Since physical travel remains risky in these times, Caribbean Yard Campus is offering an inclusive package of virtual education and Caribbean tours in its Rainy Season Programme 2021. Many of us may have ‘done Spanish’ at some level in school, yet cannot speak the language. The course ‘Vamos a Hablar’ …
Read More »Noble: ‘Disadvantaged youths losing opportunity to improve life chances and contribute to national economy’
I am not a professional teacher. But I enjoy teaching and have been leading a group of pre-teens in an under-privileged area (what Bishop Harvey called ‘the belly of the whale’) for the last few years. In the light of the debate about school reopening and the announcement of the …
Read More »Dear Editor: Do Scotiabank and EOC see all clients as equal—including the differently abled?
“[…] Banks in Trinidad and Tobago have been practically pushing their customers to do their banking business online. But how can seniors and persons with disabilities do this when, for the most part, they have neither the knowledge nor the resources to do this? “[…] Even after I made my …
Read More »Demming: Independence 2021: another opportunity missed
I have a vivid childhood memory of standing on the pavement with my friends waving our little flags to mark the end of colonialism and the start of Independence. Annually, I walked from my home in Quarry Street to the Queen’s Park Savannah to enjoy the military-style Independence Parade. Later …
Read More »Daly Bread: Rapid-fire threats posed by Delta variant and CoP’s FUL flurry
The Delta variant is a rapid-fire version of the Covid-19 virus. It is capable of killing many and killing quickly. There are also a growing number of pediatric cases—children having been spared from the original virus. Two weeks ago the New York Times reported that ‘one in five ICUs (intensive …
Read More »T&T wants First World policing from Third World model: Griffith, data and decolonising the TTPS
“[…] It is well documented that the history of policing in Trinidad and Tobago has been characterised as bearing the undesirable feature of paramilitarism… Joan Mars, Guyanese sociologist and policing scholar, when commenting on policing during the colonial times argued that this model of policing was characterised by: “An emphasis …
Read More »MSJ: Let’s stop trying to change the party in power and try changing the political arrangements
On the occasion of the 59th Anniversary of the Independence of Trinidad and Tobago, political leader of the Movement for Social Justice David Abdulah is calling on citizens and patriots to embrace the vision of the Second Republic offered by his party. It should be clear to all, says he, …
Read More »Daly Bread: Sandals, smelters and steel orchestras—as music stops, T&T must consider future
Our governance arrangements and political style have left us in an uncomfortable void. Our country is not nearly as well managed as we could make it. We have not employed an enlightened combination of the country’s resources, citizen commitment and fairness. There are not many countries that have achieved satisfactory …
Read More »Noble: CoP’s upgraded ‘Cockroaches’ philosophy arms the ‘well off’; the rest of us are mere targets
Trinidad and Tobago did not buy ‘cat in bag’ when we hired Mr Gary Griffith. We knew full well what to expect. In October 2015, then Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon reported on his predecessor’s bid to purchase armoured vehicles for the police service: ‘Unknown to the PS and …
Read More »Was Griffith legally appointed as acting CoP? MSJ concerned about behaviour of PSC, AG, Chandler and firearm license scandal
“[…] The Legal Notice stipulated that the PSC had to submit to the president a list of persons who could act… Was such a list sent to the president? “To date, the Parliament has not given its approval to an acting CoP. Questions may therefore arise if Mr Griffith is …
Read More »‘No reputable economist would suggest privatising WASA!’: Dr Farrell on WASA, VMCOTT, the fuel subsidy and lay-offs
“[…] No, no—WASA should not and cannot be privatised! There are some entities which are what you call in economics, natural monopolies. For an economy like Trinidad and Tobago, the production of water is a natural monopoly and the state should do it. “[…] We are going to give WASA …
Read More »‘The numbers don’t add up’: Dr Farrell on Covid, costs, challenges and consequences
“[…] Non-energy revenues have fallen in 2020-2021 and for next fiscal, 2021-2022, it is going to be worse—partly because people pay taxes on the previous year’s numbers and partly because the recovery is going to be slower than expected because of the state of emergency and the impact of the …
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