“[…] The crime situation is very terrible. Being a parent, I do not believe in condoning wrong things. It’s really sad that these things happening in Mayaro now. Mayaro is coming like a little Laventille…” Mayaro resident. Express, 24 January 2023. The resident was referencing the slaying of three youths …
Read More »Dear Editor: Police work is a “wicked problem”; Dr Rowley should change tack to address crime
“[…] Dr Keith Rowley, police work is what is known as a “wicked problem”. Rittel & Webber (1973) identified the following characteristics of a wicked problem: “[…] The problem has no end point where you can say it is ‘solved’; solutions are not true or false, but better or worse; …
Read More »Daly Bread: Indifference to killing and distress—without realism, honesty and empathy, “talks” will get us nowhere
Put plainly and simply, it is not possible to maintain the socio-economic status quo and at the same time expect to reduce violent crime. That is one reason why the announcement by the Prime Minister that there will be “talks” on crime is not impressive. This announcement was made in …
Read More »Dear Editor: ‘Monkey business’ from politicians and police could turn anyone to crime!
“[…] I want to suggest that the ‘monkeypox’ virus, which seems to have us agog at the moment, originated in Parliament—for decades home to political baboons and chimps in our country. “Whatever the host, whether the strain is/has been PNM, UNC, COP, NAR or ONR, the infected behave the same …
Read More »Foster’s 12 questions: Why’d Venture flag ‘legitimate repayments’? Was loan declared to IC?
“[…] If, as stated in the Express on Monday 23rd May 2022, you ceased being a businessman upon becoming an MP and a minister in August 2020, why were you personally involved in business, business payments and business loans in January 2021? “[…] If this was a legitimate loan, as …
Read More »Daly Bread: Waiting to exhale; what T&T can learn from the UK’s ‘Partygate’
Like the rest of the world, much of Trinidad and Tobago has been holding its breath waiting to resume social interaction—unrestricted by Covid-19 and the public health regulations piled upon us. The North Coast Jazz event at Blanchisseuse this weekend, which culminates in a J’Ouvert, will no doubt openly reveal …
Read More »Daly Bread: Nowhere to turn as Govt and TTPS fail to act meaningfully against violent crime
While in a heightened state of mourning for lost and abused children and murdered women, we had another week of ole talk in a continuing demonstration of the inability of Government and the poorly managed Police Service to take meaningful action against violent crime. Even as Minister of National Security …
Read More »Daly Bread: Our enduring epidemic of denial as violent crime ravages T&T
I am frequently drawn by the direct and uninhibited language of fellow Trinidad Express columnist Joanne Paul. In her commentary last Monday, Dr Paul treated with our massive diabetes problem. Interestingly, from my perspective, she came to the conclusion that it was time to acknowledge the truth. ‘Things are …
Read More »Daly Bread: Getting the wire; is the SSA fulfilling its mandate in this ‘spy’ business?
The use of technology to ‘spy’ on citizens has been high-profile news because of continuing charges and counter-charges about what terms and on whose authority spyware has been purchased from Israeli sources, and also about who was being spied upon. As usual, material issues have become blurred as Government, Opposition …
Read More »Ex-Pro League star, Akeem Benjamin, shot dead after alleged ‘confrontation’ with police
Former Pro League stand-out Akeem ‘Battery’ Benjamin was one of two men shot dead today during an alleged confrontation with police officers at the out-of-commission Flavourite Ice Cream compound at Boundary Road in San Juan. The second deceased man remains unidentified while a TTPS release said North Eastern Division Task …
Read More »Daly Bread: T&T stuck in no-man’s-land; things fall apart long time
Negative characterisations are not liked by our rulers and their satellites when they are on the receiving end although they frequently abuse us. ‘Do so eh like so’ has resulted in a flurry of attacks on the vice-president of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, for saying last week that ‘things in Trinidad …
Read More »Noble: Wheels within Wheels; how crime flourishes with a malnourished public sector
Nobody wants to live in fear. Nobody wants to lose a loved one to crime or be victimised. The pain ricochets through the community as others experience the wrenching loss that descends on us in sudden ways. Most believe that the government is responsible for public safety. But our reactions …
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