Category Archives: General T&T

corruption, Education, General T&T, Politics, Racism Watch

Forged in the Bowels of Corruption: Pt 3

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 26, 2017

PART 1 — PART 2 — PART 3 — PART 4 — PART 5

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThe development of Trinidad and Tobago’s energy sector owes a lot to the dedication and ingenuity of Ken Julien, our energy czar. Wendell Mottley, T&T’s former Finance Minister, suggests that Julien would not have been successful if he had approached his job through “the typical state bureaucracy.” He was successful because Eric Williams, the former PM, “insulated the energy investments from the hassles and delays that might ordinarily be expected in a programme of such size, complexity and duration” (Trevor Boopsingh & Gregory McGuire, From Oil to Gas and Beyond).
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Politics

BEETHAM BADNESS

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Shots fired, debris thrown on highway after 2 arrested

By Ryan Hamilton-Davis
November 24, 2017 – newsday.co.tt

BEETHAM BADNESSAfter the arrest of two of their own, Beetham residents vented their anger by throwing debris onto the highway and then firing shots when police arrived to clear the rubble and restore order.

What followed was hours of gridlock on the east-bound and west-bound sections of the highway, the Priority Bus Route and the Eastern Main Road.

Head of the Port of Spain Division, Snr Supt Floris Hodge-Griffith told Newsday she and her officers had to duck for cover when they were shot at on arriving at the Beetham. Hodge-Griffith said she was driving in a marked police vehicle on the Beetham Highway at about 10.45 am when she encountered the blockade.
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corruption, Crime in T&T, General T&T, Oil and Gas, PNM, UNC

Only in Trinidad

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By Raffique Shah
November 23, 2017

Raffique ShahUntil such time as persons in public life who are criminally responsible for stealing from the public purse, or for abusing their powers to enable their friends or associates to unfairly, maybe even illegally, acquire state lands or subsidised housing, are thrown into jail like the common thieves they are, this society will continue to decay, to fall apart, hurtling towards a failed state, a dubious title that we seem hell-bent on attaining, as if it were an achievement we can be proud of.
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corruption, Education, General T&T, Racism Watch

Forged in the Bowels of Corruption: Pt 2

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 20, 2017

PART 1 — PART 2 — PART 3 — PART 4 — PART 5

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThings get mighty strange in T&T. Before President Anthony Carmona could wash he foot, he jump into de dance with the chiasmus: “I don’t feel because there is a recession that we need to have a recession in education” (Express, November 11). It sounds noble but it does not amount to a hill of beans.

When there is a recession everything recedes including educational funding for the simple reason that the government or the stakeholder does not have enough money to pay for an expensive enterprise, particularly when monies extended to that enterprise may not have been used with the necessary circumspection. However, the President’s statement sounded Solomonic in the presence of enablers of a seriously disabled system. They included UTT chairman Prof. Ken Julien, deputy chairman Prof. Clement Imbert, UTT president Prof. Sarun Al-Zubadidy, Education Minister Anthony Garcia and Chief Justice Ivor Archie.
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Elections, General T&T, Media, Politics, UNC

JEARLEAN FOR DEPUTY

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Fired HDC head on Kamla’s slate

By Stacy Moore
November 16, 2017 – newsday.co.tt

Jearlean JohnFired Housing Development Corporation (HDC) Managing Director Jearlean John yesterday filed nomination papers to contest the post of UNC political leader in the party’s November 26 internal election.

At first it was thought John, who was Transport Minister during the Basdeo Panday administration, was merely supporting UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar by walking with her as she (Persad-Bissessar) entered the party’s Couva headquarters to file nomination papers shortly after 3pm. However, John presented her own nomination papers to the party’s election officer Dr Rampersad Parasram.
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General T&T, Politics, Sex Crimes

Sexual misconduct haunts public figures

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By Raffique Shah
November 16, 2017

Raffique ShahAmidst an avalanche of allegations of sexual misconduct against a phalanx of prominent men, mostly in the USA, but also in other developed countries, one can anticipate a similar surge here in Trinidad and Tobago, although our litigation procedures are more constrained, some might argue restrictive, than in those jurisdictions. I argue, too, that cultural differences influence the way the local public, if not the courts, view such allegations.
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corruption, Education, General T&T, Racism Watch

Forged in the Bowels of Corruption: Pt 1

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 14, 2017

PART 1 — PART 2 — PART 3 — PART 4 — PART 5

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThe last time I heard, the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) was a public institution, which suggests the public owns it. This suggests further that the public (in this case, the taxpayers) have a right to know what’s taking place at “our national university” since the taxpayers have spent billions of dollars to establish this public institution.
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Elections, General T&T, UNC

Kamla: Opponents want to mash up UNC

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By Seeta Persad
November 13, 2017 – newsday.co.tt

Kamla Persad-BissessarOpposition Leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar said she remembered outlining to UNC members of a conspiracy to undermine former PM Basdeo Panday long before she became the leader of the UNC and her instincts were correct. Shortly after that meeting with supporters and voicing her concerns, the Congress of the People (COP) was formed with supporters of the UNC. “I was right about these people,” she said.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T

No scruples, no consciences

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By Raffique Shah
November 9, 2017

Raffique ShahTwo Thursdays ago, at around 11 a.m., one of my brothers was robbed at gunpoint as he pulled up at the entrance to his home off Beaucarro Road. He had returned from First Citizens Bank in Couva where he had withdrawn a few thousand dollars to pay farmers who supply him with hot peppers. Three young men, one armed with a gun, rushed him and threatened to kill him. They searched his pockets, stole the cash, his wallet (with vital documents) and phone. After seizing his keys from his car and telling him to run for his life, they bolted to a car parked nearby and made good their escape.
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Crime in T&T, International, PNM, Politics, USA

Targeting Dr. Williams

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 06, 2017

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIn October (2006) I reviewed Colin Palmer’s Eric Williams and the Making of the Modern Caribbean for the Journal of British Studies. I congratulated Palmer for exposing the intrigue of Britain and the United States against Williams when he fought for the return of Chaguaramas for the federal capital of the Federation of the West Indies. I wrote: “It might come as a shock to many that the United States gave some thought to ‘eliminating’ Williams during the Chaguaramas discussion. The British sought to sabotage his efforts.”
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