By Sean Douglas
Saturday, May 24 2008
newsday.co.tt
PRIME Minister Patrick Manning yesterday agreed to set up a commission on inquiry into the controversial Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (Udecott) and the practices of the construction industry, in place of the joint select committee (JSC) he had previously proposed.
Continue reading Commission of inquiry to probe Udecott
…3-month lock-up illegal, says judge
By Denyse Renne
May 22nd 2008
trinidadexpress.com
Brothers Rion and Jerivorn Woods were reunited with their grandmother yesterday after a High Court judge ruled that their three-month incarceration by a magistrate during a custody dispute was illegal.
Justice Amrika Tiwary-Reddy, presiding at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain ordered that the two boys be immediately released into the care of their grandmother Francelia Woods and a detailed letter be written to the Commissioner of Prisons John Rougier and Tobago Magistrate Joan Gill expressing the court’s “grave concern of this matter…”.
Continue reading Teens freed from YTC
By Raffique Shah
Sunday, May 18th 2008
I have spoken with Calder Hart only once, when he belatedly responded to a call I had made to UDeCOTT seeking to talk with him on a story I was working on. It turned out that he had been out of the country when I had tried to reach him. He was very polite, even effusive, promising to talk with me anytime, on any matter concerning UDeCOTT. He came across as a journalist’s delight: most people in his position normally refer lowly plebs of the Fourth Estate to some PR “spin doctors”, who, in turn, ask for questions to be formally e-mailed to them, and then take forever to give half-answers.
Continue reading Nothing to hide, nothing to fear
By Dr. Selwyn R Cudjoe
May 15, 2008
Five months ago, the PNM was elected to serve as the Government of the people of T&T although it received 43 per cent of the votes.
On that November night, after hearing the results of the elections I, among others, streamed down to Balisier House to celebrate yet another victory. We were elated that our party had captured government for another five years.
Continue reading Keeping PNM Honest
Perfect performer
By Sean Douglas
Thursday, May 15 2008
The Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (Udecott) is above board, executive chairman Calder Hart said yesterday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port-of-Spain, in a keenly-awaited media conference which drew the focus away from Hart and leant towards the technical details of Udecott’s operations.
Hart led four Udecott directors and six managers to face reporters the day after Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s nod in the Senate for Udecott to be probed by a parliamentary Joint Select Committee (JSC) — but not by a commission of inquiry — after charges of insufficient oversight made by fired Trade Minister Dr Keith Rowley.
Continue reading UDeCOTT’s Calder Hart Responds
By Raffique Shah
May 11, 2008
There should be no tears shed over Government’s decision to hold parliamentary Joint Select Committee meetings in camera, and not on camera. Already, members of the Opposition and some independent senators have expressed outrage, accusing the Government of using its majority to muzzle MPs and senators. Many people who follow parliamentary proceedings also view the move as one to deny the public the right to follow the proceedings of these committees. It reeks of cover-up, they argue.
Continue reading Damn right to deny MPs ‘gallery’ time
Soulful Percy Sledge Serenades Mothers
TriniView.com Reporters
Event Date: May 10, 2008
Posted: May 21, 2008
Mothers and their loved ones filled the National Stadium on Saturday 10th May, 2008, to revel in the entertainment that was in store for them which was the dynamic and talented trio – International Soul Superstar Percy Sledge, legendary Calypsonian Slinger ‘Mighty Sparrow’ Francisco and dramatist and comedian Learie Joseph. The show, for the most part, was very successful and must be praised for its punctual start at 8 p.m. sharp. Most audience members arrived early and were able to partake in a show that was organized for them – especially the mothers. What was also surprising, especially since there were several other Mother’s Day concerts that night, was that the length and breadth of the stadium was occupied.
Full Article : triniview.com
TWO Trinidadians and four Venezuelans were yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment for trafficking cocaine in what the trial judge said was the “largest amount to ever pass through the courts of Trinidad and Tobago.”
Justice Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, presiding in the Port-of-Spain Third Criminal Court, took her time, more than an hour, as she sent the six guilty people to serve lengthy prison sentences for trafficking 1,749 kilos of cocaine at Monos Island on August 23, 2005.
Full Article : guardian.co.tt
‘Escape of big fish alarming’
JUSTICE Alice Yorke Soo-Hon yesterday questioned why the main house at Passy Bay, Monos Island, was not searched following the August 25, 2005 drug bust which netted $700 million in cocaine.
Continue reading Monos Island drug trial: Six to serve life in jail
By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
May 08, 2008
In his 1972 article titled “The meaning of development”, Professor Dudley Sears argued that “a country which had doubled per capita income could not claim to have experienced development if poverty, inequality, (inflation/ spiraling high cost of living, food shortages, human safety/security, level of crimes) and unemployment had not been reduced.”
In lay man’s terms, this phenomenon can best be classified as “growth without development”; in other words, it represents a scenario wherein an inverse relationship exists between economic, financial and industrial expansion/growth and the Quality of Life (QOL) and Basic Human Needs (BHN) of the citizenry of the country. Today, Trinidad and Tobago resembles such a phenomenon/scenario.
Continue reading Industrialization by Illusion: T&T Today
$80,000 bail for woman charged with having sex with teen boy
By Nikita Braxton
Tuesday, May 6th 2008
Trinidad and Tobago News Blog
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog
A woman, charged with having sexual intercourse with a 17-year-old boy without his consent, was yesterday granted $80,000 bail and ordered to stay 100 feet away from the young man.
Reshmi Dipnarine, 21, of Calcutta Settlement, Freeport, appeared before Magistrate Melvin Daniel in the San Fernando Second Court charged with two counts of the offence, which allegedly occurred at Teak Avenue, Claxton Bay, on March 30 and April 4, 2008.
Continue reading Woman 21 charged for raping boy 17