By Corey Connelly
October 10 2010 – newsday.co.tt
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar last evening signalled her Government’s intention to review the $47 million public contract awarded to a Central company for lighting projects at the Piarco International Airport.
Continue reading PM orders review of $47M airports contract
By Raffique Shah
October 10, 2010
NOT surprisingly, many Clico and CIB depositors were not excited over my column of last week. I thought I was being generous to those whose savings now seem to be “jumping up in steelband”. I referred to them as thrifty people. And I, too, would be ticked off if my savings, as small as they are, were threatened through the manipulations of corporate bandits.
Continue reading Truly a national insurance ‘scheme’
PRIME MINISTER Kamla Persad-Bisssessar announced that Government will establish a commission of inquiry to find who and what were responsible for the fiasco at CL Financial subsidiaries Clico, British American and Clico Investment Bank. Below is the Prime Minister’s full statement in the House of Representatives on Friday:
Continue reading PM’s statement on Clico
By Raffique Shah
October 03, 2010
I HAVE never seen a million dollars in my life. The only time I gaped at big money—was it US$20 million?—was when the then high-flying “Sir” Allen Stanford stormed the hallowed Lord’s cricket ground in London, bearing 20-20 prize money in what appeared to be a huge casket. Most appropriate, in hindsight, since shortly thereafter “Sir Allen” ended up in leg-irons in some US jail that may yet prove to be his final resting place.
Continue reading Financial advice from ‘Layman Brother’
THE EDITOR: The essential issue re: the latest Volney-initiated kuchoor is not about all these pretentious concepts of independence of the judiciary; separation of powers; the judiciary being a “bulwark of democracy” etc.
Continue reading Volney/CJ Conflict: Separation of Powers?
on the Clyde River in Glasgow, Scotland
September 30, 2010 – newsday.co.tt
PRIME MINISTER Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday confirmed Government has cancelled a deal with a Scotland-based shipbuilding company BAE Systems for the acquisition of three off-shore patrol vessels, ordered by the then PNM government at a cost of TT$1.5 billion.
Continue reading Govt to get OPV $B refund
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 29, 2010
It was one of those incomprehensible statements: “I am the Head N…. In Charge.” That was Jack Warner’s major contribution to the recent Budget Debate. If we use Jack’s logic in a society such as ours, the following corollary suggests itself: if there is a “Head N…In Charge” there must be a “Head C…. In Charge.” It is a philosophical proposition of which this is the logical conclusion.
Continue reading Jack Warner: H.N.I.C.
By Michael Harris
September 27, 2010
One of the things which I tried to do as a parent was to inculcate in my son the knowledge that to be an adult meant being prepared to accept responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions. This, after all, is one key thing which separates adulthood from childhood. When you are a child it is assumed that you cannot be held entirely responsible for your actions and your parents or guardians are assumed to accept that responsibility in your stead. When you become an adult the responsibility is all yours.
Continue reading NOT A PENNY MORE!
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
July 12 2010
In the aftermath of the June 22 arrest of Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, the alleged drug lord and leader of a Jamaican gang called the Shower Posse, there has been much debate on the role of politics. There is a particularly interesting analysis done by a Horace Campbell on the Pambazuka News website [Gangsters, politicians, cocaine and bankers] which speaks to the alleged connections between organised crime and political parties/governments. The author speculates that the situation in Jamaica is by no means unique, in fact–”From the streets of West Kingston to the hills of Port of Spain, Trinidad to Guyana and down to Brazil, gunmen (called warlords) allied and integrated into the international banking system had taken over communities and acted as do-gooders when the neo-liberal forces downgraded local government services.” If you have the time, I suggest you Google it and have a look as it makes for interesting reading.
Continue reading The Politics of Promises