Tag Archives: governance

It is almost impossible to fight an enemy which is unseeable to the naked eye, nimble, ruthless and devoid of conscience. Hopefully we have learned that lockdowns are destroying our economy and not containing the spread. The pattern of the virus globally seems to be periods of intermittent spikes, so that …

TV6 Morning Edition host and veteran cricket analyst Fazeer Mohammed tells Burdie and Barney why Trinidad and Tobago football—and much besides in the twin island republic—is spinning top in mud, and discusses sport journalism, standing up for change, and why he is falling out of love with Liverpool FC. Subscribe …

TV6 Morning Edition host and veteran cricket analyst Fazeer Mohammed explains why Trinidad and Tobago football—like much of life in the twin island republic—is spinning top in mud. Look out for Mohammed’s full interview on the Burdie and Barney Show from Thursday 24 June as we discuss the Trinidad and …

The efforts needed to coordinate the necessary actions to combat Covid-19 should induce wide-scale collaboration. A government cannot act on its own but must bring along the wider society. Polarised positions negatively impact the effective societal response.  When there are difficult new situations, and the media is the prominent news provider, …

It was January 2001 when then President ANR Robinson addressed the nation and quoted his mother as saying: ‘Bad habits are gathered at slow degrees, as streams running into rivers, and rivers into seas.’ This statement was subsequently modified by a friend who reminded me that: ‘it begins with raindrops’. That’s what crossed …

‘Dislike of an individual is material in politics. Someone with an unlikeable persona may be unelectable in a diverse national contest… by contrast, good governance requires honest treatment of the business issues…’ (Martin Daly, November 2020). This Daly quote is relevant when considering the recent cabinet reshuffle in the light …

Today on what should have been Carnival Sunday, I find myself in a place where darkness and light have fiercely contested for attention throughout the preceding week. The contest between darkness and light has been triggered, on the dark side, by the murder of Andrea Bharatt; and, on the light …

A friend of mine based in the USA mailed his first novel to me on 15 September 2020—more than four months ago. There has been no sign of it; no indication from TTPost that there is a package for me to collect. Nothing. Many citizens receive statements and bills from …

‘Like stick break in yuh ears’ is one of our colloquial expressions, frequently addressed to the stubborn. The admonition can have a contemptuous tone, but our rulers have used it with reference to those who persist in gathering in defiance of coronavirus regulations and common sense. We can use it …

A little more than 33 months ago, before Ms Paula-Mae Weekes was elected president of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, she was at the top of her game serving in another jurisdiction.   Today she is publicly expressing her disappointment at the absence of good governance for the people …

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 …

I wrote recently about the startling decision of the government to reject the offer of Patriotic Energies and Technologies Limited (Patriotic) to acquire the Petrotrin oil refinery, which the government closed down. When the titular head of the Ministry of Energy, Senator Franklin Khan, announced the sudden rejection, he gave …