The following response to a Trinidad Guardian editorial on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s public statement on unpaid salaries during his suspension from Parliament was submitted to Letter to the Editor by David Pierre: Reference is made to an editorial titled ‘Dr Rowley’s missing pay cheque’ which appeared in the …
Read More »Planting the garden wrong: Daly frets over T&T’s bitter cassava as values go astray
The instability, corruption and favouritism—as well as enduring shade, class and foreign preference—and just plain, but twisted, foolishness have become so overwhelming that I have been unable to write about some of my favourite things that reflect the resources capable of making Trinidad and Tobago a happier place. I had …
Read More »Thanks Pa: Raffique Shah’s moving tribute to his late father, Haniff
Fathers like mine—ordinary men who are barely literate in most instances and worked hard to provide for their families—are remembered only by their immediate families and maybe some friends and people in the communities in which they lived and died. In a society where success is measured by materialism or …
Read More »Traffic in Trinidad: the bad, the worse and how to fix it
The following blog on life for commuters in Trinidad was submitted to Wired868 by Jeremy Francis: I recently had a client meeting in the East, so I was on my way up the highway. This was before the introduction of the speed guns. The meeting was at 9 am, so being …
Read More »No civility, much hypocrisy; Raffique Shah points at both sides of the House
It would be asking too much of our politicians that they show some humility in their public lives. In fact, it will be true to say that, with precious few exceptions, politicians across the world are egotistical and arrogant—character traits that distinguish them from most ordinary human beings. Lest I …
Read More »Sailing on the Awesome Conjob; the Naipaul-Coolman case and soca on the seas
The digital and social media now regularly facilitates the uncovering of many matters that in earlier times might have slipped through the darkness of political obfuscation, including taking blatantly inconsistent positions on the same issue. One example of a significant revelation is the massive wrongdoing that has occurred in the …
Read More »Board Games (Part Two): Afra Raymond continues look into State boards
Part One of my look into State boards prompted a series of extremely interesting responses, so I will continue this examination of the State Controlled Agencies. This term includes State-owned Enterprises (SoEs) such as UDECOTT, Caribbean Airlines and Education Facilities Company Limited (EFCL), as well as Statutory Agencies like WASA, TTEC, CDA, …
Read More »18 T&T civil society groups unite on eradication of child marriage
The Association of Female Executives of Trinidad and Tobago (AFETT), Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA), Coalition Advocating for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation (CAISO), Domestic Violence Survivors Reaching Out, Down Syndrome Family Network, UWI Faculty of Law (St Augustine Campus), Family Planning Association of Trinidad and Tobago (FPATT), …
Read More »Peerless and fearless: Muhammad Ali was simply The Greatest
In death, as in life, he straddled the world like a colossus. All the major international news networks suspended regular programming to pay homage to Muhammad Ali, the greatest boxer ever, the supreme sporting figure of the 20th Century, the defiant one who sacrificed a successful career on the altar …
Read More »Withholding assent: President Carmona does not understand his ‘powers’
I take comfort from the assertion of Archbishop Joe Harris last week that one does not go to hell for telling the truth, in light of the fact that it is necessary again to examine the conduct of the office of the President of the Republic. What has prompted this …
Read More »Board Games: Do State boards belong to the Government or the People?
The recent controversy over the dismissal of Dennise Demming as Chair of the Tourism Development Company (TDC) has sparked yet another round of debate on the role and operation of State-owned Enterprises (SoEs). Some of the issues which have arisen are: •What is the purpose of these SoEs? •How do …
Read More »You can’t shame the shameless; why Integrity Commission is a waste
When constitutionally-independent institutions in the country seem to be collapsing, when holders of the highest offices seem confused about their roles and perplexed about their powers. And when the law publicly proves to be the proverbial ass, then, Trinidad and Tobago, we have a problem. A very serious problem. Many people …
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