Guest Columns

The raucous sound of cuatro and maracas spills from a variety store in Arima. A woman in a long wrap skirt stands nearby, hips swaying in time.  Behind her, whistling along, a street vendor measures out bags of the bright red sorrel that will flavour his customers’ Christmas drinks. A …

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Faris Al-Rawi has turned to the High Court for an interpretation of the Tobago House of Assembly Act and, specifically, a determination as to whether Watson Duke can legally continue in his dual role of THA deputy chief secretary and Public Service Association …

Farley Augustine and the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) have interrupted the alarming descent of Trinidad and Tobago into an authoritarian one-party state and I thank them for that. Having comprehensively routed the incumbent People’s National Movement (PNM) in the Tobago House of Assembly elections, in the backyard of its leader …

The news was blunt but not unexpected. The lead sentences (Express, 9 December 2021) calmly reported, ‘Shadie Dassrath was beaten to death in an apartment in La Romaine last Friday morning. An autopsy done on the body of the 31-year woman found she died of blunt force trauma and sustained …

“[…] No matter how intelligent, resourceful, talented, creative or gifted, one individual cannot effectively and efficiently discharge the functions/duties of two full-time jobs. “[…] The Chief Secretary, in effect, would be demonstrating a stupefying lack of confidence in the other members of his team at the THA if he allows …

“[…] The MSJ looks forward to the PDP making good on its commitments to implement transparency and accountability in the affairs of the Tobago House of Assembly.  “We also believe that the overwhelming mandate received by the PDP presents an opportunity to fashion a new development approach in Tobago based …

Covid-19 brought an exhausting string of events. First, we had to wash our hands, and then we had to wear masks, social distance from all, then lockdown.  To be vaccinated or not. Fear populated our every moment as we realised how little control we had over our lives. The feeling …

Dear Prime Minister, When you speak, I listen like many others young and old, we all listen closely. If we miss your message, we go to social media and that is where I found a shocking clip from a recent News Conference on Anslem Gibbs’ Twitter feed of 3 December …

George Washington Carver was born into conditions of slavery but nevertheless became a prominent agricultural scientist and innovator in crop farming. I mention him in the context of our leaders masking reality with excuses.   Carver stated his view in a single sentence: ‘Ninety-nine per cent of failures come from …

In 2001, Enron—named the ‘most innovative company ’ by Fortune magazine for six consecutive years—collapsed.  Enron’s chairman and chief executive officer, Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, were two arrogant and belligerent men who believed they were the ‘smartest guys in the room’. They believed that, through their sheer cleverness and …

The last 21 months have drained our nation’s emotional resources and injected paranoid feelings. Uncertainty and risk are now our constant companions.  We no longer have a clear vision of the future. We are exhausted. The constant quarrelling on every front has bewildered us, and we no longer appear to …

In a recent media interview, the interviewee was asked this very direct question: ‘Have you ever accepted a bribe for a firearm?’ Gary Griffith, former commissioner of police, former government minister, former senator, former captain in the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force who is now husband, father and private citizen, …