View Point

The discovery that a large group of people benefitted from the exercise of ministerial and satellite power in their favour in what appears to be preferential circumstances should undoubtedly have attracted scrutiny from the media. The fact that the benefit was the allocation of houses by the Housing Development Corporation …

I want to start by quoting some comments on the impact of wage increases on the economy. High wages wrenched by the trade union movement, led to capital intensive investment since investors preferred to use more machinery rather than pay the high cost of labour High wages were jacking up …

Trinidad and Tobago will never achieve full food security. We could, however, substantially increase the production of foods and fruits that we are good at growing. But first we must convince the majority of the population that we should eat what we produce. Even if we reverse our addiction to …

Among the many points to be distilled from the West Indies’ Twenty20 victories is that the solution to any Caribbean problem often lies beyond the boundary of the problem as usually defined. This is as true of our cricket as it is of our economy, politics or, indeed, any other …

I have noted with interest the Prime Minister’s statement that it is unacceptable for citizens to be gunned down in cold blood. This was followed by a statement from the Minister of National Security expressing concern about killing and brutality across the country. Regular readers of my columns and those …

The following Letter to the Editor was submitted by ex-PP Minister and NJAC member Embau Moheni on the death of Basil Davis and the subsequent outpouring of emotion in 1970, which led to one of Trinidad and Tobago’s largest funeral processions: On 26 February 1969, the Chief Servant Makandal Daaga—then Geddes …

The following is a release from the TCM (Total Convenience Management) Board regarding TV6 and Trinidad Express reports on the rental of a Mercedes Benz to the HDC, which, TCM allege, contained ‘inaccuracies and misrepresentations of their business arrangement. Businessman Kirk Waithe is a prominent member of TCM as well as …

What I established last week was that Trinidad and Tobago, like most small island states that were once colonised by imperial powers, relies heavily on imported foods for its sustenance. All our staples—grains (wheat, rice, maize), dairy products (milk, cheese, butter), sugar, edible oils, white potatoes, beans and pulses—come from …

Today we’re all West Indians. United under the maroon flag, we possess a power so magical that with a single win, we transformed Dwayne Bravo’s inanity into a global anthem of victory. Champion! Champion! Under the unity flag of West Indian triumph, however, lies the troubling West Indian reality of a …

When I was in the Senate, in 1996, I spoke and voted in favour of the grant of the Spiritual Shouter Baptist Liberation holiday, which was celebrated again last Wednesday. At the, time I referred with affection to Earl Lovelace’s great literary work, The Wine of Astonishment, which tells of …

The following letter on ArcelorMittal’s retrenchment of hundreds of Trinidad and Tobago employees was written by Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) education officer Bryan St Louis: Retrenchment is defined as the forced layoff of employees by a company usually to cut down or reduce payroll expenses. In our jurisdiction and in accordance …

Recently, there has been much noise over Trinidad and Tobago’s capacity to produce the foods that we eat. I use the word “noise” instead of discussion or debate because so much of what is said and written is uninformed. With the economy in full-blown recession and foreign exchange inadequate to …