Category Archives: General T&T

The case for a local police commissioner

Acting Commissioner of Police James Philbert
Acting Commissioner of Police James Philbert
By Tony Fraser
June 23, 2010 – guardian.co.tt

Finding a new Commissioner of Police is not merely about recruiting the man with the right skills-set and experience, and if that individual be a foreigner then so be it. A Commissioner of Police is one of the principal officers of the State, at the helm of the main institution of national security. Having a national in that position is about the society demonstrating the capacity to govern itself 48 years after having achieved political independence. If the argument is that there is no one within the service with the capacity to successfully perform the job of commissioner, that would be an indictment not only on the senior officers in the service but on the political and administrative managers of the service over the period 1962 to the present.
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Should the PNM Govern Us Again?

By Stephen Kangal
June 22, 2010

PNMThe sober question that my favourite T&T electorate must address dispassionately is whether in the face of the sordid and blemished history/culture of widespread, pervasive, repeated corruption, vandalisation and pillaging of the public purse it can ever put God out of its mind and elect the PNM to mis-govern and bleed this country again?
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The Changing Social and Political Landscape of Trinidad and Tobago

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
June 22, 2010

(A Lecture delivered at the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards)

The PeopleI wanted to thank my friend Brian Moore for inviting me to address you as a part of the educational lectures that are being offered by the Bureau of Standards to acquaint workers about common trends in the society that are likely to make them more efficient in what they do. I also wanted to remind them that anytime they reduce their work to its mere technocratic dimensions they set themselves on a road that misses the essence of the jobs they perform for their society and their constant evolution as informed workers. Therefore, it is good thing to be here today to share with you my sense of what transpired over the last month in the society and why I believe that Trinidad and Tobago has arrived at another level of its social and political development.
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Squatting Dilemma Exposed

By Lara Pickford-Gordon
June 21, 2010 – newsday.co.tt

HouseI think it was Trade and Industry Minister Stephen Cadiz who described the persons illegally squatting on land at Cashew Gardens, Longdenville as behaving as if it was the wild, wild west when they rushed and staked a claim to land.
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People’s Partnership Victory Celebration

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, Minister of Works & Transport Jack Warner, Minister of Energy and Energy Affairs Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan, Minister of Public Utilities Emmanuel George and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at the People's Partnership's Victory Celebration - June, 18, 2010
Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, Minister of Works & Transport Jack Warner, Minister of Energy and Energy Affairs Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan, Minister of Public Utilities Emmanuel George and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at the People's Partnership's Victory Celebration - June, 18, 2010
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Calder Hart’s Castle for Sale

Former executive chairman of Udecott, Calder Hart
Former executive chairman of Udecott, Calder Hart
By Anika Gumbs-Sandiford
June 20, 2010 – guardian.co.tt

Investigators may have to extradite former executive chairman of the Urban Development Corporation of T&T (Udecott) John Calder Hart, as he has moved to block criminal charges by severing all ties from this jurisdiction. The shocking new twist comes on the heels of the whopping $3,400,000 million selling price tag on Hart’s sprawling mansion at #No 6 De Lima Road, Second Avenue, Cascade. A deed dated May 20, prepared by attorney Mark Laquis of Pollonais, Blanc, de la Bastide & Jacelon of Pembroke Street, Port-of-Spain was delivered anonymously to the Trinidad Guardian Head Office on Friday evening, in an unmarked envelope.
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‘Desi’ Allum: patriarch and patriot

Desmond Allum
Desmond Allum
By Raffique Shah
June 20, 2010

MY mother takes a seat in the limited space available in court. It is early June, 1970, and the preliminary inquiry into the charge of treason gets underway. She looks at her 24-year-old son sitting in the dock alongside 60-odd soldiers. A stern-looking Magistrate Roopchandsingh sits on the Bench, and Attorney General Karl Hudson-Phillips leads a formidable, impressive-looking prosecution team. Like other parents and families of the accused, she is nervous, worried.
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Corruption at T&TEC

T&TECAG to advise Govt on TTEC
Attorney General Anand Ramlogan will report to Cabinet in two weeks and recommend what “further action” should be taken on the findings of a report on breaches in tendering procedures by the TT Electricity Commission (TTEC) in relation to jobs under the Street Lighting Implementation Unit, which implemented the street lighting programme (SLP).
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The Myth of Exclusive Monogamous Morality (Part II)

By Corey Gilkes
June 17, 2010 – trinicenter.com

Bride and groom join hands at a Hindu weddingThis is the second instalment of my attempt to address the oft-asked question as to why people, especially (mainly) men “cheat” or seem unable to “commit” to our spouses/partners. The short answer is of course because we can; we made the rules – for us – and because there is very little about monogamy that is natural or moral anyway. The longer version of this answer – the one I hope people read – should hopefully shed some light on the complexities of human sexuality and the diverse streams that went into the moral ideas we hold today.
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