Carnival, General T&T, Health, International, Politics

Man, mosquito and money

By Raffique Shah
February 02, 2016

Raffique ShahIn this space yesterday, Dr Sherene Kalloo launched a broadside against Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh and his almost jokey war against the Zika virus, pre-empting a column I had already half-written, titled “Man vs Mosquito”.

Dr Kalloo argued that Minister Deyalsingh’s declaration of war against Zika and the Aedes Egypti mosquito by deploying soldiers, as hard-hit Brazil has done, as being a failed strategy.

It has not worked in Brazil and it will not work here.
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Carnival, Crime in T&T, Entertainment, Gender, General T&T, International, Japan, Media, PNM, Politics, Protest, Sex, Violence

PM: Tim Kee did the right thing

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Trinidad Guardian
Monday, February 15, 2016 – guardian.co.tt

Prie Minister Dr Keith RowleyPrime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says Port-of-Spain Mayor Raymond Tim Kee did the correct thing in responding to criticism from the national community. He said Tim Kee’s statements following the murder of Japanese pannist Asami Nagakiya were “unacceptable.”
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Carnival, Culture, Entertainment, Gender, General T&T, Murder, PNM, Politics, Sex, Sex Crimes, Violence

Mayor Tim Kee Set to Resign

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Tim Kee caves in

By Corey Connelly
February 14, 2016 – newsday.co.tt

Raymond Tim KeeBowing to mounting pressure, both at home and abroad, over his recent controversial statements about the death of Japanese national, Asami Nagakiya, Raymond Tim Kee yesterday signalled his intention to resign as Mayor of Portof- Spain.
Continue reading Mayor Tim Kee Set to Resign →

Carnival, Culture, General T&T, Media, Sex Crimes

Mayor: Beware dangerous ‘sub-cultures’

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By Sean Douglas
February 11 2016 – newsday.co.tt

CarnivalPORT-OF-SPAIN Mayor Raymond Tim Kee yesterday called on women, especially tourists visiting for Carnival, to maintain their dignity and protect themselves against dangerous local sub-cultures, as he reacted with shock over the discovery of a mas woman’s body, still clad in bikini and beads, yesterday under a large tree at the Queen’s Park Savannah.
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Carnival, Culture, General T&T, Media, Violence

Brute force in the band

Newsday Editorial
February 11 2016 – newsday.co.tt

CarnivalTHE POLICE must investigate the circumstances surrounding video images which purported to show a man being beaten by the private security guards of a Carnival band. The footage raises deeper questions which have, over the years, been left unresolved in relation to the regulation of private security guards and our national festival. The footage, which circulated on social media on Carnival Monday, shows a band of about a dozen guards from the band Yuma — identified merely by black t-shirts saying “Yuma Extraction” — ganging up on a man, who has been identified as PNM councillor Jason Alexander. The incident appears to have occurred not on private property, but rather in a public street.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Violence

Deliver us from evil

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By Raffique Shah
January 27, 2016

Raffique ShahIt occurred to me some hours after I heard the news that gunmen had murdered two Laventille schoolboys that I felt no emotions over the dastardly act.

I was not saddened or consumed with anger. I was not even outraged over the manner in which the youthful victims were grabbed from their ride home, much the way Hitler’s Nazis separated Jews from Gentiles, or how Israelis now separate Palestinians from Jews, marking them for death, executing them right there in public.
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Finance, General T&T, PNM, Politics, Recession

Destiny in our hands

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By Raffique Shah
January 27, 2016

Raffique ShahAs a nation, we can do nothing about the plunging price of oil except watch with alarm as crude slides below US $30 a barrel.

Even if we ramp up production, which has fallen by approximately 50 per cent over the past decade, it will make little sense. At this point, it might be better to leave the oil in the wells rather than sell it for peanuts.
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Court, General T&T, Media, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics

Kamla: Section 34 Ruling Vindicates PP

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January 26 2016 – newsday.co.tt

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-BissessarFORMER prime minister and current Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday said the ruling by the Privy Council was a clear vindication of her then government’s decision to repeal the controversial Section 34 of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Offences) Act.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Media, Murder, Violence

Schoolboys slaughtered

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By Jensen La Vende
January 22, 2016 – guardian.co.tt

ViolenceSlaughter of the innocents. That was how Laventille residents yesterday described the double murder of two schoolboys, who were dragged from a taxi and shot dead while on their way home at Upper Picton Road.

The victims have been identified as Success Laventille Secondary School students Denelson Smith, 17, and Mark Richards, 16, by residents of Upper Picton Road, Laventille.
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