Robert Beckford visits Ghana to investigate the hidden costs of rice, chocolate and gold and why, 50 years after independence, a country so rich in natural resources is one of the poorest in the world. He discovers child labourers farming cocoa instead of attending school and asks if the activities of multinationals, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have actually made the country’s problems worse.
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Fixing Our Relations with Barbados First
By Stephen Kangal
February 19, 2008
In the build up to Wednesday’s meeting with newly elected PM Thompson of Barbados, PM Manning must be briefed comprehensively and clinically on the problems and issues that contributed to the deterioration of T&T/Barbados bilateral relations during the regime of former Prime Minister Owen Arthur. He must work assiduously to pre-empt similar mistakes from recurring during the Thompson watch and to frame the development of our future relations in a mutually beneficial manner.
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Dudes, domes and dot.coms
Online Sex Auctioneer Ordered to Reveal Customers’ Identities
A German woman became pregnant after having anonymous sex with six different men who bid on the erotic encounter in an online auction. Now a Stuttgart court has ruled that she has a right to know the men’s identities, despite the Web site’s assurances that their personal data would be kept private.
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Scrap URP, establish Labour Bureau
By Raffique Shah
February 17, 2008
LAST week, in another curious twist to Government’s off-and-on position on the $2 billion annual fuels subsidy, Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Mariano Browne, confirmed that it’s up for review. He gave no time-line for the exercise nor did he hint at the percentage being considered. These, I presume, will come after discussion and hopefully careful consideration of the implications, more so the impact on inflation.
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Ketching De’ Demon Early
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 15, 2008
Oskie vex too bad. Friday morning, first thing, he wake me up to complain, “Why you put ma name in de papers?”
“Well friend, Ah didn’t really put yo’ name in de papers. I was writing an article and I felt our conversation best personified your resistance to my letting the public know about this dreadful disease among black men.”
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Arthur’s Legacy on T&T/Barbados Relations
By Stephen Kangal
February 14, 2008
The damaging legacy bequeathed by the Barbados Labour Party’s dethroned Ex-Prime Minister, Mr. Owen Arthur in contributing to the turbulence that marred and blemished T&T/Barbados relations for the fourteen years of his Prime Ministership must not be allowed to accompany him unnoticed and unrecorded as he rides into the political sunset of Barbados. He personified the traditional “Baje” who is always one -step ahead of the unsuspecting and accommodating Trini.
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‘We in danger’
By Nalinee Seelal
Wednesday, February 13 2008
newsday.co.tt
Crime weary Laventille residents fear their lives and those of their families are in danger and believe gangs will strike back when a lockdown on their community is lifted.
“They are afraid of no one, and when the police and soldiers end this exercise and return to their bases, the gang members will strike again, so the exercises taking place will only prevent the killings and violence temporarily,” one woman told Newsday yesterday.
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Reduce gas subsidy, boost food production
By Raffique Shah
February 10, 2008
Recently, Trade and Industry Minister Dr Keith Rowley hinted that the Government may soon need to reconsider its $2 billion a year fuel subsidy. Reaction among the population ranged from grumbling to expressions of outrage, so much so that another minister denied any such move was being considered. I beg to differ. The Government must not only cut back on certain subsidies it doles out, but it must determine where cuts are justified and where it needs to enhance state assistance.
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Desecrating the Soul of Caura
By Stephen Kangal
February 06, 2008
The soul and spirit that presides over the terrific and tranquil Northern Range Caura shrine served up an unspoilt mecca for relaxation for over sixty years. It catered with its lush vegetation canopy for the recreational and unwinding needs of thousands. That is the unique heritage that is now being desecrated by lawless brigands and shameless bandits causing worshippers to scurry for their lives. These bandits must remember that a Catholic Priest cast a curse on the building of the corruption-riddled Caura Water Dam on the site of a previous church and it never materialised. Those who desecrate the Caura peace will surely pay for their sacrilege and disrespect to the gods that inhabit this sanctuary.
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Pan music as a tool in fighting crime
by Raffique Shah
Sunday, February 3rd 2008
THE newly appointed Minister of Culture, Marlene McDonald, assured the nation last Thursday that “all systems are in place” for this year’s Carnival. Her optimism came amidst a cacophony of protests, some from calypsonians, others from the pan fraternity, over the standard of judging at various competitions. This annual bacchanal has become as much a part of the Caribbean’s biggest street festival as the inane, mostly jarring songs-if one can so classify them-that form today’s (cess)pool of road march material. I imagine the minister, being a Trini, has grown to expect and accept such rumblings as par for the carnival course.
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