Monthly Archives: July 2012

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

A Way of Seeing

15 Comments

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 25, 2012

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeDr. Bhoe Tewarie is an academic; so am I. Dr. Tewarie is a Hindu; I am an Orisa, sometimes Anglican. Dr. Tewarie is Tapir/NAR/PP; I have always been a member of the PNM. Dr. Tewaire has been principal of UWI/ Arthur Lock Jack/ Minister of Planning and Economics; I am a professor, researcher and writer of books. Dr. Tewarie is busy planning our 50th anniversary celebrations; I am at the British National Archive researching the first fifty years of our nation’s history (1800-1850). As nationals, there cannot be a starker dichotomy of two lives.
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corruption, General T&T, People's Partnership, Politics

Exoneration or escape?

7 Comments

By Raffique Shah
July 21, 2012

Raffique ShahFORTY years ago on July 27 I was released from prison a free man. I had spent 27 months in prison, faced a court-martial on mutiny and other charges, and had been committed to stand trial for treason. The treason charge was without substance.

But on the equally serious offence of mutiny, for which the court-martial had found me guilty and sentenced me to 20 years imprisonment, the Court of Appeal later decided there was a miscarriage of justice, hence it overturned the conviction.
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General T&T, Law, Parliament, People's Partnership, Politics, Tobago

Tobago’s Self-Governance and Legal Separation from T’dad

5 Comments

By Stephen Kangal
July 21, 2012

Stephen KangalIf Tobago were to be accorded full and effective internal self-governance in the current climate, it is mandatory that boundaries separating the domestic jurisdiction of both islands have to be established to demarcate the maritime limits of the reach of their respective law –creating capacity to avoid over-lapping or concurrent jurisdiction and reduce potential conflict.
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Finance, General T&T, India, People's Partnership, Politics, Racism Watch

When Race Trumps Reason

20 Comments

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 18, 2012

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeYou work at an institution for ten years; you begin to like that institution. You grow to admire the intellectual caliber of the men and women who work there and you embalm those precious memories. Ultimately, you reverence that institution as a place where standards matter and excellence is the order of the day. You read Terrence Farrell’s Central Banking in a Developing Economy: A Study of Trinidad and Tobago, 1964 to 1989, you appreciate the origin of central banking in the nation, pre and post-independence. You realize the stature of the men who served this nation as governors (sadly there are no women) and you feel a sense of pride in your nation’s achievement. You realize that no matter what its limitations are, it tries to reward excellence signaling to the nation’s young men and women that achievement matters.
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General T&T, Labour

Memories of another era

7 Comments

By Raffique Shah
July 14, 2012

Raffique ShahLAST week, memories of another day, another time, another Trinidad and Tobago swirled through my mind. It happened over several days as many of us who grew up in the villages that make up what I call “Greater Freeport” gathered to pay our final respects to an elder, Boyd “Baykay” Roberts. Baykay was a contemporary of my long-deceased father Haniff, and a close friend of my deceased uncles, all of them sugar workers, ordinary people, barely literate, but wise in the ways of the world.
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England, Finance, General T&T, International

Countries, Citizens, Identity

4 Comments

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 11, 2012

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI have been in London for the past few days and will be here for several weeks. I am not here for the Olympics even though one can’t help getting caught up in the hype. I have taken a B&B within walking distance of the National Archives and will camp out here to get some work done on the biography of an important Trini.
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General T&T, Law, Politics, THA, Tobago

Tobago’s Internal-Self Governance — No Façade Structure

5 Comments

By Stephen Kangal
July 11, 2012

Stephen KangalCurrent proposals originating both in POS (The Green Paper) and Scarborough (The Draft Bill of the THA) now in the public domain and geared to accord a higher level of self-governance to Tobagonians must not result in another façade Legislature exercising political and administrative autonomy merely to achieve peace, order and good governance in the sister-isle. There must be fundamental changes both in structure and substance. Tobago must be treated with dignity, the inalienable right of its people to self-determination respected and their ownership or sovereign rights over adjacent maritime resources to be exploited for the welfare of its people recognized and legitimized.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Media, People's Partnership, Police, Politics, Protest, Security

PM, Cabinet knew about demolition

2 Comments

…protests increase Golconda to Pt Fortin highway by $3.5m

Sunday, July 8, 2012
Anika Gumbs-Sandiford – guardian.co.tt

PeopleResidents of Debe and surrounding areas line the M1 Ring Road in Debe with their placards in a show of support for the Point Fortin to Golconda highway yesterday morning. PHOTO: RISHI RAGOONATH

Minister of National Security Jack Warner did not act on his own accord when he instructed the demolition of the Highway Re-route Movement’s camp, to allow works to resume on the $7.2 billion Point Fortin Highway. In fact, Sunday Guardian learnt that only two weeks before Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar reshuffled her Cabinet, Brazilian firm Construtora OAS Ltd had issued a $3.5 million claim against the Government for breach of the contractual agreement caused by the protesters.
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General T&T, Law, People's Partnership, Police, Politics, Security

Cry blood, my beloved country

3 Comments

By Raffique Shah
July 07, 2012

Raffique ShahRARELY do I address the same topic for two consecutive weeks, but I feel compelled, in highly unusual circumstances, to alert the nation to the misadventures of National Security Minister Jack Warner. Last week, like many of my columnist colleagues, I took Warner to task over the way he handled the demolition of the Highway Re-Route Movement’s shed. In a country that adhered to the rule of law, Warner would have fallen on his own sword on that issue alone.
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General T&T, Hindu, India, Law, Politics, Protest

Hello, Hindutva

9 Comments

By Raymond Ramcharitar
July 4, 2012 – guardian.co.tt

lettersI could be mistaken, but it seems that the Highway Re-Route Movement activists are using their protests as a medium to deploy a Hindu-centric protest language to address the national community, and (presumably) the Government. Since, looking at the visual statements, a new vernacular is making its debut in the national conversation/cussout, it might be important to point out that we’re not really sure what they’re saying.
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