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Archives 2020
- Vision without mission Dec 31, 2019
- Imagine if you will waking up on New Year's morning next Wednesday in a Trinidad and Tobago that is a "United, resilient, productive, innovative and prosperous nation (and) a disciplined, caring, fun-loving society comprising healthy, happy and well-educated people...
- Beware those with hidden agendas Dec 16, 2019
- I confess to being somewhat confused when the Minister of National Security, Stuart Young, and not the Minister of Finance, Colm Imbert, led the charge for the introduction of the new polymer $100 bills on behalf of the Government.
- Simple equations, complex solutions Dec 10, 2019
- Exactly one month before last Monday's local government elections, I wrote in this space, inter alia: "...The PNM will face the December 2 elections at its most vulnerable point since winning the general election of 2015.
- First World, not failed state Dec 06, 2019
- Trinidad and Tobago is not now a failed state as many people claim it is. But it is precariously positioned at critical crossroads where, should the government and the populace take the wrong path or worse, stay put and do nothing, the country can descend into an abyss that would reduce the economy and the social fabric that has thus far held us together as a model nation to nothingness.
- The bitter taste of sugar Nov 26, 2019
- I breathed a sigh of relief when I read my Express colleague Mark Wilson's column last Friday headlined "Big Sugar, Kamla? Not so sweet." I had just read the newspaper's editorial which, in essence, supported a proposal made on the elections campaign by United National Congress leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to resurrect the country's sugar industry if her party returns to power, presumably following the 2020 general election.
- Chasing a crooked shadow Nov 20, 2019
- Sometime between three and four o'clock on the afternoon of the general election of 2015,(September 7), my daughter Leila shouted from her room, "They have extended voting hours beyond 6pm!" "What?" I asked, "Who extended it? I am watching the television, and there is no such news."
- Periscope on local government elections Nov 08, 2019
- Four weeks before the local government elections, and nothing tells me that there will be any more excitement than there was on November 28, 2016, when the customary one-third of the one million registered electors bothered to vote (34.34 percent to be precise), with the results being as predictable as the campaign was boring.
- We live only once, but... Oct 31, 2019
- Last week, as I listened to Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh complain for the umpteenth time about the high percentage of citizens who are literally eating and drinking themselves to chronic, costly lifestyle diseases and early deaths, I thought I needed to return to the topic I focused on in my previous column-food production and consumption.
- Eating ourselves to early deaths Oct 23, 2019
- Fact: while we the people of Trinidad and Tobago eat much of the foods, fruits, etc, that we produce locally, most of what we consume for sustenance and satisfaction, maybe as much as 80 percent, we do not produce. We import it.
- Greed is killing us not so softly Oct 16, 2019
- Some day last week, after I had eaten a very modest lunch, I was snacking on a few locally-manufactured crackers when my wife asked, "You still hungry, nah?" She has noted with unnecessary concern that I eat smaller portions, which I attribute to ageing and my now mostly sedentary lifestyle, the latter imposed on me by my infirmity.
- Budget biggest 'bag' thieves lay their hands on Oct 07, 2019
- It is a newspaper commentator's dilemma-having to write on the Finance Minister's annual budget presentation, as readers expect him to, both before and after the Appropriation Bill is laid in Parliament.
- Why not the OWTU? Oct 02, 2019
- The outrage that erupted when Government announced its decision to name the Oilfields Workers Trade Union's company, Patriotic Energies and Technologies Ltd, as the preferred bidder for the oil refinery at Pointe-a-Pierre (Guaracara Refining Co), you'd swear all Cabinet ministers and the OWTU's president Ancel Roget and his entire executive are guilty of high treason, and deserve to be hauled into Woodford Square and shot to death with goat-pills.
- Shame and scandal in the HDC Sept 26, 2019
- In the wake of the cancellation of a lopsided, scandalous multi-billion-dollar contract between the Housing Development Corporation and China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Company (CGGC) for the construction of 5,000 housing units, it is alarming that no public official has been called to account for the many concessions the Chinese almost escaped with but for the vigilance of the much maligned mass media.
- Crabs in a barrel Sept 16, 2019
- I had no prior information that the Express had commissioned a poll on Dr Keith Rowley's performance as Prime Minister after holding office for four years, far less that publication of the results would coincide with my return as a columnist in last week's Sunday Express.
- Racism-last refuge of a scoundrel Sept 09, 2019
- What possessed United National Congress leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to unleash a loose cannon in the form of ex-soldier Carlton Dennie on an unsuspecting audience of party faithful a few Monday nights ago, we may never know.
- Ordinary people, extraordinary lives Sept 04, 2019
- They will cremate Miss Eileen sometime today somewhere in Florida where most of her daughters and only surviving son live. I hope the passage of hurricane Dorian does not disrupt the final rites for one of the matriarchs of the village of Bokaro
- Oil in turmoil Aug 29, 2019
- I had planned to write a column sometime before the 2019-2020 Budget presentation on the successor-companies to State-owned oil giant Petrotrin, seeking to have the Minister of Energy and/or Corporation Sole (the Minister of Finance) inform the public of their progress or regress or stagnation.
- Least of the looters Aug 20, 2019
- If the arrest of ex-Minister Marlene McDonald, and her indictment on fraud and misbehaviour in public office charges did anything for the morale of citizens, it was to restore confidence in some investigative units of the Police Service, and underscore the independence of the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
- Least of the looters Aug 20, 2019
- If the arrest of ex-Minister Marlene McDonald, and her indictment on fraud and misbehaviour in public office charges did anything for the morale of citizens, it was to restore confidence in some investigative units of the Police Service, and underscore the independence of the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
- Turmoil in the global village Aug 14, 2019
- It's so easy for us to be so overwhelmed by our own mess-and there's more than enough sewage there to drown us all-that we are unmindful of what's happening in the wider world, developments that could impact our small island state negatively.
- One step away from Hell Aug 09, 2019
- Stirring racial tensions during the run-up to major elections in Trinidad and Tobago is an appeal to primal ethnic instincts as old as when adult franchise was first granted to what was then a British crown colony back in 1946 when I was born.
- CLR James: man without honour in his own country Aug 02, 2019
- A tragedy of our times is the absolute ignorance of the vast majority of our population of the nation's history. And for once I cannot blame this void on information technology, on the electronic devices that most young people and many mature ones are glued to, in most instances day and night.
- Crime and punishment T&T style Jul 25, 2019
- Oozing from the barrels of blood that flowed from the bullet-ridden corpses of last week's 24 murder victims and almost as many who suffered serious to critical gunshot wounds were several important lessons that we may choose to ignore, to our peril.
- Land bandits stealing State lands Jul 19, 2019
- I listened to Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi a few nights ago as he detailed new legislation and associated measures the Government has put in place regarding land ownership and transactions.
- US demonising China Jul 12, 2019
- Last May, Minister of Finance Colm Imbert announced at a post-Cabinet media briefing that Shanghai Construction had been awarded a billion-dollar contract to build the Port-of-Spain General Hospital's new central block.
- Those were the days my friend... Jul 04, 2019
- There is a song, a beautiful song in lyrics, melody and its first recorded rendition, that has been the anthem of successive generations that grew older-over 50, over 60, take your pick.
- Fools rush in Jul 01, 2019
- I feel a sense of déjà vu, of having been there, seen that, whenever some self-proclaimed leader or obscure group announces the formation of a new political party-which seems to be a frequent occurrence, with three major elections looming large on the horizon.
- Crisis next door will continue Jun 21, 2019
- During the recent Venezuelan migrants registration exercise, I found myself subconsciously scanning video-clips and photographs of the hundreds of hopefuls who turned up at the three designated centres each day for, I am not ashamed to admit it, applicants of colour.
- Identifying and fighting economic apartheid Jun 14, 2019
- Trinidad and Tobago should be grateful for having among its citizens patriots who are unafraid to speak out on issues that affect us all, and more importantly, who bear allegiance to the country, not to any political party.
- Look into the mirror, people Jun 06, 2019
- Two crews, one from the URP and the other from the CEPEP, descended upon the two-by-two street on which I live during the past two weeks in a kind of pincer attack that I am convinced was devised by mid-level officials of the programmes to show citizen Shah how taxpayers' dollars are wasted, and how we can do nothing about the wastage.
- Four trains too far? May 29, 2019
- Consider the following: in 2019, when the 20-year contract for Train 1 of the Atlantic LNG plant expired and a new contract was negotiated, supposedly giving the people of Trinidad and Tobago a fairer share of the profits, the principal shareholder of the Train, BPTT, cast doubt over its future viability...
- WASA's crime against communities May 08, 2019
- If we agree with the adage a picture tells a thousand words, then by extrapolation, given the immense advances in information technology, a website, especially one belonging to a public utility like the Water and Sewerage Authority, ought to have billions of megabytes of data that are readily available to the public at the click of a computer mouse.
- Wage war against criminals, not the media Apr 30, 2019
- Gary Griffith's unilateral declaration of a "cold war" on the conventional media in general, and the CCN Group in particular, was as predictable as it was inevitable.
- Stoking the fires of racial discord Apr 23, 2019
- As I watched the mayhem unfold across Sri Lanka last Sunday, the death toll from multiple bombings at churches and hotels mounting from the initial count of 160 as some of the severely injured succumbed to their injuries, I thought of how fortunate we in Trinidad and Tobago have been thus far.
- No to devaluation Apr 20, 2019
- The continuous cacophony over the state of the national economy is confusing me, as I imagine it confounding the vast majority of the population, including many of those who promote themselves, or who are presented by the media as experts to pontificate on the topic.
- Presentation Chaguanas at 60 Apr 12, 2019
- When the pupils and staff of Presentation College, Chaguanas, return to classes in two weeks, their prime focus will be on major examinations at the end of the academic year
- Government must come clean on future of oil industry Apr 02, 2019
- The Keith Rowley Government needs to stop playing the ox with what little is left of the oil industry in Trinidad and Tobago.
- None so blind... March 26, 2019
- I find it incomprehensible that supposedly-intelligent persons, many of whom have been around for as long as I have, and who ought to know the bloody history of American interventions in the politics of Latin American countries
- None so blind... March 26, 2019
- I find it incomprehensible that supposedly-intelligent persons, many of whom have been around for as long as I have, and who ought to know the bloody history of American interventions in the politics of Latin American countries
- Beware: nasty election campaigns ahead March 20, 2019
- If you thought that Vernella Alleyne-Toppin had plumbed the depth of depravity when, in the run-up to the 2015 general election, the then Tobago East MP launched the most scurrilous, vulgar attack on People's National Movement leader Dr Keith Rowley, believe me, you haven't seen the nastiest political campaigning yet.
- Dying with laughter March 13, 2019
- Throughout my life, as far back as I can recall, one characteristic I have learnt to value highly is being able to laugh at myself...and then at other people. I think I inherited the importance of humour, of being able to laugh heartily at occurrences that might make other people cry, from my mother whose demeanour belied her propensity for laughter at anyone's expense, but more so her own, and most definitely ours, her five children.
- Salute the London clan March 09, 2019
- Having written last week that I did not see the successors to Sparrow and other icons in the pantheon of great calypsonians of Trinidad and Tobago, hence of the world, I think I must be man enough to apologise to the London family, three of whom won the four most prestigious calypso titles at stake this year.
- Thanks for the lyrics and music, Sparrow February 28, 2019
- It was a moment of sheer serendipity last Friday night. My wife Rosina and I had just watched the television news, and, scanning the local stations for some Carnival-related activity but finding nothing of interest, I resorted to YouTube for some good music that would take us to bedtime, around ten o'clock.
- Do not politicise war against crime February 20, 2019
- Buried in the last paragraph of a document titled "Interim Gang Report 2018", which was compiled by the Organised Crime and Intelligence Unit of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service and featured prominently in the last Sunday Express
- Periscope on upcoming national elections February 12, 2019
- Even as the crisis in neighbouring Venezuela remains volatile, with the threat of civil war looming large just beyond our horizon, politicians in Trinidad and Tobago are pressing ahead with preparations for their own political wars-local government elections due to be held later this year and a general election before the end of next year.
- Unknown Guaido: pawn in a high-stakes game February 06, 2019
- Sitting as we are in Trinidad and Tobago on ringside seats watching the political crisis in Venezuela unfold, events are moving so quickly they appear to be spiralling out of control.
- Venezuelans should thank Rowley, not cuss him January 30, 2019
- The Government of Trinidad and Tobago has adopted a correct response to the political crisis in the neighbouring Republic of Venezuela.
- Sandals saved Rowley January 23, 2019
- The Government of Trinidad and Tobago has adopted a correct response to the political crisis in the neighbouring Republic of Venezuela.
- Society steeped in corruption January 16, 2019
- Sometime in 2017, I wrote a column in which I counselled Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to refrain from hurling allegations of corruption against ministers and senior officials of the People's Partnership Government unless or until such time as some them have been charged with serious corruption-related criminal offences.
- The Carnival is over January 09, 2019
- I was pleasantly surprised when the announcement by the National Carnival Commission that it was scrapping the North Stand for this year's Carnival did not elicit an uproar of objections from stakeholders in the national festival and hordes of party animals whose love for steelband music lasts one day-the National Panorama Semi-Finals.
- Think small, earn big January 03, 2019
- I could have begun the New Year by griping about all the negatives of the old, cussing from politicians to crooks for the many woes we citizens face daily, ranging from a record high number of homicides to a seemingly stagnated economy...
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