The People’s National Movement (PNM) has appointed Arima MP Pennelope Beckles as its opposition leader. Beckles, 64, was endorsed by the PNM’s General Council today after producing writing support of six from the opposition’s 13 MPs: Symon de Nobriga, Marvin Gonzales, Colm Imbert, Kareem Marcelle, Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, and Keith …
Read More »Daly Bread: Do they hear themselves? What a stunning lack of empathy to “justified complaints”
“How much for the vehicle yuh driving?” This question was one amongst the torrent of words thrown at Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan and Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Faris Al-Rawi (demoted from attorney general) in the course of a walking tour in Bamboo No 2. …
Read More »Noble: Living in La-La Land; watching life through “red and yellow-tinted glasses”
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines la-la land as “a euphoric, dreamlike mental state detached from the harsher realities of life”. In our version, leaders and followers are allergic to facts—inconvenient truths. They look at life through red and yellow-tinted glasses that allow them to possess selective memories. The citizens of La-La …
Read More »Daly Bread: Angry dus’ in we face; unvigilant Dr Rowley’s Easter own goal
In the parliamentary debate held on Monday last, the boastful confirmation from the minister of transport that the air and sea bridges carried 50,000 persons between Trinidad and Tobago during the Easter week came up again. The prime minister reportedly ‘dismissed as a distortion the opposition leader’s reference to the …
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 »Noble: Wasting a crisis; Le Hunte wanted Cabinet to invest in our future—and they didn’t listen
“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before,” Rahm Emanuel, (2008). The context for that quote—which is really a riff off one made by Paul Romer, who in …
Read More »Daly Bread: Treating us like adults; why Le Hunt, Deyalsingh, etc should maintain storm tone
We are probably not paying much attention to the decision of the UK Supreme Court on Tuesday last when the British Prime Minister’s decision to advise the Queen to suspend the British parliament was declared to be unlawful, null and void and of no effect. The decision represents a complete …
Read More »Walkable Panorama City; POS Mayor and Works Minister have great opportunity for Panorama
There is a kind of positive energy associated with Carnival and particularly with the steelband movement. Players survive on less sleep and exhibit discipline and high levels of productivity in order to learn their Panorama tune. This is something we need to understand about Carnival, pan and panyards and their …
Read More »Sinanan admits ‘some depletion’ in stock of inspection books but calls criticism ‘bizarre, unfortunate and misplaced’
“The depletion of inspection books yesterday is not the cause [of the current licensing confusion]. The incontrovertible fact is that citizens have failed to utilise the five month period granted to them to become compliant with the law. “[…] The Ministry acknowledges that the rush to have vehicles inspected did …
Read More »Cabo Star Sinanan strikes again! Chaos as MOWT runs out of certificates for inspected vehicles
It turns out that motorists were not the only persons who were ill-prepared for 2019. Officials at the Ministry of Works and Transport confirmed this morning that the government had run out of certificates to distribute to road-worthy vehicles, via roughly 60 private garages nationwide. The MOWT cock-up—which meant neither …
Read More »Uber: T&T lacks environment for innovation; Govt: Uber’s lack of transparency was dangerous
Uber T&T: “We believe that there is a lack of a proper environment for innovation and technology to thrive in Trinidad and Tobago…” T&T Government: “[…] The protection of our locals and of our economy should never be subjected to arbitrariness and lack of transparency.” The following are releases from …
Read More »Daly Bread: Doh look dong or behind; T&T politicians at sea
I am using the vernacular “doh look dong” instead of “do not look down” in order to keep real the dangerous nature of the predicament of the passengers transferred at sea from the water taxi Trini Flash to the larger vessel, Cabo Star. As readers will recall the Trini Flash …
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