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

Making UTT a National University

8 Comments

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 27, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI am sure that Sat Maharaj’s would say that ah follow fashion. However, the truth is that his recent discussion of UTT, its academic standards and it place in the society reminded me of questions I raised two years ago when Ghana’s former President John Kufoor visited Trinidad and I made an address in his presence. Just for the record, my speech can be found on trinicenter.com on August 6 2008. My interest in this matter goes back a long way. This contribution only adds to Sat’s concerns. At least, there are some things on which we agree.
Continue reading Making UTT a National University →

Opposition Party, Parliament, PNM, Politics

Wanted: A ghost whisperer

1 Comment

By Michael Harris
October 25, 2010 – trinidadexpress.com

Patrick ManningA spectre is haunting the PNM and unless that party can discover within its ranks a person, or persons, versed in the rites and rituals of political exorcism, it is likely to stay in its present state of limbo for a long time to come, incapable of undertaking the vital task of critical self-assessment without which it could never begin the task of reconstruction. The spectre has a name. Its name is Patrick Manning.
Continue reading Wanted: A ghost whisperer →

Business, Finance, General T&T, People's Partnership, Politics, Protest

Clico Policyholders: Pay Us 40% Upfront

6 Comments

By Lara Pickford-Gordon
October 25 2010 – newsday.co.tt

CLICO BailoutClico policyholders want 40 percent of their investment in the Colonial Life Insurance Company Ltd “up front” and the balance paid off in government bonds. Persons who wish to liquidate their bonds should be free to do so and there will be no “middle man.”

This proposal has been put to the Government and was yesterday endorsed by scores of policyholders attending a meeting at Woodford Square, Port-of-Spain to get an update on negotiations between their representatives and the government inter-ministerial team headed by Agriculture Minister Vasant Bharath.
Continue reading Clico Policyholders: Pay Us 40% Upfront →

Caribbean, General T&T, International, Tourism

Excitement over New Low Cost Carrier

7 Comments

By Derren Joseph
October 24, 2010

JetI think it was back in 2007 when I was working at Caribbean Airlines that I first heard about plans for a new Jamaica based Low Cost Carrier (LCC). The rumor was that it was born from the experience of Digicel Executives who were island hopping during the 2007 Cricket World Cup. They saw inefficiencies with the existing players and decided to turn this into a business opportunity. A December 7th 2007 article in the Jamaica Gleaner however, dismissed talk that Digicel was an investor but rather a sales partner.
Continue reading Excitement over New Low Cost Carrier →

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

Corridors of power living hell

3 Comments

By Raffique Shah
October 23, 2010

Raffique ShahI HAVE never been close to the corridors of power, except on occasions when those on high invited me to some meeting or social function. Regarding the latter, I should add that I have grown so asocial over the years, some people think I’ve become anti-social. I enjoy good company and great conversation. Having attended some of these social activities, I have found the same people there; they invariably get drunk the way “ignorant” Trinis do at rum shops, and they behave little different to boisterous bar flies.
Continue reading Corridors of power living hell →

Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Media, Politics, Sex, Sex Crimes, Violence

Hold parents responsible

13 Comments

By Sean Douglas
October 22, 2010 – newsday.co.tt

ViolenceTHE Rape Crisis Society yesterday called on Government to pass laws to hold parents responsible for sexual offences done by their children. “Some of the perpetrators of these heinous sexual assaults are teenagers and thus are not liable for prosecution.”

The Society wrote to media houses to support the Evidence (Amendment) Bill 2010, under debate in the Senate, which makes it easier for victims of sexual abuse to testify in law-courts.
Continue reading Hold parents responsible →

Culture, General T&T, India, People's Partnership, Politics, Race and Identity

Connecting our Foreign Policy with the Diaspora

2 Comments

By Stephen Kangal
October 21, 2010

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-BissessarPrime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar and her itinerant Foreign Minister Suruj Rambachan have both been extolling the important benefits of establishing closer functional links with our diaspora based in metropolitan Caribbean enclaves in North America and Europe as the rationale for radically reforming the priorities of our foreign policy. In fact both now have a shared political/administrative responsibility for the conceptualization and conduct of our foreign policy.
Continue reading Connecting our Foreign Policy with the Diaspora →

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

Partnership leaders must smoke ‘peace pipe’ now

2 Comments

By Raffique Shah
October 16, 2010

Raffique ShahA brief story in the Express last week caught my attention. The report spoke of serious differences between two organisations purporting to represent nationals of this country who have indigenous blood flowing in their arteries.

The first contentious issue is a claim that one group represents only Amerindian descendants who are Catholics. The other was the timing of the “smoke ceremony to the spirits”. One group swears it should be before dawn. The other went ahead “smoking” at 7 a.m.
Continue reading Partnership leaders must smoke ‘peace pipe’ now →

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

Leveraging Incompetence

9 Comments

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 14, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI am sure that People’s Partnership took a long time to select the three hundred persons they elected to the various state enterprises, statutory bodies, regional health authorities and key ambassadorial positions. In making her selection, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar enunciated two broad principles: a determination to make the correct choices and no one could sit on more than one board.
Continue reading Leveraging Incompetence →

Entertainment, Finance, Tourism

Tourism in Las Vegas and Trinidad

10 Comments

By Derren Joseph
October 12, 2010

Las VegasOne of the top stories in last Sunday’s New York Times was about the tourist Mecca of Las Vegas facing its deepest slide since the 1940s. As I read the story, I reflected on what is happening in our tourism accommodation sector here at home. Let us first touch on what is happening in Las Vegas. Firstly, visitor numbers are down as its usual customers cut back on recreational travel which is natural during a recession. Secondly, real estate and room rates are down. Thirdly, there is rising tourism unemployment as Nevada’s unemployment rates are now the highest in the US. In short, the overall tourism economy in the state of Nevada is under pressure.
Continue reading Tourism in Las Vegas and Trinidad →