Culture, General T&T, People's Partnership, Politics

Preserving the Tacarigua Savannah – Part 2

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 20, 2013

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI don’t know what area of Trinidad Anil Roberts comes from and on what basis he makes the claim that a Regional Sporting Complex “is forty years overdue” or why he feels that a sporting complex “equipped with facilities for all citizens to use for sports such as cricket, football, swimming, squash, tennis and table tennis” (Newsday, September 16) is the best use we can make of the remaining ten acres of the natural savannah of Tacarigua.
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COP, General T&T, People's Partnership, Politics, UNC

UNC Has Dollars But Little Political Sense

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By Stephen Kangal
September 20, 2013

Stephen KangalThe critical factor underlying the growth, continuing relevance and survival of all political organizations especially in diverse democratic societies is the priority accorded to developing, adapting and embellishing an open-ended, politically-dominated and all-embracing strategic framework. It is against this standard that all challenges to the status quo/ existence are assessed and a politically correct and objectively determined response to external stimuli brain-stormed, conceptualized and implemented.
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Court, Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Media, Politics

Treat Ganja Use Differently

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By Jada Loutoo
September 17, 2013 – newsday.co.tt

Chief Justice Ivor ArchieAS some regional nations and parts of North and Latin America move towards decriminalising the consumption and possession of marijuana, Chief Justice Ivor Archie has began the ball rolling for similar considerations, in some capacity, for Trinidad and Tobago.
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General T&T, Law, Parliament, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC

Donkey with a kick

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By Raffique Shah
September 14, 2013

Raffique ShahWhen House Speaker Wade Mark invoked the contentious constitutional provision that an elected MP, Herbert Volney in this instance, must vacate his seat upon resigning or being expelled from the party on whose slate he was elected to Parliament, it piqued my interest. You see, I was a principal player in the events that led to the passage of that amendment to the Constitution in 1978, and I am intimate with its genesis.
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General T&T, Opposition Party, Parliament, People's Partnership, Politics

Opposition Fails to Vote

By Andre Bagoo
September 12, 2013 – newsday.co.tt

ParliamentOPPOSITION and Independent Senators were caught napping early yesterday morning when they missed their chance to formally oppose historic legislation introducing proportional representation to the system of local government.

During a marathon 17-hour sitting of the Senate, which began on Tuesday and ended at 3.15 am yesterday, the senators had vociferously objected to the Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Act 2013, the unprecedented legislation which introduces a system of proportional representation for the selection of aldermen.
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Finance, General T&T, Law, Parliament, People's Partnership, Politics

There’s is No Solace in the Land and Building Taxes Regime

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By Stephen Kangal
September 11, 2013

Stephen KangalThe heart and soul, indeed the single most important determining factor in the calculation of the quantum of property taxation for each property is the year in which the requisite rental value -driven valuation was completed and applied. Finance Minister Larry Howai alluded to the fact that by the time residential properties are brought to book again by 2017 the relevant requisite up-to-date valuations will have been completed.
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General T&T, Media, Parliament, People's Partnership, Politics, UNC

$61 billion Budget

By Andre Bagoo
September 10 2013

ParliamentFINANCE Minister Larry Howai yesterday unveiled a $61.4 billion budget, yet again the largest in the country’s history.

The 2014 package — the PP Government’s fourth — includes what the Minister said was also the largest-ever capital programme of $8 billion. However, the deficit projection will shrink relative to overall productivity coming in at $6.3 billion or 3.6 percent of GDP.
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General T&T, Law, Media, Parliament, People's Partnership, Politics, UNC

Speaker Puts Out Volney

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By Sean Douglas
September 10, 2013 – newsday.co.tt

GordonSpeaker Wade Mark removed St Joseph MP Herbert Volney, “with immediate effect” from the House of Representatives moments after yesterday’s Budget Speech, in an unprecedented invocation of the “Crossing of the Floor” provisions of the Constitution.

Volney resigned from the United National Congress (UNC) — on which ticket he had been elected to the House on May 24, 2010 – after being fired as Justice Minister over the “section 34” scandal, and has since joined the Independent Liberal Party (ILP).
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General T&T, Opposition Party, Parliament, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics

Governing the ungovernable

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By Raffique Shah
September 08, 2013

Raffique ShahRather than re-shuffle her Cabinet for a third time in three years, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar should have considered resigning and calling fresh general elections.

By an annual tinkering with her appointees and their portfolios, the PM has all but admitted she is incapable of leading the country, which, really, is nothing to be ashamed of. The great Eric Williams often complained this country was ungovernable. It still is.
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Complaints, corruption, Crime in T&T, General T&T, Politics

Give thanks, Trini

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By Raffique Shah
August 31, 2013

Raffique ShahI choose to reflect on the nation’s Independence anniversary through the prism of a glass half-full rather than half-empty. We endure so many negatives in this country—our daily dosage of murder, lawlessness from top to bottom, pillage of the national purse—that if we did not know how to laugh in the face of adversity, we would implode from cerebral constipation.
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