It is easy to blame public servants’ ‘mistakes’ for an eight-month delay in appointing the Board of the Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission (TTSEC) as reported in a recent newspaper article. Public servants have become the most recent whipping horse of a government whose inaction contributes to the …
Read More »Dr Farrell: No Sacred Cows revisited; understanding the PNM’s assault on Central Bank
“[…] The PNM administration seems allergic to institutions which are independent within the executive and run by unelected persons. “It is clearly one of the reasons for the pre-emptive assault on the Office of the Procurement Regulator rendering it a eunuch, so that the hands of elected ministers will not …
Read More »Noble: Is Peter George Jr ‘gaslighting’ us? Thank God T&T’s fate is not in his hands
Words matter. By choosing how we frame and talk about something, we induce others to think about an issue in a specific way. This framing can drastically change someone’s perspective about the issue. To present a public position the speaker carefully chooses the words and concepts to achieve the specific …
Read More »Can the Rowley/Imbert partnership turn looming defeat into victory?
“[…] we must get the new digital economy going. Although liquidity is overflowing at the Central Bank, private sector credit is sluggish; unemployment and underemployment are growing and results thus far from the government-sponsored stimulus loans packages to banks and credit unions have been disappointing. […]” The following is the …
Read More »Budget observations; we may be on track, but we’re not there yet
“[…] While they are yet to put it squarely to the population, for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, it is clear that, quietly but consistently, the finance minister has been weaning the population off the comfortable, subsidised standard of living we have steadily come to …
Read More »Dear Editor: Imbert sees unions in disarray, now he’s going for the jugular of the working class
“[…] The media cites Minister of Finance Colm Imbert as saying that public sector trade unions won’t be able to meet with the government around the bargaining table because of the state of the economy. No time frame is given. “This immediately affects those public sector workers who are near …
Read More »NJAC: Budget shows Dr Rowley has abdicated responsibility for citizens to ‘rich elites’
“[…] Lacking in creative ideas or solutions, the government has decided to accelerate the process of privatisation and free itself of responsibility for the people’s welfare, wherever it can. “In NJAC’s estimation, what needs to be understood is that with privatisation, there are certain core concepts such as trimming the …
Read More »Noble: Understanding the now; facing the future—T&T needs data to advance
What do Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s rebuke of the civil servants and the closure of Chaguanas’ MovieTowne have in common? Are these connected to the car tax exemptions furore? Why is there chatter about the foreign exchange rate and fear of liquidity and solvency for businesses and our government …
Read More »NWU: WASA workforce to be reduced by 50% in 2021, thousands will lose jobs
“[…] There is a projected decrease on personnel expenditure from the 2020 figure to the 2021 figure of $377,504,500. Personnel expenditure, therefore, is being slashed in half. “WASA employs approximately 5,100 permanent, temporary and so-called contract workers. If personnel expenditure is to be reduced by 50%, it is only logical …
Read More »Sport and the Budget: More attention on stadia, less on sportsmen and women
Minister of Finance Colm Imbert outlined the Trinidad and Tobago Government’s Budget for 2020-2021 today, as a bid to ‘ensure that our economic recovery is as strong as possible’ and with ‘diversification of the economy [as] our highest priority’. Sport earned two mentions in Imbert’s 142-page Budget statement, although it …
Read More »Rowley’s Cabinet: Young, Imbert, Deyalsingh retain portfolios; Gadsby-Dolly, Pennelope get education and housing
People’s National Movement (PNM) political leader and Diego Martin West MP Dr Keith Rowley was sworn in as prime minister for a second successive term this afternoon while Faris Al-Rawi retained the portfolio of attorney general and is also minister of legal affairs. Other high profile returnees were: Port of …
Read More »An ‘exceptionally difficult’ year! Imbert on salary grants, public aid and ‘recalibrated’ budget
“[…] Trinidad and Tobago is not only impacted by the economic consequences of Covid-19; but as an oil-and-gas exporting country, the economic, financial and social consequences have been further compounded by the dramatic drop in oil and gas prices. The worldwide demand for crude oil has crashed in the context …
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