View Point

Truth be told, Dr Keith Rowley should have held his tongue—he does not have the moral high ground. He should not have responded to Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s allegation, made under cover of Parliament without evidence, about the source of the money used to erect the new Balisier House. But not confident …

This is my penultimate column before I proceed on my break after twenty-four years of writing these weekly columns. As I move on to my documentary videography projects, which are not likely to be completed before September, I am intensely anxious for the future of our once materially prosperous island …

“[…] In Dr Eric Williams’ Capitalism and Slavery, he used historical analysis of a vast number of sources to put forward his seminal thesis: West Indian sugar fuelled Britain’s industrial revolution, and slavery in the British Empire was abolished not because of humanitarian arguments, benevolence or acknowledging the atrocities of …

“[…] This is not leadership; it is a distraction. “[…] Ordinary citizens risk lawsuits or police action for far less, yet politicians hurl insults without consequence. That imbalance is the real scandal …” The following Letter to the Editor on the effect of our leading politicians’ trading of insults was …

Trinidad and Tobago entered into the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, which was announced in Doral, Florida, two weeks ago at a gathering called the Shield of the Americas Summit. This coalition is a new alliance between the US and certain Latin American countries, led by the US, and intended to …

“[…] The government has shown great efficiency in imposing burdens, but lethargy in delivering relief. “[…] Almost one year after forming the government, no legislation has been brought to Parliament, no amendment has been enacted, and pensioners remain burdened by taxation …” The following Letter to the Editor on the …

David Rudder famously sang in 1996 in The Madman’s Rant: “Somebody clean out the weed real fast. But somebody letting the cocaine pass.” Nevertheless, none of our leaderships were prepared to acknowledge this reality despite periodic reports of “drug busts”, including some massive ones. Despite strong editorials and some courageous …

In light of the announcement last Tuesday of yet another state of emergency (SoE) I feel compelled to restate a main theme of these columns. We have barely advanced positively in politics or in governance and little ever changes, even after a general election at which we vote out an …

For those who might have wondered about the absence of my column last week, the Express has decided that it only requires my offerings fortnightly. I had already begun writing when I was told, so I continued. I’d listened to three episodes of the Corie Sheppard Podcast on Carnival Tuesday. …

Following Carnival 2026, there have been the usual self-congratulatory comments from officialdom about its success and economic benefits. See for example the declaration of the Minister of Culture in the Trinidad Guardian of 22 February 2026 that the $137 million that the Ministry spent on the season was “well spent”. …

“[…] There is often a misconception that MPs are exempt from the strict rules governing civil servants. The legal reality is the opposite. They are unequivocally public officers and a trustee of the people. “Because MPs wield immense political and legal power, often with very little daily oversight, the law …

“[…] What is perhaps most instructive from the data on Trinidad and Tobago’s national culture is our incredibly low score on long-term orientation (17 out of 100 vs 77 out of 100 in China and 50 out of 100 in the US). “It demonstrates a low propensity to sufficiently consider …