Letters to the Editor

“On the heels of the disappointing hands-off approach taken in the matter of the sexual harassment allegations levelled against Government-appointed Angostura Chairman Dr Rolph Balgobin, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and Minister Stuart Young have sought to robustly though ill-advisedly justify the alleged use of public funds to settle a matter …

The following media statement by the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT) on the proposed Cybercrime Bill was issued on Saturday 24 March, 2018: Today the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago appointed a steering committee to address deep concerns regarding upcoming Cybercrime legislation which has the potential to …

“One late September weekend in 2017, a local TV news anchor ‘switched gears’ to a packaged story about a central Trinidad resident, whose home had been ‘ravaged’ by flooding, never mind he and his family were still living in it. The camera showed scenes of damage as the voice of the homeowner …

“The police get more than 1,800 domestic violence reports annually and about 1,300 of these involve physical violence. This works out to an average of 25 per day. This means that, if the mandate being demanded by activists is met, at least 50 police officers will be expending at least …

“The anti-violence walk has now been transformed into the more positive ‘Arima Walk for Peace’ and the timeliness of the call to Arima people to join with us—this hits a raw nerve—will be seen tomorrow when we expect to actively involve many hundreds of ordinary, decent, hard-working people in a …

“A Chief Justice… ‘with a pattern of breaking rules.’ Like a Rott on a roti, a lot of people, I expect, will jump on that phrase. Why? Well, about half will merely see another example of a successful black man being persecuted. Not all 50% but a substantial proportion of that …

“By memorandum date January 2nd 2018, the workers were informed that they will be required to work for an extra hour from Monday to Thursday each week till further notice to clear up a backlog of containers which had been received by the company. “The workers signed acknowledging receipt of …

“Article 3.1 [of the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Convention]: ‘For the purposes of this Convention the term forced or compulsory labour shall mean all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily’. …

“The Anti-Gang Bill, sunset clause or not, suffers from the same ills as every other piece of legislation in Trinidad and Tobago: to be effective, it must be enforced! For enforcement to take place, the Police Service needs to do a better job, a much, much better job. To ascertain …

“The average male wage in 2008 (the last Labour Force Report) was TT$4,640 a month and the female was TT$3,758. Among male officials and managers, the mean salary was just over TT$8,000 a month, while women earned TT$5,000. Among male professionals, the mean monthly salary was over TT$11,500 whereas for …

“I have no good wishes or aspirational sentiments. I’m not checking milestones women have achieved or the records we have smashed. (…) I am preoccupied by our extinction at the hands of our men—our husbands, partners, baby fathers, lovers. “Who can celebrate on Women’s Day when there is so much …

“On Monday 5 March, workers informed their supervisor that they wanted to leave at the stipulated knock-off time—which is their right—and were told that they could do what they wanted. “On Tuesday 6 March, when workers reported for work, they were prevented from entering the compound and were, in fact, …