petrotrin to be robbed of what is owed to them,” Roget said. Petrotrin’s communications manager, Arnold Corneal, could not be reached for comment as calls to his cellular and office lines went unanswered.

By: RADHICA SOOKRAJ of Guardian

Chairman and chief executive officer of bpTT, Robert Riley, has said that the company may have to make further adjustments to its business and possibly lay off staff as oil and gas prices continue to fall. Recalling the retrenchment of 103 employees in May 2008 in a previous reorganisation, Riley said, “To go from a product that is selling at $130 barrel of oil equivalent per day (boed) to sub-$50 is a tough thing and no doubt some further adjustments would be required. “But we intend to continue doing the things that will continue to keep our business healthy for a very long time.”

Riley said the changes made to the organisation in 2007 had helped in the preparation to manage through this difficult period in terms of the quality of its staff and optimisation of its structure. The local reorganisation was part of major reorganisation in the parent group’s structure announced by BP chief executive, Tony Hayward, in 2007. Confident that the economic crisis would not last forever, Riley said when this situation corrects itself, “we want to be in a position to be a good strong business. “BP has gone through a difficult period. We’ve made ourselves competitive again and as a consequence, we are in a very good position to weather the storm.”

By: YVONNE WEBB of Guardian

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The Media Association of T&T (MATT) has expressed “cautious optimism” for a workable relationship between itself and the Government following the furor over Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s controversial visit to the 94.1fm radio station in Port-of-Spain last year. Executive members of the association met yesterday with Information Minister Neil Parsanlal at Nicholas Towers in Port-of-Spain to outline its position on that issue and others relating to the industry. “This (meeting) follows what we believe was the beginning of a really contentious relationship between members of the media and the Government when the prime minister visited the offices of 94.1,” MATT president Marlon Hopkinson told reporters after the 90-minute meeting.

“We felt that we wanted to know what was Government’s position as it relates to members of the media and we also wanted the government to know what was our position. “Following yesterday’s meeting, I think it is safe to say that we are cautiously optimistic about what we spoke to the minister about. “Of course, we will wait to see what happens in the next few weeks, next few months.” Accompanied by MATT vice-president Judy Raymond and general secretary Sterling Henderson, Hopkinson said the talks were wide-ranging. It included discussions about the controversial broadcast code, prevailing standards in journalism, opportunities for training and development and the committee established by government to examine standards in broadcast media. Of the latter, Hopkinson said Parsanlal gave a guarded response when pressed about its mandate. “All he would say is that Mr Ken Gordon has taken up the challenge of being the head of this committee,” he said.

Henderson said the association had complained about the level of tutelage that was being dispensed at Costatt and the University of T&T. “We felt that we had reached a stalemate, though, in terms of holding these institutions accountable to their product and trying to find a means by which to address that. “It was also suggested that government do more to encourage media houses to facilitate training. We expressed the concern that a lot of times people may want to receive training, but because of work demands and financial demands aren’t able to take time off,” he added. Henderson said, however, MATT was doing its part to uplift the standard of journalism through the organising of a six-segment training programme in February.

By: COREY CONNELLY

Residents and the business community of Couva are reeling from a spate of robberies over the recent Christmas season and are welcoming the new year with fear and uncertainty. Over the past few months an increasing number of bandits have been boldly roaming the Southern Main Road in Couva in daylight, robbing customers and business places and, in many instances, leaving people injured and traumatised. President of the Couva/Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce, Ashmeer Mohamed, related to the Sunday Guardian some of the attacks on the business community.

By: YVONNE BABOOLAL

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