Tag Archives: Shamfa Cudjoe

For the record, I’m no telecommunications expert. That said, we learned of a government minister who racked up a phone bill to the tune of $59,059 in a matter of four days, from 29 January to 3 February.  In her attempt to justify the wanton expenditure, we were informed that …

I can still remember the accolades coming in from many quarters for the impressive PNM candidate for Tobago West in the 2015 General Election. I refer, of course, to Shamfa Cudjoe. It took one short month in office for the newly appointed Minister of Tourism to declare to the Parliament …

Government last week announced a decision to dissolve the Tourism Development Company (TDC) and replace it with two, maybe three agencies. It is unclear, to me at least, what the government might have in mind with this move. Minister Shamfa Cudjoe’s announcement made me remember a line from the Eagles’ …

Not to take anything away from the 2017 winner, Dr Hollis “Chalkdust” Liverpool, the now record nine-time champion, the results of last night’s Calypso Monarch competition simply do not add up. And as the dissatisfaction with the organisers and complaints about the quality of the show multiply—as they are almost …

It would be asking too much of our politicians that they show some humility in their public lives. In fact, it will be true to say that, with precious few exceptions, politicians across the world are egotistical and arrogant—character traits that distinguish them from most ordinary human beings. Lest I …

The digital and social media now regularly facilitates the uncovering of many matters that in earlier times might have slipped through the darkness of political obfuscation, including taking blatantly inconsistent positions on the same issue. One example of a significant revelation is the massive wrongdoing that has occurred in the …

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 …

Bull, princess and stink—the three words that had the biggest impact in our Budget debate and debate about the debate by Trinidad and Tobago parliamentarians. Contributions in Parliament were generally poor. Few of the elected members analysed the vital macroeconomic matters which all of us have to deal with. Even …

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 …