Tag Archives: T&T Govt

Rowley suspended

By Clint Chan Tack
Thursday, May 7 2015 – newsday.co.tt

Dr. Keith RowleyOPPOSITION Leader Dr Keith Rowley was last night suspended from the House of Representatives after Government used its simple majority to pass a motion to suspend him on the basis of claims he made with respect to the emailgate matter.

The motion was passed in the House at 9.15 pm, by a vote of 24 ‘for’ to one ‘against’, hours after Rowley and 11 other People’s National Movement (PNM) MPs walked out of the Parliament Chamber after debate began on a second motion of no confidence against him.
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T&T suffers big blow

By Asha Javeed
May 02, 2015 – trinidadexpress.com

DownTrinidad and Tobago has suffered a big blow to its status as the place to invest in the Caribbean after international agency Moody’s downgraded the country’s credit rating from stable to negative.

Moody’s on Thursday downgraded Trinidad and Tobago’s Government bond rating and issuer rating to from Baa1 to Baa2.

The ratings are used and considered by international investors looking to do business in T&T.

Moody’s justification for the downgrade, which happened on Thursday, are:
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Moody’s just downgraded T&T’s credit rating

trinidadexpress.com

FinancialMoody’s Investors Service, the credit rating agency that conducts international financial research on bonds issued by commercial and government entities on Thursday downgraded Trinidad and Tobago’s government bond rating, and issuer rating to Baa2 from Baa1 and changed the outlook to negative from stable.

According to Moody’s, the key drivers behind the downgrade are:
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Behind the promise of a causeway

By Michael Harris
April 27, 2015 – trinidadexpress.com

CausewayEXTRACT:

But there are more serious issues behind the promise of a causeway.

First of all while there is no question that the UNC did “tief” the PNM promise, we do have to ask ourselves why this particular promise. One answer has to do with what the Government is doing to the Chaguaramas peninsula. According to Planning Minister Bhoe Tewarie, the Government’s plan is to “monetise” the peninsula.
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Causeway a lost cause

By Raffique Shah
April 26, 2015

Raffique ShahTrust Trinidadians, or more accurately Trini-politicians, to engage in verbal battle over almost every issue—from the distribution of pampers to mothers of newborn babies to building a multi-billion-dollar causeway from Port of Spain to Chaguaramas.

Most people never heard the word “causeway” before Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar uttered it at a UNC rally in Fyzabad last week.
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Before Vernella’s vile bile

By Keith Subero
April 14, 2015 – trinidadexpress.com

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Vernella Alleyne-ToppinYes, Minister Vernella Alleyne-Toppin’s contribution in the House caused the UNC Government’s no-confidence motion against the Opposition Leader to implode—rather than explode, as planned.

Yes, Minister Alleyne-Toppin offended our collective sensibilities, and we remain offended, probably more so because the Speaker allowed the House to be reduced to the Minister’s barrackyard gossip.

Yes, other political minutiae—such as the recent Express poll which rates the Prime Minister, in spite of her Government’s daily mis-steps, as being more popular than the Opposition Leader—are now occupying our attention.
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Bulwarks of democracy

By Raffique Shah
April 12, 2015

Raffique ShahCollectively, the so-called trolls on social media may be a pain in the rear for bona fide journalists and columnists in the mainstream media, operating as they do behind anonymity and bound by no rules of engagement or laws of libel and slander, while we have so many strictures, from word-count to sanitised lyrics, we write under the gun, in a manner of speaking.

And yes, it hurts when these mindless cowards spew their venom, delving into journalists’ private lives, distorting facts, promoting fiction and wallowing in half-truths. The current crop seems to have taken a fancy to attacking female writers, probably believing that they would drive their victims to tears, or worse, into depression.
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Citizens have risen above politicians

Express Editorial
April 03, 2015 – trinidadexpress.com

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Vernella Alleyne-ToppinFor reasons best known to itself, the ruling People’s Partnership has continued to defend its disgraced MP Vernella Alleyne-Toppin.

Not only have Government spokespersons tried to spin Ms Alleyne-Toppin’s crassness into a social concern message about rape, but UNC hacks on social media continue her denigrating diatribe against Opposition Leader Keith Rowley. But what could the UNC-led coalition hope to achieve by this? The widespread public condemnation has clearly harmed the Partnership’s image, including its trump card, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who will no doubt suffer a drop in approval ratings by her refusal to remove the Tobago East MP from her entirely inappropriate post in the Ministry of the Peolpe and Social Development.
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UNC’s Anansi Moment

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
April 01, 2015

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThis is Holy Week for 1.7 billion Christians all over the world. It is a time when Christ overcame his detractors. Betrayed by one of his disciples and condemned to death, he rose triumphantly three days afterwards, which is celebrated as Easter Day.

Over the past week Dr. Keith Rowley’s detractors have berated him, condemned him to political death and sought to entomb him in a political grave. Rather than reject Vernella Alleyne Toppin’s venom unequivocally, the UNC hierarchy clings to the illusion that Dr. Rowley still has questions to answer. Our learned Prime Minister insists she accepts parts of Alleyene Toppin’s accusations against him.
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