Tag Archives: Ministry of Agriculture

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 …

“[…] It is alleged that a new type of squatting has emerged in Trinidad and Tobago that is really geared towards land grabbing.  “They are now known as the land-grabbing ‘kingpins,’ who end up owning prime land all over this country in key spots, for financial gain and not because …

Marshall McLuhan, Canadian educator and philosopher, published work in 1964 which became fundamental to understanding the media in the electronic age—even though electronic communication, as we know it, had not yet been invented.  He created the famous phrases ‘global village’ and ‘the medium is the message’. McLuhan posited, in summary, …

The perception that if you are within the inner circle of the government, you can get anything you want was solidified in my mind with the recent announcement by the Prime Minister. Clarence Rambharat, former agriculture, lands and fisheries minister, we were told, is coming back into government and will …

In honour of our fifty-eighth Independence anniversary, I visited Woodford Square, aka The People’s University, where seeds of Trinidad and Tobago’s Independence grew. But instead of feeling pride, I felt shame. Twenty tree stumps, envoys of once stately trees, left to rot without  love or dignity illuminated Marcus Garvey’s words: …

Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president David John-Williams and general secretary Camara David could be asked to explain a gap in excess of TT$16 million between the quantum of contracts at their headquarters and the budget for the controversial Home of Football in Couva. The revelation comes as TTFA …

When I read last Sunday about the government’s intention to build a housing development on lands allocated to the St Augustine Nurseries, it upset me greatly. In the days that followed, I became privy to the Acting Housing Minister’s full statement on the matter as well as the Minister of …

Trinidad and Tobago will never achieve full food security. We could, however, substantially increase the production of foods and fruits that we are good at growing. But first we must convince the majority of the population that we should eat what we produce. Even if we reverse our addiction to …

Recently, there has been much noise over Trinidad and Tobago’s capacity to produce the foods that we eat. I use the word “noise” instead of discussion or debate because so much of what is said and written is uninformed. With the economy in full-blown recession and foreign exchange inadequate to …

Somewhere in this beautiful two island republic, there may or may not be a goat with his own two-storey building, inclusive of a master bedroom, jacuzzi, walk-in closet, wraparound patio, recreation room, loft, study, living-room and dining-room. Naturally, Trinidad and Tobago citizens—who reserve the right to hunt, clout, curry or …