Guest Columns

Today, when Finance Minister Colm Imbert unveils his budget, we will see whether the Dr Keith Rowley-led administration, too, is guilty of confusing the private sector with big business and big business with entrepreneurship. If this government, too, is locked in the conventional economic paradigm, we might as well pucker …

Tomorrow’s Budget presentation by Finance Minister Colm Imbert is the most eagerly anticipated Appropriation Bill in many years. The main reason for heightened interest is the depressed state of the economy. With low oil, gas and commodities prices, hence lower-than-normal revenues accruing to government, citizens are waiting to see just …

“I, having been elected a member of parliament, do swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to Trinidad and Tobago, will uphold the constitution and the law and will conscientiously and impartially discharge responsibilities to the people of Trinidad and Tobago, upon which I am about to enter.” …

Not being a religious person, I must confess that religion (used here collectively) confuses me, and quite often frightens me. Mark you, I am not disrespectful towards religion or religious persons. If I were, I’d be alienated from most of my family, relatives, friends and fellow-citizens, almost all of whom …

A few days ago a young mother, pregnant with her second child, filed a report with the police. Her estranged husband had turned up at her parents’ home and threatened to “blow” them up. Roughly twelve hours later, in the dead of night, the house where she lived with her …

Three years ago, at a workshop on women’s health, a street-smart 23-year-old from along the East West Corridor asked me, “If a man — in my mouth, I could get pregnant?” It will shock many to know that while in popular discourse about sexuality, young people are stereotyped as sexually …

Violence in Trinidad and Tobago is endemic. It pervades the pages of daily newspapers; it generates local content and attracts advertising income. We routinely talk about it, laugh about it and even contemplate it. It is hard to determine when or why, but we have allowed brutality to become our …

To frame the discussion about the UWI Penal-Debe South Campus purely in terms of location is to shortchange the conversation that has long been needed about this TT$509.4 million investment in the expansion of the University of the West Indies. The case for and against—as articulated by both the former …

Last week, at the opening of the new law term, two main speeches were delivered. The first was a feature address by former President of the Republic and former principal of the UWI St Augustine campus, Professor Max Richards. The second was the customary speech by the Chief Justice, a …

Reading the racists posts on social media immediately following the election results, I was reminded of an intense conversation with a young Bosnian who tried to convince me that theirs was not a war born out of racism but rather ethnic differences. I must say I never got the point …

My last two columns, one titled “Rowley rising” and the other “Lament for a falling leader”, were seen by many of my readers as being almost prophetic in the wake of last Monday’s election results. Had I made public another document in which I analysed the results in all 41 …

All governments come to office with a chance at greatness. Many never even recognise it, most are too afraid to acknowledge it, and very few ever achieve it. Of our governments, none has scaled the heights. Some have done good, others have done better, all have done some things worse. …