By Raffique Shah
February 17, 2020
As I savour some of the best offerings from this year’s Carnival from the comfort and safety of my home, I cannot help but think of the thousands of performers and revellers out there who, even as they immerse themselves in the gaiety of the festival, must ponder the possibilities that they might become victims of some criminal act before the day or night is over.
Continue reading Pan Potential
By Raffique Shah
February 10, 2020
The recent announcement that the T&T Securities and Exchange Commission and Bourse Securities, Hassan Rahaman and Imtiaz Rahaman have reached an agreement whereby the latter three parties will pay the SEC $2.8 million pertaining to Hassan’s purchase of 659,588 shares of First Citizens Bank during the July 2013 Initial Public Offering, prompted me to speak out on a related matter.
Continue reading First Citizens, second citizens
By Raffique Shah
February 03, 2020
As we battle against the crime-plague that is devastating the country, and we in the media add our two-cents’ input to what should be considered a national discussion on the issue, I was jolted by an intervention from well-respected commentator Ira Mathur that turned up in my email inbox last weekend. Ira wrote that a “bomb” landed in her smart-phone in the form of a report on gang violence in Trinidad and Tobago by a researcher named Janina Pawelz of the Institute for Peace, Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, Germany.
Continue reading Robbing Hoods
By Raffique Shah
January 21, 2020
As the heavily armed hardcore criminals consolidate their murderous stranglehold on our country, striking with seeming impunity anytime, anywhere they choose to, the powers-that-be go into the panic mode and respond with fusillades of “gobar” rather than superior strategy and firepower.
Gunmen wielding weapons as deadly as the AR-15 launched yet another brazen attack in downtown Port of Spain mid-afternoon last Tuesday leaving two dead, scores who were nearby soiling their under-garments, and thousands more frightened to walk the city streets. What does Minister of National Security Stuart Young say? He speaks of some vague conspiracy between the criminals and “certain people” who want to promote fear and panic among the population. Why would anyone want to do that? Hey, a general election is due by year-end, so you guess who would want to create instability, to gain political power.
Continue reading Focus on one war, fellas
By Raffique Shah
January 14, 2020
If we think that the Trinidad and Tobago economy is in for another rough ride this year, possibly rougher than what we experienced over the past five years, we should read some of the grim global economic outlooks projected by international agencies such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs et al for almost every country in the world.
Continue reading Amen, Brother Gregory
By Raffique Shah
January 8, 2020
No major infrastructural project exposes the huge, costly gap, both in time and money, between the decision to undertake critical public works projects and their implementation and delivery to the populace than the extension of the Solomon Hochoy Highway from San Fernando to Point Fortin.
Continue reading Simple things that count
By Raffique Shah
December 31, 2019
Imagine if you will waking up on New Year’s morning next Wednesday in a Trinidad and Tobago that is a “United, resilient, productive, innovative and prosperous nation (and) a disciplined, caring, fun-loving society comprising healthy, happy and well-educated people built on the enduring attributes of self-reliance, respect, tolerance, equity and integrity in which every citizen has equal opportunities to achieve his/her fullest potential…
Continue reading Vision without mission
By Raffique Shah
December 16, 2019
I confess to being somewhat confused when the Minister of National Security, Stuart Young, and not the Minister of Finance, Colm Imbert, led the charge for the introduction of the new polymer $100 bills on behalf of the Government. It took me minutes to understand their motive for the swift phasing out of the old bills, rendering them of no value, and replacing them with the multi-security-features polymer notes.
Continue reading Beware those with hidden agendas
By Raffique Shah
December 10, 2019
Exactly one month before last Monday’s local government elections, I wrote in this space, inter alia: “…The PNM will face the December 2 elections at its most vulnerable point since winning the general election of 2015. Under its watch, thousands of workers have lost their jobs, most notably the 4,000 or so who were employed at the State-owned oil giant Petrotrin, but also other private sector employees who were retrenched amidst continuing economic stagnation. Serious crimes continue unabated, people are dissatisfied with the public health services and the availability of adequate potable water, many roads are in a woeful state, and so on…
Continue reading Simple equations, complex solutions
By Raffique Shah
December 06, 2019
Trinidad and Tobago is not now a failed state as many people claim it is. But it is precariously positioned at critical crossroads where, should the government and the populace take the wrong path or worse, stay put and do nothing, the country can descend into an abyss that would reduce the economy and the social fabric that has thus far held us together as a model nation to nothingness.
Continue reading First World, not failed state