View Point

Poui drizzling delicate pink blossoms like confetti over a population with little to celebrate has provided a welcome respite from the ashen pall that has been hanging over our heads. The impulse to photograph the trees rising majestically over their fragrant carpets has become the latest pastime. It is a …

I do not believe that the Dragon Field initiative is dead. The rumours of its end are greatly exaggerated. For context, I advance this quotation from the influential US Politico newsletter. It was written about the tariff situation of last week, but it can easily fit our situation. “He likes …

“[…] The now-infamous Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), exposed thanks to Afra Raymond’s successful legal challenge, showed a lopsided agreement. The state was to fund and build the resort on public land. “In turn, Sandals would enjoy sweeping concessions—tax holidays, duty-free status, unlimited work permits for foreigners, and no obligations to …

“The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves—in their separate, and individual capacities.”  US President Abraham Lincoln, 1854. This week saw the United National Congress (UNC) struggle …

In response to several requests, I comment on the now established maladministration of the Ayers-Caesar situation and I also expand on the provisions of section 57 of the Constitution, to which I referred last week in connection with the introduction into the Cabinet of a new finance minister. Marcia Ayers-Caesar …

We are living in difficult times. We are witnessing the world, as we know it, turn topsy-turvy. But we want to be seduced into believing that there is a magic wand that will restore us to the glory days when oil and gas prices were high. We want to be …

“[…] The [Appeal] Court ruled that, despite modern thinking and growing public support for human rights, parts of our Constitution still protect colonial laws. The judges admitted their limitations: they don’t make the laws, they interpret them. The real work, they said, is for Parliament. “That ruling […] was a …

“[…] Both the Privy Council and the Court of Appeal noted that the motivations of the JLSC [in the Marcia Ayers-Caesar case] were not malign. “[…] In my view, reforms are needed of both the Constitution and the Judicial and Legal Services Act. The basis of the reforms must be …

“[…] Here in Trinidad and Tobago, the Road March results still rely on a manual system—TUCO officials physically count song plays at competition venues. “This outdated process is not only time-consuming but also vulnerable to human error, bias, and undue influence…. Embracing digitalisation in Carnival adjudication could resolve these challenges …

Twenty-four hours after his appointment by virtue of section 76(1) (a) of the Constitution to replace former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley, new prime minister Stuart Young called the next general election for April 28. This Young move is probably a good move for his prospects to be re-appointed as …

Stuart Young is on the eve of becoming prime minister. This will be the result of a process designed to have him appointed under section 76 (1) (a) of the Constitution and behind which the Members of the House of Representatives of the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) appear to …

During the Bush 2.0 Administration, pious Christian Nationalist and Attorney General John Ashcroft demanded that two nude statues, called Spirit of Justice and Majesty of Justice, in the Great Hall be covered up with blue drapes, because he deemed the human nudity “indecent” and “distracting”. These were works of art …