All posts by News

General T&T, Tobago

Sedimentary Self- Governance Structure In the Tobago Bill

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By Stephen Kangal
March 19, 2018

Stephen KangalWhile being a student of Geography at Hillview College in 1959 I was taught by Mr Trevor Spenser that a sedimentary rock is a conglomerate of layers of alluvial deposits. This lesson flashed upon my inward eye when I studied the draft provisions of the current Bill 5 of 2018 that is geared to confer the long-awaited advanced state of internal self- governance to the 40,000 people living within 116 square miles of mountainous terrain but also enjoying unrestricted mobility including residence in Trinidad.
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Crime in T&T, Domestic Violence, General T&T, Murder, Violence

La Brea massacre suspect captured

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La Brea massacre suspect captured
The TTPS tweeted: “The suspect in the gruesome murders of four people on Tuesday at Sobo Village, La Brea, is held at around 9:10 a.m. (18.03.18) walking along a roadway leading out of St Albans Quarry, located 200 metres off the Valencia Stretch.”

BONE-CHILLING. Blood-curdling. Horrific.

Newsday Editorial
March 16, 2018 – newsday.co.tt

ViolenceMere days after the commemoration of International Women’s Day, the nation is now coming to terms with a crime the nature of which sets a new low in our country.

Yet again, the case involves reports of a jilted lover — a man who felt the gruesome massacre of innocent people was a just reward for being rejected by a woman.
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General T&T, Politics, WASA

Sewage more than water

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By Raffique Shah
March 14, 2018

Raffique ShahThe last time the Regulated Industries Commission (RIC) awarded increases in water rates to the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) was in 1993. The RIC used data from the year 1989 to determine the increases. One can easily assume that in the ensuing 29 years, every commodity price from foods to fuels, apparels to real estate, has tripled, maybe quadrupled, so why should water rates be any different?
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Africa, General T&T, Liberia

Celebrating Unnamed and Unfamed Trinidad and Tobago Women

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 12, 2018

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeLast Thursday, International Women’s Day (IWD), millions of women around the world celebrated “the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.” The day also marked “a call to action for accelerating gender parity.”

Their website reminded us that IWD has occurred “for well over a century, with the first March 8 IWD gathering supported by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.”
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General T&T, Recession, T&TEC, WASA

Realistic rates hikes for T&TEC

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By Raffique Shah
March 07, 2018

Raffique ShahAs the nation grapples with two seemingly intractable problems, crime and the economy, we pay little or no attention to two critical issues that are bound to generate a furore sometime soon—increases in water and electricity rates.

The Regulated Industries Commission (RIC), which determines how much the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) and the Trinidad & Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) can charge consumers for these vital supplies, has indicated it will soon set in motion the procedures that will guide it with respect to granting or denying these agencies rate increases.
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General T&T, Law

Garbage Country

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 05, 2018

“The constitutional conventions…provide the flesh which clothes the dry bones of the law; they make the legal constitution work.” —Sir Ivor Jennings

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeSomehow I can’t get the image out of my mind: a garbage truck, driving into East Dry River and dumping its contents in the middle of a city street. Some say the driver was forced at gunpoint to do so, while others said he showed his loyalty to his friends. The police contend that he dumped the garbage out of spite, malice, or mischief. He was charged “for willfully obstructing the free passage of a road and for littering” (Guardian, February 23).
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, International, Law, Media, Sex

Questions over shooting of gay man with links to Trinidad judge

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UPDATE: MARCH 19, 2018: ‘Johnson planned hit on WASA official’
CJ’s close friend a suspect in 2 murders, says police report sent to UK…
ACTING Police Commissioner Ste­phen Williams has said it is alleged convicted fraudster Dillian Johnson, a close friend of Chief Justice Ivor Archie, who planned a hit on an official of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA).

Dillian Johnson fears being killed for sexuality and is seeking asylum in the UK after attack

By Robert Booth
Wed 28 Feb 2018 09.11 EST – theguardian.com

Dillian Johnson and Chief Justice Ivor ArchieLawyers in Trinidad and Tobago are challenging the conduct of the country’s top judge, following questions about his relationship with a man who was shot in an ambush and is now seeking asylum in the UK.

The Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago is investigating allegations involving the chief justice, Ivor Archie, after local media queried his conduct in relation to Dillian Johnson, 36, who survived a night-time shooting outside his home in December. Johnson fled Trinidad to the UK three weeks after the shooting and says he fears for his life if he is forced to return.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, International, Law, Police, USA, Violence

No guns in our schools

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By Raffique Shah
February 27, 2018

Raffique ShahWhile I empathise with the trainee teacher who was robbed at gunpoint on her school’s compound last Wednesday morning—I suffered a similar fate at my home back in 2002—I do not understand why people are shocked by the brazen, early morning robbery.

If we feel schools should be sacrosanct, that bandits and other criminals should show respect for our institutes of education, perish the thought. Some parents, teachers and students have long jettisoned that notion by their misbehavior, and students’ brawls captured on the ubiquitous phone-video-cameras are among the most popular fare uploaded onto sundry so-called social media Internet sites, providing perverse entertainment for people who seem to spend all their waking hours digesting cyber-garbage.
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Africa, Gambia, General T&T

My Gambian Journey

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 26, 2018

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeMonday’s disorder in East Port of Spain made me reflect on my recent visit to the Gambia where I participated in Mboka, a festival to celebrate Gambian as well as African diasporic heritage. Gambians “belong to the Senegambia region of West Africa, the general name given to the area drained by the Senegal and Gambia rivers” (Faal, A History of Gambia). Mboka or “One Family,” a Wolof word, is taken from the ethnic group of the same name.
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