“On a hill far away,” Paul burst into mournful fo’daymorning song as he caught up with us, “stands a new water tank, the emblem of suffering and shame…” Taken completely by surprise, Bobby and I looked blankly at each other. “Who side you on?” Paul asked. Scores of people, mainly …
Read More »Early Bird: Can Minister Marvin punch above his weight in wasteful WASA?
“What’s really going on with this WASA water tank?” Bobby inquired, in the middle of our walk last Wednesday morning. In the area to the west of the tank, there was heavy machinery, a tractor and a front-end loader. I know that put Bobby’s mind at ease. He is a …
Read More »Noble: Water woes: from Wrightson to Marvin
“Our mission of ‘water for all’ is the assertion of a basic human right as enshrined in the constitution of Trinidad and Tobago, namely – the right of the individual to life… Providing water for all our people provides for equality and equal opportunity…” Ganga Singh, July 2000. Our first …
Read More »Dr Rowley: “The tide is turning!” PM addresses crime and economy in New Year’s message
“[…] Some people may feel justified in seeing our existence only through the prism of the negative lenses, and believe that runaway criminality is the hallmark and highlight of our efforts. “[…] As a people, we have been resilient, over these recent difficult years. It has been my honour and …
Read More »Demming: Govt’s failure to pass Beverage Container Bill reflects our environmental neglect
After 22 years of passing the buck, the government has failed to pass the Beverage Container Bill which was intended to provide a structure for the collection and safe disposal of beverage containers. Their collective incompetence has facilitated the degradation of our environment, the clogging of our waterways, and litter …
Read More »Truly unconscionable! Maria Nunes highlights deplorable condition of Africa Road, John John
“[…] Two months ago, the force and frequency of the water caused the road to completely collapse just above his house. “[…] Recently, residents said an ambulance could not get to an elderly resident who eventually died. The situation is completely unacceptable…” Photographer Maria Nunes chronicles, via video, the deplorable …
Read More »Dear Editor: So politicians blame ‘WASA executives’ for mismanagement? How convenient…
“[…] So, in the opinion of those who signed the [Cabinet sub-committee report on WASA operations]—all of whom are politicians—the problem is WASA’s executives who are not held to account. “So who should hold the executives to account?” The following Letter to the Editor on a Cabinet sub-committee report into …
Read More »Demming: Will Imbert’s bottled water move make T&T the Caribbean’s laughing stock?
A friend from up the Caribbean laughed at me on Monday evening and, unable to find any sensible defence, I was terribly embarrassed. Making bottled water exempt from VAT, she remarked with a loud chuckle, is ‘a level of worldliness which only you Trinis understand’. Eight of our Caribbean neighbours …
Read More »‘No reputable economist would suggest privatising WASA!’: Dr Farrell on WASA, VMCOTT, the fuel subsidy and lay-offs
“[…] No, no—WASA should not and cannot be privatised! There are some entities which are what you call in economics, natural monopolies. For an economy like Trinidad and Tobago, the production of water is a natural monopoly and the state should do it. “[…] We are going to give WASA …
Read More »Demming: Culture change is necessary at WASA too
Many years into the future when the name Dr Lennox Sealy is googled, the entries will tell a story of a successful management consultant and university lecturer who resigned because he failed to implement a transformation process at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) in a timely manner. The …
Read More »Noble: The WASA freeco—is it really the poor who suffer from disconnections?
Thirty years ago, Frico was a famous milk brand which offered free children’s toys in each tin. A ‘freeco’ was different: an event in which some could enjoy benefits for no money, yet others would have to pay for it. It is like the ‘comps’ for the young today. Given …
Read More »Devaluation in time of Covid; should TT stoke its own economic Soufrière-like eruption?
Here we go again! In the Business Guardian of Thursday 8 April 2021, Joel Julien reports on the virtual Demas/Rampersad Seminar Series under the aegis of The UWI St Augustine Department of Economics. ‘Foreign Exchange Challenges in Trinidad and Tobago: What are the real implications?’ the title asks. Let us …
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