Category Archives: Tobago

Crime in T&T, General T&T, Health, Oil and Gas, PNM, Politics, Recession, Tobago

The Prime Minister’s full address to the nation

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Dr Keith RowleyFellow citizens, as we settle into our various routines, wherever and whatever that might be, I trust that we all had a joyous Christmas Season, shared with family, friends and community spirit.

As we reflect on the arrival of 2018 and all that it holds for us, let us spare a thought or a prayer for those individuals and families who have been victims of violent crime from one direction or another. Their pain is our pain and even as the New Year has opened with reports of the continued murderous scourge on our land I want to appeal to all citizens to keep hope alive in this war against the heartless family members and career violent criminals.
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Court, General T&T, Health, Tobago

TRHA travesty

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Newsday Editorial
October 28, 2017 – newsday.co.tt

CourtThere are about 60,000 people living in Tobago. Yet, there is only one general hospital. And that hospital is killing patients. That, in a nutshell, is the damning view of the High Court which on Thursday found the Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA) culpable for the death of a child in circumstances which were wholly avoidable. According to Justice Frank Seepersad, 17-year-old Zach Seeram’s demise was due to the most basic of failings: the lack of a scan. Zach visited the hospital on no less than three occasions after receiving stab wounds which punctured his left lung, right diaphragm, liver and kidney. Despite repeated complaints and a recommendation that he undergo a CT scan, he was discharged.
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General T&T, Politics, Tobago, Tourism

Gluttons for political punishment

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By Raffique Shah
August 24, 2017

Raffique ShahAmidst the cacophony that has erupted over the inter-island ferries fiasco, the calls for official enquiries of one kind or other into the leasing of the Ocean Flower II convince me that as a nation, we are gluttons for political punishment.

The Prime Minister, yanking our collective chains with perverse delight, names business magnate Christian Mouttet as sole investigator into circumstances surrounding the Port Authority’s (PATT) decision to lease the Ocean Flower II and the aptly-renamed Cobo Star cargo vessel from a seemingly mysterious company, and to hand in a report to him within 30 days.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics, THA, Tobago

Incompetence and Bad Judgment

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
August 20, 2017

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI had promised that I would not involve myself with the Ferry Imbroglio (an extremely confused, complex and embarrassing situation, full of trouble and problems) if only because the situation was/is so uncalled for and revealed such extraordinary incompetence on government’s part. The longer the problem persists, the more the government’s incompetence and the uselessness of its bureaucrats displays itself. I had hoped the government would remedy this situation by letting sunlight shine into the darkness.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics, Tobago

Ferries fiasco symptom of systemic societal problem

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By Raffique Shah
August 15, 2017

Raffique ShahIt is incomprehensible to me how two boards of directors at the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT), two line ministers responsible for the operations of the ferry service between Port of Spain and Scarborough, and a battery of senior public officers in the employ of the PATT and Government, could make such an unholy mess of the sea-bridge, culminating with the acquisition of a defective old tub that failed to even arrive in the country.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics, Property Tax, THA, Tobago

Curbing The Tobagonian Apetite for Governance

By Stephen Kangal
April 05, 2017

Stephen KangalWhen the The Honourable Attorney General Faris Al Rawi tabled for approval by the House the Report of the EBC/Presidential Draft Order to legalise the package of measures for the holding of the THA Elections in January 2017 citizens saw that a 48,000 THA electorate albeit many absentees were gifted with 12 seats of assemblymen. This formula was deemed a successful and equitable model for Local Government by the PNM in Tobago with 3600 to 4500 electors per seat.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Politics, Tobago

Police under fire

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By Raffique Shah
October 26, 2015

Raffique ShahWith crime, especially murder, being the number one issue on the national agenda for more than two decades, the police cannot escape being targeted as the most blameworthy for the barrels of blood in which the nation is swirling.

In the most recent sensational case, the Tobago double-murder, the police have come under fire from just about every quarter, including the media and individuals in Britain, among them former UK High Commissioner Arthur Snell and the sole survivors of a string of similar gruesome attacks on the island, Peter and Murium Green.
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COP, Elections, General T&T, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, Tobago, UNC

Projections, not predictions

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By Raffique Shah
September 14, 2015

Raffique ShahMy last two columns, one titled “Rowley rising” and the other “lament for a falling leader”, were seen by many of my readers as being almost prophetic in the wake of last Monday’s election results.

Had I made public another document in which I analysed the results in all 41 constituencies from 2007 onwards, using historical data and trends, and projecting the 2015 results (which I circulated only to close friends), I might have been accused of being an “obeahman” or “seer”.
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Elections, General T&T, ILP, Media, PNM, Politics, Tobago, TOP, UNC

T&T starts new era under PNM

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By Gail Alexander
September 8, 2015 – guardian.co.tt

PNMThe People’s National Movement’s fourth leader, Dr Keith Rowley, now Prime Minister-elect, will be T&T’s second Tobago-born Prime Minister following yesterday’s 2015 general election victory.

Rowley follows Tobago-born late Prime Minister Arthur NR Robinson into history in this regard.
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Elections, General T&T, Media, Opposition Party, Parliament, People's Partnership, PNM, Sex Crimes, Tobago, UNC

Citizens have risen above politicians

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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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