I DO not know how Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her Cabinet arrived at a decision to appoint a Commission of Enquiry into the attempted coup of 1990. I suspect the hype that always surrounds the anniversary date of the Muslimeen assault on the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) government may have prompted the PM and her colleagues to attempt to “put this matter to rest for once and for all”. It certainly was not part of the People’s Partnership manifesto or 120-day action plan.
Continue reading 1990 Enquiry: Exercise in Futility
Category Archives: Finance
State of the Economy
By Derren Joseph
July 20, 2010
Generally speaking, I often raise an eye brow when commentators use broad brush strokes to describe the somewhat intricate picture that is our economy. A picture made all the more interesting by the challenges facing the global economy in general. For my part, I try hard to appreciate the views of both sides of the fence—those who speak positively of the economy and those who do not. On one hand, it is hard to dispute that compared to many so called developed nations, and many of our neighbours in the region, we are doing relatively well. Looking at the charts available online, our public debt as a percentage of GDP is less than our Caribbean neighbours, our friends in North America (US and Canada) and even much of Western Europe. Our import cover is about 12 months when the international benchmark is 3 months.
Continue reading State of the Economy
Poverty Facts and Fiction
By Raffique Shah
July 18, 2010
EVERY time I hear someone parrot poverty numbers in my Trinidad and Tobago, I wince. Politicians, and many ordinary citizens, often accept as the “gospel truth” the amount of people in this country said to be living “below the absolute poverty line”, defined as US$1 a day. The estimated numbers range from 10 per cent to 20 per cent of the population, which suggests there are between 130,000 and 260,000 desperately poor people in our midst living on less than TT$6.37 a day. That’s around $190 a month.
Continue reading Poverty Facts and Fiction
Bring OPV Report
on the Clyde River in Glasgow, Scotland
July 16, 2010 – newsday.co.tt
WE eagerly await the report recently promised by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on the former regime’s purchase of three Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) that are said to cost $1.5 billion, which would work out at $500 million each.
Continue reading Bring OPV Report
Tribute to Professor Dennis Pantin
By Norman Girvan
July 14, 2010
It is with great sadness, and a sense of tremendous loss, that the Caribbean economics fraternity has learnt of the passing of Professor Dennis Pantin, former chair of the Economics Department and Coordinator of the Sustainable Economic Development Unit at the UWI, St Augustine.
Continue reading Tribute to Professor Dennis Pantin
PM Persad-Bissessar’s Address at Luncheon in Miami
Feature address delivered by the Hon. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at a Business Luncheon in Fort Lauderdale, Miami – Monday, July 12, 2010.
Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen. It is indeed a pleasure to address you today, and I extend my sincere thanks to you all for granting me the opportunity to showcase the dynamic twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, during my short stopover in Miami. As some of you may be aware, my visit to Miami follows in the wake of attending the 31st Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Summit which was held in Montego Bay, Jamaica last week.
Continue reading PM Persad-Bissessar’s Address at Luncheon in Miami
Corruption, Mismanagement and Waste
July 31, 2010
Madness in Sportt–Anil
Roberts added: “Errors, omissions, impropriety and downright corrupt practices… from the Caribbean Games, which never came off, to the legacy flag at Hasely Crawford Stadium, to the hiring of interns, the leasing of expensive SUVs, duplication of duties/responsibilities and the creation of a ghost roof at the stadium.”
…’Prophetess would be proud’
SPORTS Minister Anil Roberts yesterday literally didn’t know if to laugh or cry as he exposed $65 million in a clutch of dubious deals at the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SPORTT) in a hard-hitting speech in the Lower House.
Continue reading Corruption, Mismanagement and Waste
Corruption at T&TEC
AG 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).
Continue reading Corruption at T&TEC
Let the chips fall where they may
at the Heights of Guanapo - Inset: Ex-PM Patrick Manning
Sunday, June 13th 2010
REVELATIONS about the controversial cathedral-of-a-church being constructed at Guanapo suggest that ex-prime minister Patrick Manning may have been more involved in the project than he suggested when the issue was first made public. The new People’s Partnership Government has commissioned investigations into the project. Should our worst fears come to pass, though, it would be ironical that religious fervour, seen by many as the road to salvation, would instead turn into the seed of destruction for Mr Manning.
Continue reading Let the chips fall where they may
Govt will restore President’s House
THE People’s Partnership will restore President’s House in St Ann’s to its former glory. This was the assurance given by Minister in the Ministry of Works and Transport, Rudy Indarsingh.
Continue reading Govt will restore President’s House