“[…] 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 »Dear Editor: Anil’s attack on TTOC president is unwarranted and hypocritical
“[…] Mr Brian Lewis is not the only individual to head a sporting body with a political affiliation. Mr Azim Bassarath, chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board currently serves as a UNC Alderman in the Princes Town Regional Corporation and has appeared on national political platforms. “Is Anil …
Read More »Dear Editor: State’s belligerence to FOIA requests drove up my legal costs, not greed
“Had the information been disclosed upon my request the State would not have incurred any legal costs… It was the Minister’s and Cabinet’s refusal in the first place and belligerence in the second place that cost the State over $400,000 in legal fees and not my attorneys trying to milk …
Read More »Noble: Don’t forget how we got in this financial mess; and here’s how to improve our economy
“Thank God for decisions made to stimulate drilling […] by the Kamla Persad- Bissessar government… Instead of benefitting from flowing gas today, we might well have been on our knees, eating grass.” (Dr Bhoe Tewarie, Trinidad Express, 13 March.) An astounding statement with subtexts! What exactly is he saying and …
Read More »‘Inexcusable delay;’ Judge says no to FoIA information for fired Rambarran
“Mr Rambarran was found by the Court to be guilty of NON-DISCLOSURE in filing his claim. In his media release of December 26th, 2015, he failed to disclose that he had been invited to meetings with the Minister of Finance prior to the revocation of his appointment. Additionally, in his …
Read More »Budget analysis: Online tax fiasco, ageing population, diversification dilemma and more
Two Tuesdays ago at a meeting in Mt D’or, Minister of Finance Colm Imbert boasted that there were only two people who knew the contents of the budget, the Prime Minister and himself. The subsequent applause for this revelation is symptomatic of the nature of our state. We are accepting …
Read More »‘Do so ent like so’: Raffique Shah looks at UNC’s reaction to Jwala’s sacking
I am surprised that so many people are surprised by the termination of services—firing, suspension, the euphemistically-couched “sent on administrative leave”—of several senior government officials, the most prominent being Governor of the Central Bank, Jwala Rambarran. Clearing the politically-constructed State-stables of partisan appointees is a ritual that occurs every time …
Read More »Whey the money really gone: Shah identifies our other big users of forex
Central Bank governor Jwala Rambarran was the unlikeliest man to kick the hornets’ nest. But that he did when he named the firms that used the most foreign exchange—or forex—over the past three years. Amidst a cacophony of complaints from businesses and individuals about being denied adequate sums of forex …
Read More »Rambarran v PNM Gov’t exposes lie of Central Bank’s ‘independence’
Just when we most need our leaders to stand together and assume their joint responsibility for guiding T&T through the rough waters of an economic downturn, we get instead a fireworks display of cheap shots. Hostile relations between a Dr Keith Rowley-led Government and the Governor of the Central Bank …
Read More »Jwala must go: Fixin’ T&T rejects calls for private resolution with Central Bank governor
Civic watch group, Fixin’ T&T has reiterated its stance that Central Bank governor Jwala Rambarran must leave his post immediately and rejected any suggested that his impasse with Minister of Finance Colm Imbert could be resolved behind closed doors. Fixin’ T&T insisted that Rambarran no longer has the confidence of …
Read More »Fixin T&T: Fire Central Bank governor Jwala Rambarran immediately
Civic watchdog group, Fixin’ T&T, has called for the immediate dismissal of Central Bank governor Jwala Rambarran, as a result of his supposed “demonstrated and ongoing incompetence” and “recent breach of confidentiality” with regards to his disclosure of Trinidad and Tobago’s large users of foreign exchange. The following is the …
Read More »Recession was predictable: Save the country and jail the culprits
This recession did not creep up on us like the proverbial thief in the night. It was long in the making. In fact, from as far back as the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, when Clico collapsed and the price of oil plunged from a brief high of US$140 a …
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