Owing to my commitment to take part in Raoul Pantin’s play Hatuey I was unable to write a column last Sunday. I was therefore unable to make timely comment on the contentious Budget debate and the feeding trough for favoured lawyers exposed in the course of that debate. Happily the …
Read More »The Hatuey experience: Did the Budget miss Culture?
There is a hole in the Budget presented to Parliament on Monday last. There is scant acknowledgement of culture, particularly of our performing arts despite their huge potential for assistance in diversifying the economy and its significant contribution to social stability. Presumably the new Minister of Culture, who is a …
Read More »The view from pit: Daly muses on hypocritical response to State appointments
Following the recent appointment of former Independent Senator Helen Drayton to chair a state enterprise Board, a strange concept emerged that persons not having blind affiliation to a political party become “tainted” if they serve the country at the behest of a Government. Although responsible opinion has dealt well with …
Read More »Participation paralysis; Daly considers our reluctance to speak to power
We have peacefully changed another Government. Having been disappointed yet again by a previous choice of Government, the prevailing mood of many citizens is that we hope once more for better and fairer governance. It swiftly became the cliché of the day that we “exhaled.” There is however something striking …
Read More »Winners and losers at the polls: Daly picks his favourite cut-tails
There were some enjoyable electoral cut tails on Monday last. Send me your favourite. Mine is Garvin Nicholas. Tell me too who or what is the new Government’s biggest problem after Jwala Rambarran, sitting like a Reshmi in the Central Bank. Following the 23-18 outcome of the general election in …
Read More »Undernourished democracy; moral decay spreads to Flow and Integrity Commission
I am not a seer man but I do try to pierce the fete and freeness veil drawn to conceal and dumb down the real and pressing issues facing our little country. For that reason, like several of my fellow columnists, I am not impressed with the false images which …
Read More »Million 5 on the Visa card; T&T dangerously misled by political financial forecasts
Yes, it was pleasing to see that on nomination day, on Monday August 17, candidates competing in various constituencies in a fortnight, in the September 7 General Election, shook hands, back-slapped and danced. Let us not go overboard in believing that such harmony will be sustained if revenues available to Governments …
Read More »Own Goals and Penalties: Did PP and PNM subvert Constitution on pensions?
Sometimes the beauty of a goal is in its build up, not the scoring. Last week, on June 14, Trinidad Express journalist Ria Taitt revealed that the Lower House (MPs) had just approved amendments to two bills, which would give themselves fat new pensions. The story took about 48 hours to really …
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