“[…] We are not serious/Very few conscious/So I cannot agree with mih own chorus!…” from the first verse of Dis Place nice by Brother Valentino. “[…] Your silence will not protect you…” Audre Lorde, on the false beliefs and toxic consequences earned from calculated or cowardly silences. “Last call to …
Read More »Noble: Listen to Afra and get cracking on public procurement legislation
Harvard Business Review (April 2019) warned that perfectionism is a double-edged sword that can either motivate you to deliver high-quality work or cause you much anxiety and slow you down. Are we witnessing this play out with the many iterations of the procurement legislation saga, or is it something else? …
Read More »Noble: With ‘boundless faith’ in our destiny; give praise despite the challenges, T&T!
“Forged from the love of liberty, in the fires of hope and prayer, with boundless faith in our destiny. We solemnly declare: Side by side, we stand Islands of the blue Caribbean sea. This our native land. We pledge our lives to thee. “Here every creed and race find an …
Read More »Afra Raymond returns to Nelson Mandela Park and refuses to play ball with National Trust
Supposedly in response to my own post in these pages on 9 September 2021, the National Trust made an engaging and informative post here on 17 September 2021. The most striking aspect of that reply was that the essential query was not addressed at all. For those who have an …
Read More »National Trust chair: We got no Mandela Park proposal, but not every action should be done in public
“[…] As Mr Afra Raymond said, the National Trust is a membership-based organisation and we welcome volunteers in every aspect of heritage protection and awareness. However, not every action can or should be conducted in the full view of the public and I am sure that most persons will appreciate …
Read More »Afra: Nelson Mandela Park revisited: the curious silence of the National Trust
‘Your silence will not protect you’—Audre Lorde, on the false benefits and toxic consequences earned from calculated or cowardly silences. I had no intention of returning to this issue but Newsday’s Friday 27 August 2021 article (Woodford Square to become heritage site (newsday.co.tt) was a sharp reminder that there is …
Read More »Afra: What’s Mayor Martinez hiding behind the scenes in Nelson Mandela Park affair?
I wish to present in this article a summary of my main points on the proposed ‘revitalisation’ of the Nelson Mandela Park (formerly King George V Park or, before that, Pompeii Savannah) in west Port of Spain. Some spaces are of such significance that they should be altered only after …
Read More »Noble: ‘Who let the blogs in?’ The risk of MATT’s Devant defence
The Police’s seizure of Mr Devant Maharaj’s phone in pursuit of information, re the recent credible bomb threat, raises important questions about the evolution of the media and the preservation of press freedom. The importance does not arise merely on the issue of the action taken but we need to …
Read More »Noble: The difference between hope and wishful thinking; reasons for cheer in 2019
Vaclav Havel, the Polish leader, said: “Hope is a state of mind, not a state of the world… a dimension of the soul… not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation… is not prognostication. “It is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation …
Read More »Transparency needed! Dumas, Hart and Raymond urge Carmona to heed Uff’s procurement advice
“[…] Contracts, particularly large-scale ones, should not be awarded without elementary transparency so that the public can be assured of straight dealings. The appointment of the Procurement Regulator, albeit an employment contract, will be one of the most critical contract awards in the history of our Republic.” The following letter, signed by Afra Raymond, Reginald Dumas and …
Read More »Shhhhhh! The stony shell of silence that surrounds Sandals’ entry into the sister isle
With the support of my colleagues from Disclosure Today, I have been conducting research into the underlying commercial arrangements for the State-owned hotels in T&T. Those are the decisive details which drive projects of this nature and from which the substantial public benefits ought to flow. The unhelpful responses from …
Read More »Joint CLICO bailout statement: The more we know, the more we know we don’t know!
“After eight years and a half of expensive governmental control, the population is now being told that the government did not know what was being done or how taxpayers’ monies were spent while government appointees were ‘in the saddle.’ “What other surprises remain hidden?” The following joint media statement on …
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