Monthly Archives: September 2013

Africa, General T&T, International, Kenya

Victim of Zealots

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By Raffique Shah
September 29, 2013

Raffique ShahReally, it’s a messed-up, mixed-up world in which someone like young Ravindra Ramrattan falls victim to indescribable madness, to savagery clothed in religion. Even as I ponder the enormous possibilities that were terminated in murderous gunfire in far-off Kenya, I take comfort in my agnosticism that has kept me aloof of the zealots of one religion or other, and my revolutionary spirit that soars above the ideologues who manufacture and manipulate madmen for whom no life is precious, not even their own.
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General T&T, International, Latin America, Media, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC, Venezuela

Bad Deal: Ramnarine blamed for messing up energy negotiations

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By Renuka Singh
September 29, 2013 – guardian.co.tt

Kevin RamnarineEnergy Minister Kevin Ramnarine has distanced himself from the negotiation process that allegedly led to an almost ten per cent drop in local voting rights over the cross-border Loran/Manatee bloc. This move comes on the heels of scathing criticism that the minister had mucked up decade-long bilateral talks between Venezuela and Trinidad that, if negotiated properly, could have boosted local energy reserves and made allowances for Venezuelan pipelines to pass through the local refinery.
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General T&T, Parliament, People's Partnership, Politics

Briefing on the Property Tax

By Stephen Kangal
September 27, 2013

Current Status of Property Tax Legislation

Stephen KangalAt present there are no laws in our statute books empowering the state to demand and collect property taxes except Act No.17 of 2009 that amended the Valuation of Land Act and Act No.18 of 1969 (The Valuation of Land Act). Those other pre-2010 laws have been repealed by the passing and promulgation of Act 18 of 2009. The Laws repealed at the end of 2009 were:
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General T&T

Colonial to their garments

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By Raffique Shah
September 22, 2013

Raffique ShahRepublic Day in 1976—Friday, September 24th—remains etched in my memory, a vignette in my colourful life during which I often collided with history. On that day, age 30, I entered Parliament as a frontline member of the ULF, having been elected to represent the Siparia constituency. I had never been in that chamber before. In fact, I do not recall ever entering the Red House before, but when I did, I made as bold an anti-colonial statement as anyone could.
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Culture, General T&T, People's Partnership, Politics

Preserving the Tacarigua Savannah – Part 2

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 20, 2013

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI don’t know what area of Trinidad Anil Roberts comes from and on what basis he makes the claim that a Regional Sporting Complex “is forty years overdue” or why he feels that a sporting complex “equipped with facilities for all citizens to use for sports such as cricket, football, swimming, squash, tennis and table tennis” (Newsday, September 16) is the best use we can make of the remaining ten acres of the natural savannah of Tacarigua.
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COP, General T&T, People's Partnership, Politics, UNC

UNC Has Dollars But Little Political Sense

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By Stephen Kangal
September 20, 2013

Stephen KangalThe critical factor underlying the growth, continuing relevance and survival of all political organizations especially in diverse democratic societies is the priority accorded to developing, adapting and embellishing an open-ended, politically-dominated and all-embracing strategic framework. It is against this standard that all challenges to the status quo/ existence are assessed and a politically correct and objectively determined response to external stimuli brain-stormed, conceptualized and implemented.
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Court, Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Media, Politics

Treat Ganja Use Differently

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By Jada Loutoo
September 17, 2013 – newsday.co.tt

Chief Justice Ivor ArchieAS some regional nations and parts of North and Latin America move towards decriminalising the consumption and possession of marijuana, Chief Justice Ivor Archie has began the ball rolling for similar considerations, in some capacity, for Trinidad and Tobago.
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General T&T, Law, Parliament, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC

Donkey with a kick

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By Raffique Shah
September 14, 2013

Raffique ShahWhen House Speaker Wade Mark invoked the contentious constitutional provision that an elected MP, Herbert Volney in this instance, must vacate his seat upon resigning or being expelled from the party on whose slate he was elected to Parliament, it piqued my interest. You see, I was a principal player in the events that led to the passage of that amendment to the Constitution in 1978, and I am intimate with its genesis.
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General T&T, Opposition Party, Parliament, People's Partnership, Politics

Opposition Fails to Vote

By Andre Bagoo
September 12, 2013 – newsday.co.tt

ParliamentOPPOSITION and Independent Senators were caught napping early yesterday morning when they missed their chance to formally oppose historic legislation introducing proportional representation to the system of local government.

During a marathon 17-hour sitting of the Senate, which began on Tuesday and ended at 3.15 am yesterday, the senators had vociferously objected to the Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Act 2013, the unprecedented legislation which introduces a system of proportional representation for the selection of aldermen.
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Finance, General T&T, Law, Parliament, People's Partnership, Politics

There’s is No Solace in the Land and Building Taxes Regime

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By Stephen Kangal
September 11, 2013

Stephen KangalThe heart and soul, indeed the single most important determining factor in the calculation of the quantum of property taxation for each property is the year in which the requisite rental value -driven valuation was completed and applied. Finance Minister Larry Howai alluded to the fact that by the time residential properties are brought to book again by 2017 the relevant requisite up-to-date valuations will have been completed.
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