Monthly Archives: March 2018

Gender, General T&T

Reformation before revolution

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By Raffique Shah
March 29, 2018

Raffique ShahI was writing last week’s column when Madam Justice Paula-Mae Weekes’s inauguration as President of the Republic was underway at the Queen’s Park Savannah, so I missed out on most of the pomp and pageantry. No disrespect was intended: President Paula (well, we did have President Max) will understand my absence, what with a deadline to meet, and with Parkinson’s affecting the pace at which I write, though not the speed at which I think or the sharpness of my memory and mind.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics

Our Humble First Servant

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 27, 2018

“A true and worthy ideal frees and uplifts a people; a false ideal imprisons and lowers [them].” — W. E. B. Du Bois, “The Souls of White Folks”

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI am beyond myself with pride that the present government selected Paula-Mae Weekes to be the first president of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (TT). It speaks volumes about our confidence in ourselves and points the way forward. This appointment speaks volumes particularly when women are being targeted, demeaned, and killed with growing frequency.
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General T&T, Oil and Gas, Politics, THA, Tobago

Tobago’s Claims over Its Maritime Resources

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By Stephen Kangal
March 27, 2018

Stephen KangalCurrent proposals that are now in the public domain by way of the Bill No 5 0f 2018 geared to accord a higher level of self -governance to Tobagonians will create another façade Legislature like that of its predecessor exercising political and administrative autonomy merely to achieve peace, order and good governance. Tobago must be treated with dignity and their ownership or sovereign rights over adjacent maritime resources (living and non-living) to be exploited for the welfare of its people must be recognized and legitimized. This is the age of Nationalism.
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General T&T, Oil and Gas, PNM, Politics, Recession

Too little, too late?

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By Raffique Shah
March 23, 2018

Raffique ShahIt may well be a case of too little, too late. It might even be a classic case of trying to set right an historical economic wrong when the oil barrel is about to run dry. But for sure, Government’s Rip Van Winkle’s rude awakening to the reality that Trinidad and Tobago has for far too long been gang-raped by the large energy corporations, with the complicity of its mothers and stepmothers (successive governments and some of the elites), reduces informed patriots to a mixture of tears and guffaws.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics

PNM ‘Till Ah Dead; Maybe!

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 19, 2018

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI sympathize with Camille Robinson-Regis’s concerns about the inability of some commentators “to declare their political hand” before offering their scathing criticism against the PNM or even their reluctance to mention some of PNM’s achievements (see Letter of the Day, Express, March 10).
Continue reading PNM ‘Till Ah Dead; Maybe! →

General T&T, Tobago

Sedimentary Self- Governance Structure In the Tobago Bill

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By Stephen Kangal
March 19, 2018

Stephen KangalWhile being a student of Geography at Hillview College in 1959 I was taught by Mr Trevor Spenser that a sedimentary rock is a conglomerate of layers of alluvial deposits. This lesson flashed upon my inward eye when I studied the draft provisions of the current Bill 5 of 2018 that is geared to confer the long-awaited advanced state of internal self- governance to the 40,000 people living within 116 square miles of mountainous terrain but also enjoying unrestricted mobility including residence in Trinidad.
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Crime in T&T, Domestic Violence, General T&T, Murder, Violence

La Brea massacre suspect captured

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La Brea massacre suspect captured
The TTPS tweeted: “The suspect in the gruesome murders of four people on Tuesday at Sobo Village, La Brea, is held at around 9:10 a.m. (18.03.18) walking along a roadway leading out of St Albans Quarry, located 200 metres off the Valencia Stretch.”

BONE-CHILLING. Blood-curdling. Horrific.

Newsday Editorial
March 16, 2018 – newsday.co.tt

ViolenceMere days after the commemoration of International Women’s Day, the nation is now coming to terms with a crime the nature of which sets a new low in our country.

Yet again, the case involves reports of a jilted lover — a man who felt the gruesome massacre of innocent people was a just reward for being rejected by a woman.
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General T&T, Politics, WASA

Sewage more than water

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By Raffique Shah
March 14, 2018

Raffique ShahThe last time the Regulated Industries Commission (RIC) awarded increases in water rates to the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) was in 1993. The RIC used data from the year 1989 to determine the increases. One can easily assume that in the ensuing 29 years, every commodity price from foods to fuels, apparels to real estate, has tripled, maybe quadrupled, so why should water rates be any different?
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Africa, General T&T, Liberia

Celebrating Unnamed and Unfamed Trinidad and Tobago Women

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 12, 2018

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeLast Thursday, International Women’s Day (IWD), millions of women around the world celebrated “the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.” The day also marked “a call to action for accelerating gender parity.”

Their website reminded us that IWD has occurred “for well over a century, with the first March 8 IWD gathering supported by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.”
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