“The police and the police commissioner are not supposed to declare war on the citizens of the country. They are supposed to bridge the gaps and develop and maintain good relationships with the people in the communities. “[…] The youths in our communities are not criminals by nature; it is …
Read More »Fixin T&T: Kamla must fire Ramdeen now! UNC Senator operating under several clouds
“It’s been more than 48 hours since criminal charges have been officially laid against [UNC Senator Gerald Ramdeen]. Mr Ramdeen is an unelected member of our Parliament whose removal is long overdue…” Fixin T&T calls on Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to remove Senator Gerald Ramdeen, after he was charged for …
Read More »Dear Dale Enoch: Who we go put?! NOTA is not a serious option for responsible citizens
I know I have a strong stomach. In my almost five decades as an adult, I have attended countless political meetings and have never once, as far as I remember, thrown up. I almost did this morning. Had I already broken my fast when I saw ‘50,000 NEW JOBS’ sprawled …
Read More »Over $16 million unaccounted from FIFA-funded Home of Football project! TTFA bank records to be searched next
Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president David John-Williams and general secretary Camara David could be asked to explain a gap in excess of TT$16 million between the quantum of contracts at their headquarters and the budget for the controversial Home of Football in Couva. The revelation comes as TTFA …
Read More »Chambers of Commerce criticise ‘invasive’ Unexplained Wealth Bill, urge Govt to hold consultations
“The very invasive legislation seeks to investigate property owners, business persons and others with accumulated wealth as to the means in which they are acquired… “The Joint Chambers do acknowledge the present administration’s drive for transparency within the private economic forces that service our nation. We would also hope our …
Read More »Noble: Don’t forget how we got in this financial mess; and here’s how to improve our economy
“Thank God for decisions made to stimulate drilling […] by the Kamla Persad- Bissessar government… Instead of benefitting from flowing gas today, we might well have been on our knees, eating grass.” (Dr Bhoe Tewarie, Trinidad Express, 13 March.) An astounding statement with subtexts! What exactly is he saying and …
Read More »Why for the upper class, silence is golden; Perry rebuts Aboud on cure for public ills
After digesting Gregory Aboud’s insightful commentary in the Trinidad Express, it behooves me to offer a retort. His “Silence of The Elites” piece is chicanery masked as concern for country and changing the status quo. Aboud may genuinely believe that he is offering a compelling and emphatic critique of his …
Read More »Daly Bread: Failure of ‘govt by giveaway’; T&T’s culture of opportunistic collusion
This column was one of the first among regular commentaries to identify that Government slackness was embracing criminality, and to make dire predictions about where this would lead. The assertion was met with dismay on the cocktail circuit. A well regarded commentator suggested to me that our governments were ‘mooks’ …
Read More »Dear Editor: Is ‘UNC corruption’ largely a PNM sales gimmick to derail debate?
“A prominent political scientist devoted newspaper and academic articles to illustrating the UNC as corrupt and also darkly suggested an ethnic propensity to white-collar crime. He wrote: ‘For the UNC, politics is relative; everything is for relatives.’ “The party of all-ah-we-t’ief, Johnny O’Halloran and which spawned corruption-buster Gene Miles, had taken …
Read More »Perry: Why natural disasters are part and parcel of our broken political system
When the 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit in mid-August this year, many were in shock; some even thought it was the end. Warnings of raging tropical storms/hurricanes largely go unnoticed in sweet T&T. Instead, we bring out the rum, puncheon and babash. Recall the road to Manzanilla was cut off not …
Read More »Dear Editor: Petrotrin workers must not suffer alone, let public enquiry root out executive crooks
“The workers must not however be the only or even the first victims of the collapse and closure of the refinery. “We, the taxpayers need reassurance that the architects of this financial disaster are made to pay a price commensurate with the scale of their failures—be they directors or Cabinet …
Read More »Vidale: Closing Petrotrin’s refinery does not address issue of state-instigated corruption
It has now been more than a week since it was announced publicly that Petrotrin’s refinery would be closed down. We have been bombarded by information which can be classified as facts, alternative facts and outright fake news. Interpretation of this information has been shrouded in hues of red and …
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