Tag Archives: Colm Imbert

If “Santa Colm” assures the populace that their Christmas will be bright, not blue, then we have no reason to doubt the man. After all, Acting Prime Minister Colm Imbert is the substantive Minister of Finance, in which capacity he has access to data and information pertaining to the state …

Say “Employer” to someone and (s)he expects soon to hear “Employee.” And ditto if you reverse the order. So I wasn’t really surprised when Wired868 stopped talking about “Barra” and started talking about “Barry.” But I stopped reading Monday’s Express story about the MP for Princes Town with the first …

CAISO (Coalition Advocating for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation) executive chairman Colin Robinson has criticised recent “homophobic” remarks by Sport and Youth Affairs Minister Darryl Smith and Facebook posts from the account of Finance Minister Colm Imbert. However, CAISO has also condemned the response by their target, UNC MP Barry Padarath, …

Bull, princess and stink—the three words that had the biggest impact in our Budget debate and debate about the debate by Trinidad and Tobago parliamentarians. Contributions in Parliament were generally poor. Few of the elected members analysed the vital macroeconomic matters which all of us have to deal with. Even …

If Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and Minister in the Office of Attorney General and Legal Affairs, Stuart Young, are right, the People’s Partnership Government spent more on legal fees in five years than Julian Assange, OJ Simpson and the late Michael Jackson could spend in three lifetimes. And, to be …

There is a hole in the Budget presented to Parliament on Monday last.  There is scant acknowledgement of culture, particularly of our performing arts despite their huge potential for assistance in diversifying the economy and its significant contribution to social stability. Presumably the new Minister of Culture, who is a …

Civil society, perhaps more than any other sector, knows only too well that a healthy serving of scepticism inside the doubles is necessary when governments talk consultation. In T&T, “consultation” is sometimes political-speak for “we eh touching that,” “we eh know what the hell to do with that” or “we …

The good news is that Trinidad and Tobago citizens are about to have their country open up more than ever before as traffic lights come down, highways continue to expand and sea ports go up. The bad news is we may not be able to afford to drive to see …

Today, when Finance Minister Colm Imbert unveils his budget, we will see whether the Dr Keith Rowley-led administration, too, is guilty of confusing the private sector with big business and big business with entrepreneurship. If this government, too, is locked in the conventional economic paradigm, we might as well pucker …

Tomorrow’s Budget presentation by Finance Minister Colm Imbert is the most eagerly anticipated Appropriation Bill in many years. The main reason for heightened interest is the depressed state of the economy. With low oil, gas and commodities prices, hence lower-than-normal revenues accruing to government, citizens are waiting to see just …

We have peacefully changed another Government.  Having been disappointed yet again by a previous choice of Government, the prevailing mood of many citizens is that we hope once more for better and fairer governance. It swiftly became the cliché of the day that we “exhaled.” There is however something striking …

The new Government deserves time to settle in. Dr Keith Rowley is a first time Prime Minister, he is leading a team of wide-eyed inexperience and it has been a long, tense campaign getting here; we are all tired and bruised. Alas, after eight years of Patrick Manning and Company …