The Evil Queen in the story of Snow White repeatedly asks the magic mirror: “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all.” The mirror would invariably give the mamaguy answer ‘you are, my Queen’. In Shrek when the magic mirror is brought to Lord Farquaad, he …
Read More »Daly Bread: The continuing downward spiral, why Govt is out of its depth on Venezuela
It is readily apparent that, as predicted, the registration process for migrant Venezuelans is taking the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago into much deeper commitments than those anticipated. Credible estimates put the number of Venezuelan migrants here at 40,000. A 14-day registration process—if well patronised by half that …
Read More »Stealth and craftiness at play! Dumas, Daly slam attack on FOIA and proposed pension spike
“Why is a Government which says it is committed to transparency proposing to make it more difficult for citizens to access information from official sources? “[…] [And] why, at a time of economic belt-tightening and obviously rising unemployment—whatever the official pronouncements on that issue—does the government consider it a good …
Read More »Daly Bread: Bienvenidos reality and wriggle room; impact of Venezuela concessions
There is considerable confusion about the status of fleeing Venezuelans crowding into Trinidad and Tobago with more confusion to come. Some have gained entry through legal points of entry, but many have breached the conditions of their permitted admission, such as by working without the appropriate permit or overstaying the …
Read More »The record is straight already; Daly dismisses Smart’s counter on NAR’s ‘coup bungle’
There are many issues other than the NAR’s bungling of the aftermath of the 1990 attempted coup with which I would like to engage. However, my colleague, Anthony Smart, has presented some material which he says shows that the NAR did not seek to avoid the amnesty or postpone having its …
Read More »Daly Bread: How the NAR Gov’t bungled the 1990 Coup trial
My colleague Anthony Smart asked for particulars on my assertion of bungling by the NAR Government following the attempted coup in 1990. He reminds us that he was Attorney General of the NAR Government during that period, until the NAR lost office in November 1991. That’s easy, Anthony. After the …
Read More »Daly Bread: How did we become this murderous society?
I was finishing last week’s column about the unrelenting grip in which murderous crime holds our country when I read our Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley’s plaintive cry: “What have we become?” Dr Rowley was mourning the reportedly gruesome murders of a life long Tobagonian friend and his wife of …
Read More »Daly Bread: Nine months after appointment of Griffith and Young; what has changed?
I had intended this week to return immediately to the failure of all of our governments to properly assist the voluntary organisation sector in our society and to their bad practice of making funding decisions based on ‘contact’ and perceived partisan political kinship. There is however some expectation of a …
Read More »Daly Bread: Reverse money laundering; how the government dirties clean taxpayer funds
Probably for the first time, the government and the Opposition paid official attention in Parliament to the non-governmental organisations and non-profit entities (NGOs) that play a significant and life-saving role in the socio-economic and cultural life of our country, even though they may have dished out funds to them on …
Read More »Daly Bread: The boundaries of Attorneys General; from Cox and Barr to Ramlogan and Al Rawi
Two weeks ago our current Attorney General, Faris Al Rawi, and the former AG, Anand Ramlogan SC, engaged in a public dispute over Mr Ramlogan’s appearance in a case heard in the Privy Council on 20 March 2019. The proper boundaries of conduct for attorneys general have also been a …
Read More »Daly Bread: The Presidential crease; is Weekes shirking her responsibility to T&T?
President of the Republic, Paula-Mae Weekes, recently gave two interviews to Hema Ramkissoon of Guardian Media and Ria Taitt of the Trinidad Express. These interviews have raised interesting issues about the constitutional powers of and limitations on the office of the President. The Express, somewhat kindly, stated that President Weekes ‘has …
Read More »Daly Bread: Peewats and pharaohs; concerns over Paria secrecy and Venezuela geo-politics
Last week predictably began with more turbulence over the aftermath of the Petrotrin shut down and over one of the successor companies, Paria Fuel Trading Company Limited. Our governments have had marked communications deficits because there is too much attempted secrecy over the process attendant upon deals constantly being made …
Read More »