“What should be of great concern to all the decent right-thinking citizens of Trinidad and Tobago is whether there is no limit beneath which some persons not sink in their quest for political power even if it means destroying the wider national interest. “This is a serious question for the …
Read More »Pandemic leave, child care and remote work possibilities: Labour Minister issues guidelines
Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus issued guidelines today to employers, unions and employees designed to deal with the Covid-19 virus and ‘mitigate the obvious personal and family logistical inconveniences and the consequential significant workplace adjustments which are expected to be faced, as a result of the inevitable decision which had to …
Read More »Noble: Sunshine the best disinfectant: why churches must open their books
US Justice Louis Brandeis, in his book Other People’s Money, explained: “Sunshine is said to be the best of disinfectants.” He leveraged the view that ‘public opinion … is full of sunlight … selfishness, injustice, cruelty, tricks and jobs of all sorts shun the light’. This is appropriate to the …
Read More »Baptiste-Primus: NEDCO’s Business Accelerator encourages new type of entrepreneur
“Competitiveness will depend, to a large extent, on the ability of firms and our people to innovate. We need to encourage a new kind of entrepreneur in Trinidad and Tobago—resourceful individuals who can draw from their creative genius and give birth to new products and services and rather than merely …
Read More »Noble: The ‘underbanked’ and the $100 bill; the real solution is accessible electronic banking for all
Much of the discussion about the introduction of the polymer $100 bill conflates the evil of ‘dark’ money with persons who have been shut out of the banking system. The persons who deal in ‘dark’ money have self-selected to operate outside the system; but there are those who are unable …
Read More »Dear Editor: Best is wrong, stats suggest Kamla CAN deliver promised 50,000 jobs to T&T
“This is not a personal attack on my erstwhile journalist/teacher friend, Earl [Best]. It is meant as a critique of his un-researched commentary. “From what one can discern, Earl has an obvious personal issue with Kamla’s declared intent on creating 50,000 jobs, if she becomes PM. On the surface, one …
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 »‘Every mickle mek a muckle!’ How to safeguard yourself financially in tough economic times
“Right now you’re in survival mode, firmly planted in the present. All annuities should stop. Any other retirement saving or investing should cease. “[…] The vultures are coming. Apparently it’s feeding season for everybody from insurance agents to car salesmen when they know a few thousand people on our little …
Read More »Noble: Past actions compromise fiscal sustainability; the cost of political trade-offs
The Dr Roodal Moonilal Ramai Trace SDMS Primary School (Sunday Express, 13 January) is a prime example of our need to examine public spending. In 2013, the school ostensibly bestowed naming rights on the MP for the TT$350,000 raised from businessmen in the area to purchase the land. Construction reportedly …
Read More »Noble: We can make it if we try; reason for hope amidst despair in T&T
Four days before Christmas, a video showing Mister Shak and Myron Bruce visiting an apparently bedridden Black Stalin was posted. The significance of the event is the evident caring support of Patsy Calliste, who invited the guys plus their enthusiasm to cheer our brother. Being kind and generous, they were …
Read More »Demming: Rowley must communicate vision to T&T and show he is ready to lead
I believe many people want a leader who is able to form a human connection with them using both words and deeds. So my single wish for 2019 is a leader who communicates with us this way. The last time I heard our leader speak was at the PNM Convention …
Read More »Noble: T&T citizens have not even an orange to suck in bitter economic times
As children, we all took a ‘purge’ during the August school vacations, but our mothers gave us an orange to take away the bitter taste. Now we do not even have a sour orange as—according to Minister Franklin Khan, during his discussion of the latest twist in the Petrotrin saga—we …
Read More »