“[…] I stand here not just for myself, but for every young professional drowning in rent, every couple delaying marriage because they can’t afford a place to live, every parent lying awake wondering if their child will ever own a home. “Trinidad and Tobago is in a housing crisis: 77% …
Read More »Vaneisa: Censorship, without and within—the risk in rocking the boat
Little things add up—sometimes, they can sneak up insidiously so that we don’t see them coming until something happens. It’s not that signs haven’t been there, it’s that they don’t seem important enough for us to take note. Take the recent situation when Dr Joel Teelucksingh, a newspaper columnist, who …
Read More »Nobel: The lure of ‘progress’—T&T must not sacrifice social value in ‘paper chase’
Today, when I look around in the world, what do I see?/ I see footprints that man has left on the sand/ While walking through time./ I see fruits of our ambition, figments of our imaginations/ And I ask myself, When will it end? When will it end?/ It is …
Read More »Noble: Building or destroying our heritage; how T&T is shaped by its environment
In a Field Guide to Getting Lost (2005), Rebecca Solnit wrote of the places in which one’s life is lived: “They become the tangible landscape of memory, the places that made you, and in some way you too become them. They are what you can possess and, in the end, …
Read More »Noble: Where’s youth sport support? They want nice corn soup—but won’t invest in planting corn
The following is part two of an interview with FC Santa Rosa founder and head coach and ex-Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) technical committee chairman Keith Look Loy interview: Clubs no longer have roots in their communities. This uprooting leaves room for other institutions, like gangs, to attract young …
Read More »Noble: Rebuild T&T through sports—the untapped potential of elite and grassroot football
Natasha Wilson’s words came to me while reflecting on my interview with Keith Look Loy. In significant ways, her calypso summed up Keith’s sentiments: Sweet T&T, is my country/ I want you to know that I love you/ Every creed and race, have an equal place/ So let’s work together …
Read More »Vaneisa: Operation of municipal corporations as important as crime plan
Little things add up. Irritants that are not, of themselves, enough to make you feel besieged. Combined and constant, they are damaging to the psyche—the way water dripping away for years can erode rocks. Feral cats and stray dogs prowling the neighbourhood, stripping garbage bags and shredding the contents. Garbage …
Read More »Noble: The urgency of the moment—the world at tipping point in class war
We begin 2025 with the shocking reports of a teen being murdered by his ‘best friend’. The reality that gangs are everywhere causes us to pause. We are struggling to get food on our tables. Life is closing in on us. We are living in grim times. We can no longer …
Read More »Noble: T&T’s leadership dilemma—our choice will shape our institutions; think wisely
Today, we face a myriad of problems. It seems as though there is a cascading chain of events that seeks to deaden our response. We do not finish dealing with one thing before another arises. How, then, will we run our country? How will we manage to survive? Which course …
Read More »Vaneisa: A city of clay—how would you reimagine Trinidad and Tobago?
Imagine that you could have every single thing your heart desires. No restrictions. Do you think you could envisage it all at once? I mean, do you believe that on any given day you know precisely what it would take to make you absolutely content? Unlikely, I’d say at first, …
Read More »Dear Editor: Pension structure unfairly favours high-ranking public servants
“[…] The Prime Minister’s Pension Act […] allows high-ranking public servants to secure pensions at the peak of their earnings—an advantage unavailable to the average citizen, whose pensions are typically calculated on lower salary scales and subject to strict caps. “This is a system that has been kept out of the …
Read More »Dear Editor: We can’t arrest our way out of crime; T&T must pull at the roots
“[…] Arresting and imprisoning individuals removes them from society, preventing them from committing more crimes while incarcerated. But there are hundreds more to take their place, who are likely to never face arrest or imprisonment. “Research shows that while punitive measures can temporarily reduce crime, they often fail to address …
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