“[…] There is a projected decrease on personnel expenditure from the 2020 figure to the 2021 figure of $377,504,500. Personnel expenditure, therefore, is being slashed in half. “WASA employs approximately 5,100 permanent, temporary and so-called contract workers. If personnel expenditure is to be reduced by 50%, it is only logical …
Read More »Dear Editor: Indiscipline begins at the top, PM shouldn’t ‘pick on’ public servants
“[…] The late Gordon Draper, MP for Port of Spain North/St Ann’s West was given leave of absence for almost an entire Parliamentary term to pursue private business. MP Maxie Cuffie fell ill early in his Parliamentary term, was hospitalised for much of it, and suffered no loss of income. …
Read More »NJAC rededication: Pegasus’ flight—how forerunner to NJAC inspired national stadium and awards
“[…] ‘Pegasus’ was formed by Brother Makandal Daaga after a life-changing event at an Independence night party, on 31 August 1962. He was shocked when persons protested noisily, when the DJ put on the very first calypso for the night, shouting that it was not Carnival and for him to …
Read More »Dear Editor: Anil’s attack on TTOC president is unwarranted and hypocritical
“[…] Mr Brian Lewis is not the only individual to head a sporting body with a political affiliation. Mr Azim Bassarath, chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board currently serves as a UNC Alderman in the Princes Town Regional Corporation and has appeared on national political platforms. “Is Anil …
Read More »NWU: Lock up employers who don’t pay NIS! DPP urged to investigate ‘criminality by employers’
“[…] Within recent times, several of the retrenched workers from The Myerson Company Limited have approached our Union for advice and representation. “In the process, they raised with us some concerns over their contributions to NIS—only to discover that no contributions were remitted to NIB for parts of 2018, none …
Read More »Dear Editor: T&T’s bureaucratic education system doesn’t reward success or punish failure
“[…] Public Education is the only industry we have in which if you do a good job, nothing good happens; and if you do a bad job nothing bad happens to you. If we do not change this fact, we will not get better schools…” The following letter to the …
Read More »Dear Editor: My dad, Sheldon Gomes, epitomised grace, humility, and generosity…
“[…] His departure was both sudden and unexpected. One could say it was in his nature. The only person who could truly say they knew Dad’s movements […] was his travel agent…” The following Letter to the Editor on the passing of former Trinidad and Tobago cricketer Sheldon Gomes—a former …
Read More »NJAC rededication: Gene Miles, Errol Pilgrim and Makandal Daaga come to the fore
“[…] Gene Miles’ evidence before Karl De La Bastide-led commission of enquiry exposed corruption in very high places. The one-man commissioner, Karl De La Bastide, recommended that all evidence recorded at the enquiry ‘should be, without delay, transmitted to the Public Service Commission’ to enable enforcing of ‘Disciplinary Laws of …
Read More »Dear editor: Gender-based violence is a ‘shadow pandemic’ in T&T; we need attitudinal change
“[…] Attitudinal and behavioural changes won’t happen by vaps. We have serious work to do. For example, we must address the need for values/conscience formation and citizenship programmes—at home, in our educational institutions, in our faith communities, in our workplaces etc…” The following is a press statement from the Catholic …
Read More »‘Grosvenor had the gift of understanding the teenage spirit’; SSFL honours iconic coach
“[…] As we got to know him better it became abundantly clear that he did not do it to make a name for himself (which happened anyway) or to win championships (which his teams did anyway). Instead, he wanted to shape young individuals to act as leaders. “[Nigel] Grosvenor had …
Read More »Dear editor: Pragmatism and self-respect don’t have to be mutually exclusive domains
“[…] I agree that in any fight one must be strategic in deciding where, when and how to fight. However, to accept perceived injustice without a whimper is tantamount to being a willing or unwilling accomplice to an unjust enterprise. “Understanding the power relationships and what you can and cannot …
Read More »Dear editor: Do Fifa appeasers want everyone to ‘shut up and dribble’?
“[…] Before the Black Lives Matter movement gained global momentum, one Fox News anchor admonished NBA star Lebron James to ‘shut up and dribble’. Put another way she meant: ‘bat in your crease’—stick to entertainment and don’t be so farse as to tell powerful people how to run ‘their’ country. …
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