Tag Archives: Integrity Commission

In 2001, Enron—named the ‘most innovative company ’ by Fortune magazine for six consecutive years—collapsed.  Enron’s chairman and chief executive officer, Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, were two arrogant and belligerent men who believed they were the ‘smartest guys in the room’. They believed that, through their sheer cleverness and …

If we are interested in an equitable and just society, we have to be interested in governance which begins with having a shared vision of the future based on common values and aspirations.  Ideally, when citizens are engaged in developing that vision, they feel committed to its realisation. The last …

At roughly the same time that Jack Warner was offering crime-fighting tips in Trinidad and Tobago as acting prime minister and minister of works and infrastructure, he was, according to the United States Department of Justice, engaged in wire fraud, money laundering and bribery in his more illustrious portfolio as …

Events that rock us into further consternation about the state of our country and whether ‘we gone through’ are occurring with increasing frequency. Sadly, the responses of our rulers are superficial. The event that dominated the news cycle last week was the arrest of Marlene McDonald on significant fraud charges …

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has stripped Marlene McDonald of her position as Deputy Political Leader of the People’s National Movement (PNM), after a statement to that effect was posted on his Facebook page. The brief statement read: “As the Political Leader of the People’s National Movement, I have today …

To say that the level of irresponsibility in this nation is lamentable is an understatement; we could accurately use much stronger language. But the discovery of a foetus in the refrigerator of a doctor’s office in South gave us a clear demonstration of precisely how pathetic and irresponsible some people …

I entirely agree that the Cabinet reshuffle announced last week is not likely to produce better or cleaner Government. Our governance structures and processes are out of date, unreformed, tainted with partisanship and in some cases riddled with corruption. They lack public trust. By analogy to Chalkie’s “The Driver Can’t Drive”, …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Trinidad and Tobago President Anthony Carmona, according to civic watch group Fixin T&T, is consistently exploiting the country’s lack of accountability and consequence. Fixin’ T&T, which is headed by local businessman Kirk Waithe, slammed Carmona’s “reckless” of appointment of Dr Kriyaan Singh as a temporary Independent Senator and also pointed …

Civic watch group, Fixin’ T&T, will target Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and MPs Barry Padarath, Dr Bhoe Tewarie and Rushton Paray tomorrow for allegedly breaching Sections 24.2 and 29.1 of the Integrity in Public Life Act by having relatives employed at their constituency offices. Fixin’ T&T, which is headed by …