Last Sunday, I was examining the two legal processes to which MP Darryl Smith has been subject because the public is confused why these processes have revealed so little about the alleged sexual harassment. The industrial court proceedings were cloaked by a non-disclosure agreement signed by the employee who claimed …
Read More »Dear Editor: The unfinished business of sexual harassment
The following Letter to the Editor calling for stand-alone sexual harassment legislation was submitted to Wired868 by the Alliance for Sexual Harassment Law. The Alliance includes organisations: CAISO, Coalition against Domestic Violence (CADV), Hindu Women’s Association, (ILSCA), Network of NGOs of Trinidad and Tobago for the Advancement of Women, WOMANTRA, Fire Circle …
Read More »Day in the Life of a secondary school principal: Keeping everyone satisfied
A principal’s job is no walk in the park. Wired868 spoke with a teacher of mathematics and additional maths for more than 17 years, who eventually became the principal of a secondary school in East Trinidad. She finds it taxing but would do it all again if she had to, …
Read More »Dear Editor: How equal was the Equal Opportunity Tribunal?
“I could understand if the claim was dismissed because Mr [Rishi Persad] Maharaj listed the wrong entity as his employer. I could understand if the claim was dismissed because sexual harassment is not currently illegal based on our current legislation. I could even understand if it was dismissed once the …
Read More »Daly Bread: Will the Smith ship sink? What went wrong with the Darryl Smith sexual harassment investigation?
The public is thoroughly confused by the torrent of words wetting us down about Darryl Smith, member of parliament for Diego Martin Central, a safe PNM seat. What are the issues and what were the roles of the various high persons who had conduct of the main issue? The main …
Read More »Noble: Facing the naked truth: the fate of the Christian church
Beneath the veneer of the bikinied women in the Trinity Cathedral lies a harsh truth: the Anglican church is not financially sustainable. If the operating and investment budgets cannot be met by their offerings, the church is in trouble. This is to be expected since the Anglican church is the …
Read More »Demming: Mr Mayor, praise in public, criticise in private!
When a mayor resorts to angrily scolding a roomful of more than 80 adults (all of whom can vote), it tells me that he has forgotten the road travelled to the office he holds. It tells me that he should not be the mayor of anything; he should really return …
Read More »Noble: Powerful men, vulnerable women: exposing sexual harassers
‘Haters gonna hate’ is the thought that comes to mind as the opportunistic warriors of both political parties spar over the Darryl Smith sex scandal. They do not spend a moment to ensure that our women are protected and to voice disgust at the cavalier use of the continued suffering …
Read More »Hip, hip, hip, who raid? Three cheers for Gary Griffith and a suit for Ralph Maraj?
The commissioner of police has a problem; in fact, he has more than one. You are probably thinking crime, but you’re wrong; crime is not his problem, it’s ours! The problems to which I want to call attention are not communal but personal. And they could cost him his job, …
Read More »Daly Bread: A powerhouse Saturday; paying tribute to a weekend of cultural wonder
We have already entered what is clearly going to be the silliest of the silly season of election time. The silliness always has the potential to become deadly. Its near-disastrous level is the result of currently having an opposition that has a mountain to climb to regain public trust and …
Read More »Demming: Atone for your intemperance with sexual harassment legislation, Mr PM
Twenty-six years ago, Radhica Saith published a book titled Why Not a Woman? It paid tribute to more than 100 women in Trinidad who had been making a difference in various spheres of life. One of the women featured at the time was former government minister and mother of our …
Read More »Dear Editor: Phase Two steals Big Five night; should we add a Lil One for the foreigners?
The following letter, designed to ‘offer a few thoughts on the recent Big Five pan concert, staged at the Queen’s Park Savannah last Saturday evening’, was submitted to Wired868 by Earl Best, who asked that we stress that pan music is emphatically NOT one of the several areas in which …
Read More »