Environment

Bob is dismantling the house where he grew up. These past few weeks, there have been sounds of construction—not the loud noises that come from my unconscionable neighbour’s welding business, but the muted clatter of galvanized sheets, and hammering. Before he began, Bob put a letter in the mailbox of …

“[…] Decreased airfare is one way to stimulate intra-regional travel for both business and leisure. “Studies show that increased visitor arrivals lead to increased economic activity—more tax collection, increased employment, and general stimulation of economies…” The following Letter to the Editor on the disproportionately high airfares within the Caribbean was …

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines la-la land as “a euphoric, dreamlike mental state detached from the harsher realities of life”. In our version, leaders and followers are allergic to facts—inconvenient truths. They look at life through red and yellow-tinted glasses that allow them to possess selective memories. The citizens of La-La …

“[…] If it was unsafe for schools to stay open, why were the non-essential businesses allowed to stay open with the workers exposed to the same risk? “[…] We must consider whether these weather alerts are reaching the population—especially in rural areas—and are they being understood? […]” The following Letter …

Trinidad and Tobago’s Housing Development Corporation (HDC) has vowed to expand its supply of homes attainable to the working poor, starting with the reconstruction of rental units at 23rd and 24th Streets in Beetham Gardens. The Beetham project, according to a HDC release, will be “the template for the reconstruction …

“[…] We need to move some work out of the city to ease the traffic choke hold on this island every weekday. I’ve argued previously that ‘the daily Great Trek’ north and west to Port of Spain and back is a mad and unsustainable ritual. “[…] State and private sector …

Not since an army of bachacs stripped every leaf off a red-leaf ficus and a bird pepper plant overnight about 20 years ago, have I seen such complete decimation. The giant African snail has come to town in stealthy and voracious numbers, licking up agricultural lands and little home gardens …

Nearly 80 per cent of the people responding to a survey done by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) said fireworks affected them negatively. Without knowing the extent of the survey, it is still a large and significant proportion.  Another of their surveys said the majority of the animals affected (60 …

“[…] We had fun doing Zoom meetings in our boxer shorts, out of sight of the camera; but some realised that they’d mostly prefer to do work stuff from an office. In long pants, preferably.  “Some missed the water cooler moments, where they could talk about what Ian Alleyne had …

“[…] There are no economic findings that I’m aware of, on how much the country loses by having a significant proportion of its workforce stuck in traffic every day. But there’s widespread recognition that there’s an economic cost, and that it’s probably a steep one. “For much of the past …

“[…] According to an article in Renewable Energy World, ‘there are about 217 days of sunshine a year in the Caribbean’—making countries in our region ideal for using and investing in renewable energy.  “[…] For instance, when there is disruption or interruption in electricity, traffic lights on our nation’s highways and …

For decades, the approach and departure of festive occasions—Carnival, Independence Day, Divali, Christmas, Old Year’s Night—have elicited desperate missives.  Complaints about unbearable levels of noise from unrelenting sound systems and fireworks have poured out to the impervious Environmental Management Authority (EMA). Nothing’s changed. On its website, the EMA describes four …