By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 22, 2021
During my late teens, I was a passionate consumer and participant of the wisdom that was dispensed, free of charge, at the University of Woodford Square. I remember the atheistic comments that erupted from John Craig’s mouth and I was afraid of and for him. How could someone so blatantly berate a God who controlled our destiny and even knew that we would bounce our feet before it happened? Although these discourses and diatribes were conducted in a sarcastic manner, they were always humorous, non-threatening, and tolerant.
Today the members of our society, even at the highest levels, act in an aggressive, intolerant and rude manner. They lack civility and respect for one another. When a junior senator calls the president of the nation “an insipid jack… [who] has facilitated what this bully, this coward, called Keith Rowley, has done” and this said prime minister advises a citizen, “Kiss my ass,” then, as the old people used to say, “We reach way we going,” no matter where our destination is.
T&T is in crisis. Our political leadership is fractured and faith in our leaders leaves much to be desired. I cannot recall when last the prime minister took his citizens into his confidence, leveled with them, and explained where he or his party wants to take the nation. The Tobago House of Assembly’s elections will be held within the next two weeks. However, it received “a further $50 million from the government to assist hoteliers and displaced workers in the accommodation sector still reeling from the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic” (Newsday November, 19).
Nothing is wrong with the central government assisting the THA at a time of peril. However, dispensing such largess two weeks before the election suggests a certain amount of political panic amongst the PNM leadership. Winston James calls it “an act of political desperation.” Vanus James opines: “The PNM is just desperate. They think they can buy out the people of Tobago and this is as big a bribe you can think of.”
The PNM should go back into its political history to find the leadership its people desire. It may even want to see what has worked in the past and how it can speak to the better instincts of its people. Buying out people or exploiting their animal desires works only for the moment. It does not ensure the long-term well-being of the party or the development of the society.
Simon Kuper, a columnist for the Financial Times, identified three types of political leaders in democracies: The first are the managers who promise “to conserve existing structures while making better, non-ideological decisions. They generally emerge in good times, such as the 1988-2008 era” and include leaders such as Bill Clinton and Tony Blair.
Secondly, there are the opportunists who just want to win elections, politicians such as Boris Johnson and Donald Trump.
The third type are the transformative leaders who “focus on one or two cherished priorities. They will trade away all other aspirations to achieve them. Nelson Mandela…prioritized one-person-one vote for South Africa [while] Winston Churchill prioritized beating Hitler, and left behind a debt-ridden, improvised but victorious nation. His successor, Clement Atlee, prioritized building a welfare state” (FT, November 13).
Transformative politicians are usually charismatic leaders. T&T had its own transformative leader in Eric Williams who prioritized the achievement of national independence over everything else. Many citizens identified with his goals and embraced his objective as their own. They were willing, literally, to die for him and the cause he represented. In the early sixties I heard one of our elders say: “Is three people ah willing to kill for: ma mother, Gary Sobers, and Eric Williams.”
Afro-Trinbagonians saw Williams as an intellectual genius and identified him as one of the brightest men in the world. We even compared him to William the Conqueror, the first Norman king of England. Thus, the Mighty Sparrow sang: “Praise little Eric, rejoice and be glad/ We have a better future here in Trinidad/ PNM, it ain’t have nobody like them/ For they have a champion leader: William the Conqueror.”
David Bell, a professor at Princeton University, examined the careers of five of the most outstanding leaders of the 19th century (Pasquale Paoli, George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, Toussaint Louverture, and Simon Bolivar). He noted: “Each of these men was widely hailed as a redeemer who had arisen in the midst of frightful crisis and supposedly saved people from otherwise certain destruction….In each case, salvation was credited both to the men’s supposedly extraordinary military skill and also to their ability to inspire and unify entire populations behind them” (Men on Horseback).
Williams began his political campaign in 1955 by drawing on the wisdom of Booker T. Washington, the great African-American leader, who advised his people to “lay their buckets down” where they were and to act in their best interest.
In 1929 Wallace Thurman, an African-American novelist, was afraid that his major character that was “running up blind alleys all of which seemed to converge and lead her ultimately to the same blank wall.” He warned her: “Find—not seek…. Life was most kind to those who were judicious in their selections” (The Blacker the Berry).
Great leaders seek to unify their people and give them a reason to struggle for something bigger than themselves. Perhaps the time has come for PNM and UNC to sit down and find out what their people need rather than vooping all over the place and bringing their followers to grief.
What are the one or two cherished priorities of our leaders?
They should also determine how to be respectful to one another and, by extension, to the nation?
As expected and therefore should be no surprise, the media, particularly the Express, is going reach a crescendo of anti-PNM propaganda in these two weeks before the THA elections in Tobago. Black intellectuals will line up to excoriate the PNM as they try to advance their careers by pretending to be oh so concerned with the problems of black people while they tacitly support the black-hating UNC and its proxy party, the PDP in Tobago. They don’t mind tacitly and sometimes overtly supporting the UNC a political party that has tried unremittingly, under Kamla Persad-Bissessar, to destroy everything that can advance the cause of Trinidad and Tobago, particularly black people in Trinidad and Tobago, and a corrupt and misogynist PDP leader who is before the court for rape. They don’t mind doing that, but to support a political party, the PNM, that has consistently stood for black people in so much that some people say they are a black, tribal party, they can’t do that. That wouldn’t advance their careers, they can only be promoted in the media and in their minds become somebody if they accuse the PNM of everything under the sun. That’s what black people have to put up with in T&T, a black intelligentsia that hates itself and its people. But their time will come and black people will show them eventually what they think of them.
What CUDJOE should do is highlight SOME OF THE UNJUSTIFIABLE ILLS OF THE UNC which cause the PM to react in a manner he finds inappropriate. ….TOO MANY TO MENTION….and now
that CUDJOE HAS JOINED THE CAMPAIGNING.., someone I had. SOME respect for. I guess I now have to reconsider my options.
Sorry to disappoint you doc, it is not in the DNA of the PNM to build Trinidad and Tobago. Like a drug addiction, the PNM supporters are enablers of mediocrity, political mischief, thiefing and corruption. They will support Rowley even if it means their own demise. That is the power of mental slavery.
Throughout the nation there has been protest for better roads and water. This is the 21st Century with three oil booms and people are protesting for these basic services. The UN recognize the basic right to have access to water “ The human right to safe drinking water was first recognized by the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council as part of binding international law in 2010. (UN, 2010)”. In a country which floods for part of the year, clean drinking water is an alien concept. WASA has too many political appointees aka managers and no conceptual plan to provide water and cover cost in doing so. This after over 59 years of governance. I am sure Barbados does not have these problems.
The PNM exist for themselves and the 1%. Everything is done to take care of their masters. As a comparative under the UNC with the same amount of money, the PNM was successful in building ONE school as compared to the UNC, 106. Where is the billions going from loans upon loans from China. I suppose deep into the balisier bottomless pit.
TnT is a signatory to the Chinese belt and road initiative. https://greenfdc.org/countries-of-the-belt-and-road-initiative-bri/. The Chinese according to “Morgan Stanley has predicted China’s overall expenses over the life of the BRI could reach $1.2–1.3 trillion by 2027, though estimates on total investments vary.” The Chinese debt trap has hooked TNT “hook line and sinker”. The pompous Antiguan Minister of Finance borrowed $1.2 billion from the Chinese because the IMF paper work is too cumbersome and Chinese require little or no paper work with low interest.
But where is Dr.Williams vision presently? TNT debt to GDP ratio in 2015 was 47%, today 2021 it is a staggering 90%.
Would the doc be pleased as the founder of the PNM? Point Lisas Estates—major plants have either closed since 2016 or are idled.
The closed plants are:
1) Mittal Steel complex, 2016
2) MHTL’s, M1, 2017
3) Yara, 2019
4) Methanex, Titan, 2020
5) MHTL’s M3, 2020 (idled)
6) Nutrien 02 (idled)
It was the vision of Errol Mahabir to build Point Lisas Industrial Estate. Today it is slowly being shut down.
Williams – Shut down TnT railway system. Manning spent $500 million on a feasibility study to build a rapid rail system.
Manning- Shut down Caroni 1975 Limited. Gave the liquor stock to Agostini where it was sold to the Italians who sold bottles of it as vintage quality for $3000 US a bottle. Whose pocket did all that money go into?
Rowley-Shut down Petrotrin and place over 5000 on the bread line. Roget attempted to buy the refinery but was turned down. The spies in the police service realise that Gary was going to open a file and investigate AVS and the money trail. Rowley moved quickly to stop the merit list with Gary name on it. As a result the PolSC was decommissioned by virtue of mass resignation.
The sins of the PNM continue to stink to high heavens. One wonders what TnT would look like at the end of Rowley term in office. I would say “indescribable”.
“As a comparative under the UNC with the same amount of money, the PNM was successful in building ONE school as compared to the UNC, 106.” What a crock of bull from the racist Mamoo. The PNM built most of the schools, both secondary and primary in Trinidad. The UNC built 106 imaginary schools, schools that only exist in the diseased and racist minds of the UNC and their supporters. The PNM built Point Lisas, no amount of lies from the racist Mamoo will change that. The PNM developed Trinidad and Tobago, no amount of lies from the racist Mamoo will change that. All the UNC did under Kamla Persad-Bissessar was to tief out the treasury, give billions to Lalla from SIS who disappeared into Panama and seems to have vanished. Billions to their friends and financiers. Some of them still in court waiting to be tried for their crimes. That is what the UNC has done, and will do again. Thief out the treasury. So too their puppet in Tobago, Watson Duke who has also been charged for corruptly thiefing out the PSA money. Birds of a feather, the UNC and PDP, a bunch of thieves.
“The UNC built 106 imaginary schools, schools that only exist in the diseased and racist minds of the UNC and their supporters” Birdie.
Funny Rowley wanted to know also and list was read for him in Parliament but for Birdie who sees race in everything here is the list. https://newsday.co.tt/2019/05/08/tim-we-built-106-schools/
The PNM scumbags suffering the children by not completing some of the schools built. Children have to travel longer distances for an education.
Mamoo, a lie doesn’t become the truth if you repeat it endlessly. A lie doesn’t become the truth if you repeat it in Parliament. Most of what the UNC says in Parliament are lies and propaganda anyhow. A lie doesn’t become the truth just because anti-PNM propagandists in the media, like in the Newsday, repeat it. The truth is the truth. The PNM developed the education system in T&T, you don’t sound like you benefitted much from it, but I am sure you went to a PNM school and I am sure you remember that PNM primary school.
As to being racist, you Mamoo are the biggest racist that I have ever read. Your racism is so obvious and unselfconscious that it is embarrassing. Intelligent readers would of course notice that, all except those in the racist UNC. Now the UNC and its previous incarnations have been racist from the start, they’ve all descended more or less from the racist PDP (funny how the UNC proxy party in Tobago is called the PDP, subliminal message?) led by Bhadase Maraj. Inconvenient Truth (whom the Trinidad and Tobago News seemed to have censored, I would like some clarity on that by the T&T News editor) has elucidated, originally and with much clarity, that issue. Let me just recount the facts. The PDP was descended from the right wing, pro Nazi political elements in India, they supported casteism and colour discrimination. Inconvenient Truth elucidated that point clearly. Sat Maharaj descended from that ideology, so too the UNC as it followed the ideology of its previous political incarnations. The pro Nazi elements in India assassinated Mohandas Gandhi, thereupon they were banned in India, the militant group of those pro Nazi elements, the RSS, are alive and growing in India. That is the racist history of the UNC and its previous incarnations as they descended from the PDP. That racism has infected the UNC which seems to be trying to copy the RSS in its extremism. Their strategy, which has been ever present, is to divide and rule black people, firstly in CARICOM and now in Tobago. Divide and rule and destroy. More about that later.
“As to being racist, you Mamoo are the biggest racist that I have ever read. Your racism is so obvious and unselfconscious that it is embarrassing”
What is racism? If you don’t support the crooked bunch of PNM thiefing scumbags who are emptying the treasury. You racist?
As long as you are trapped in mental slavery you will always be beholding to massa. You cannot critique massa even if he is not seeking the best interest of the nation.
Birdie all your blogging is proPNM you are a PNM apologist who exist to defend the wanton corruption. Where is TnT under this current administration? They have tax, taxed, borrow borrowed taking the public debt from $57 billion to a staggering $127 billion or 87% of GDP. But for you they can do no wrong because you on Rowley payroll…
There you go again Mamoo, twisting the truth. So here is the IMF on the PNM’s performance: “The overall fiscal deficit widened to 11.6 percent of GDP in FY2020 from 3.7 percent of GDP in FY2019, driven mostly by lower energy tax proceeds and outlays to mitigate the pandemic.” So the debt incurred by the PNM was “driven mostly by lower energy tax proceeds and outlays to mitigate the pandemic”. In other words, to help people and businesses through the pandemic. The UNC on the other hand, took from the treasury and gave Krishna Lalla 1.6 billion dollars to construct the Beetham Water Recycling Plant which is nowhere to be seen and so too is Lalla who has vanished into Panama. Remember also the contract to OAS for the Point Fortin Highway, which they promptly absconded with not paying the workers or completing the highway. The UNC thief out the treasury, time does not change that. No I am not a pro PNM apologist; I am simply standing up for the truth. I am not a PNM; the PNM does not even know me. It would be more accurate to call me the archangel than to say I am on “Rowley payroll”. Really.
One of the mistakes made by Williams when T&T gained Independence in August, 1962 was that his vision of T&T did not include the “raciltrant” minority of Indians. He envisioned an Afro-Carribean nation, minimizing but recognizing the minority of Indians on the islands at that time. This interpretation of Independence was held by Indians, supported by solid evidence of discrimination in employment practices of all government departments and institutions.
He and the PNM became exclusive for the ambitions of Afros, while utilizing a few Christian Indians as token representatives, many of whom quickly left the PNM when the stark realizations of discrimination reared its ugly head.
The reality of today is that T&T is now a country with Indians as the largest minority group; however, the stain of the inception of this nation is still on the minds of many Indians, sometimes resulting in less patriotic feelings toward the nation. Successive PNM Prime ministers have made attempts to correct these perceptions, but they have not succeeded in correcting these perceptions, especially when they have continued to ignore the needs of areas where Indians live.
“T&T is in crisis. Our political leadership is fractured and faith in our leaders leaves much to be desired”
Trinis were given a clear warning from a distinguished former Prime Minister name Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning about the character and conduct of the current Prime Minister. Words like a raging bull, Rottweiler were ignored by the balisier juice drinkers like Birdie.
“NGC’s president Mark Loquan has two more months left on his contract as president of the NGC and with this revelation he has overseen at least the loss of half a billion dollars on failed projects. At a political meeting on Monday night, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley expressed confidence in Loquan.” Rowley expressed confidence in a 1/2 billion dollars proven failure.
With the national debt at 87% GDP and growing, several closures at Point Lisas Industrial Estate, the applause for the economic demise of TnT is penned boldly on the walls of balisier house. “Bankrupt nation”. Yes people are planning to fly out only to realize no foreign exchange is available. After Rowley steps away one can safely say “Mission accomplished”. As my business friend said “ things dead real dead in this country”. Death has come to a suffering people suffering from depression, fears, anger, anxiety, stress etc. Yes folks death is a welcome escape for the poor.
So here are some facts. Hinduism is not Hindutva; Hindutva is an ideology originated by V.D. Sarvarkar, who literally inculcated Nazi philosophy into his ideology. Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse who was a member of the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha. The RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha were banned in India after the assassination of Mohandas Gandhi. V.D. Sarvarkar, a prominent member of the Hindu Mahasabha and the originator of the Hindutva ideology, was one of those arrested for the assassination of Mohandas Gandhi. I think we can agree that people cannot be lumped into blanket categories and so judged; not all whites are white supremacists just as not all Africans are racists and just as not all Indians are racists. But systemic injustice has brought about some terrible sufferings. Injustice that is embedded in the system, the way we deal with people and things, the way we stereotype some human begins as sub-human, that is the problem. That is where racism stems from. Inequality, the non-recognition of our universal humanity, that is the problem. That is the problem with white supremacy; slavery and the genocide of indigenous peoples that is the result. The inequality of casteism, thousands of years of oppression, that is the result. It is that inhumanity, that sans humanite ideology, that has haunted the Caribbean, and Trinidad and Tobago. Don’t forget your history or you are doomed to repeat it. And don’t forget the agendas of those who you are dealing with or if so you are doomed to forget your history. I am bringing this up so that we can expose the agenda of a very quiet political party that is involved surreptitiously in the upcoming THA elections. From their agenda you will understand their strategy. The UNC and its original incarnation, the PDP, always thought of itself as a besieged minority in the Caribbean. The PDP along with Alexander Bustamante, the conservative leader of the JLP, voted to end the Federation (think of it as an early Caricom). Why, because any unity among Caribbean countries was a threat to the PDP because they thought they would become even more of a minority. H.P Singh, one of the early political theorists of those who thought of themselves as a besieged minority, according to John La Guerre “argued that the offer of unitary statehood to Grenada was an attempt to counterbalance the Indian vote in Trinidad and to give the PNM more seats” (HP Singh, The Indian Struggle). His argument was that it was uneconomical to have the islands as part of the unitary state of Trinidad. In other words, we would be sharing our national patrimony with the other unitary state. If you look at the situation with Tobago, the reasoning is remarkable similar. The UNC feels that if they remove the unitary statehood of T&T, they will be able to have a better political outcome in Trinidad alone. They will have gotten rid of some of the black people in Tobago, more seats for them in Trinidad. But that reasoning means that they will oppose black unity anywhere in the Caribbean and elsewhere. Black unity means to the UNC and its original incarnation, the PDP, a threat to them, so the strategy must be, divide and rule. Keep black people divided, and they feel that if they can increase that divisiveness, that enmity between black and black, they can pick off seats one by one and eventually rule. That’s their plan, that’s their strategy. And they don’t want to share the national patrimony with any black people, remember Kamla Persad-Bissessar when she said to Caricom, and I paraphrase, T&T is not a bank card. So that’s what they are saying to Tobago. Trinidad is not a bank card which you can withdraw from freely. The treasury is mine. Get out, go on your own. We will send Steven Kangal to fool you about oil and gas that you can claim. That is the strategy of the UNC, it hasn’t changed. You think if Steven Kangal and the UNC think that there is oil and gas in Tobago fields they will help Tobago get it? They will give it to Tobago? They don’t even want to give Tobago the amount that the PNM government has given it, they think that too much, and you think that they will give Tobago oil and gas that they can now claim? They think Tobagonians stupid, that’s what they think. But they know that they can always get someone like Watson Duke to sell out the people.
The PNM is desperate to hang on to Tobago and remain relevant because they know that without their two Tobago central government seats , they would be in trouble. They may not be able to form government
There are many advantages for Trinidad to release Tobago and allow its independence. Tobago with its population of approx. 60,000 receives an annual budgetary allowance which far exceeds the per capita allocation of any corporation within Trinidad. Successive governments have pandered to Tobago for the political gain of these two central government seats. Tobago has a higher standard of living than Trinidad. Tobago has superior infrastructure compared to Trinidad even though the per capita tax contribution is substantially lower. Tobago has an expensive, subsidised transportation structure by air, bus and ferry which is presently superior to anything in Trinidad. All economic indicators show that Tobago is a drain on the T&T economy and budgetary allocation.
Capital investment, like the present airport project, the massive empty Scarborough stadium, the not-needed finance buliding, the over extended new library,the investments in repeatedly failing hotel projects, the empty Roxborough hospital etc. are all not required on the scale projected based on the population statistics and the failure to attract tourists.
If the people of Tobago believe that they can elect a THA which will change the course of their dependency syndrome, claim their resources, stimulate the tourism industry and improve efficiencies on the island, they should go for it, because there is no evidence that the PNM is capable. They have elected successive PNM /THAs which have chosen to remain Trinidad’s spoiled child with their palms open as they make just about every Tobagonian a government employee, directly and indirectly….a receipe for continued failure.
TMan has let out the secret. The UNC does not want people of African descent to share in the national patrimony at all. He writes, “Tobago with its population of approx. 60,000 receives an annual budgetary allowance which far exceeds the per capita allocation of any corporation within Trinidad.” And he continues, “All economic indicators show that Tobago is a drain on the T&T economy and budgetary allocation.” No problem with the UNC handing over billions to Lalla of the SIS and his subsequent vanishing into Panama, no problem with the UNC thiefing out the treasury, but you know Tobago is a drain, and as they also say, Laventille is a drain on the treasury. What they really are saying is that the treasury belongs to them, to give to their friends and family. That’s why when they got into office under Kamla Persad-Bissessar they raided the treasury and enriched their friends and family. It’s all part of the ethno-nationalism of the UNC and its original incarnation, the PDP led by Bhadase Maraj.
So here is Kamal Persad and Ashram B Maharaj writing the introduction to H.P. Singh’s book and ending with these lines, “Bharatiyamukti can only be achieved by bringing to an end black neo-colonial domination. This can only be achieved by Bharatiyashakti. The creation of an Indian homeland by the political unification of the states of Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad into Bharatiyadesh is the ultimate destiny for the Indian nation in the Caribbean and South America. This could be achieved by peaceful constitutional means: if not, Indians should not hesitate to use militant means for ultimate freedom” This is the dream of the UNC, but they have realized that constitutional means and militant means are not feasible, so they have embarked on a more tricky strategy, divide and rule. Divide Trinidad and Tobago from Caricom, and divide Trinidad from Tobago, divide black people from black people; send Kangal to fool Tobagonians into thinking that oil and gas will be all around and separate, separate. Go it on your own, Trinidadians trying to keep the oil and gas from you. That from the greediest people on the planet, they say they want to give all the oil and gas money to Tobago. They don’t even want to give Tobago what is in the budget for them, but they say they willing to give them all the oil and gas money, if only they would go for independence. You see how to dupe people. Constitutional means didn’t work, militancy can’t work so try trickery. Tobagonians stupid they think, they will fall for it, and in any case we have Watson Duke, he will dupe them, sell them out. He like his pocket full. With the UNC the treachery never ends. The attempt to destroy Trinidad and Tobago never ends. If Tobagonians listen to that bunch of self serving, greedy malcontents, they will end up as bleached bones on the sand, picked clean by vultures and corbeaux who keep circling as they wait for an opening.
It’s not that simple. Corruption is the political trademark of both Parties, initiated from the early years of PNM rule. I do not have to regurgitate old ,proven , multiple cases of massive stealing by a line up of PNM ministers.
Also, Tobago is doing a fine job of advocating for their own division from Trinidad. They do not need the help of the UNC. Everything I stated regarding the economic indicators are factual and not interpretative. Presently Rowley is involved in several corruption events which are slowly being revealed.
“The PNM should go back into its political history to find the leadership its people desire”
Dr.Rowley is working hard to “deconstruct” our democracy. As citizens struggle to pay their bills we see a Maduro style dictatorship taking over this nation. Democracy is fragile and needs to be defended. It does not matter which party is in charge. The P.M. like all dictators does not understand the nature of democracy. There comes a time when it is necessary to part ways with a party if it’s leader is attempting to destroy the democratic institutions. Patriotism means standing up for the freedoms that has long been fought for and not allowing the institutions that uphold democracy to be silenced or corrupted.
Power is a great thing but absolute power is a very dangerous thing. Dr Rowley has show that he enjoys control and his view of power is “ “We will not co-operate with the Government on any matter. We will isolate them as long as they remain in office. They do not deserve to be in office, they have betrayed the trust of the people of T&T and they must leave office”. Sept 12, 2012 Guardian. Today what type of “trust” does the people have in the PNM? He said on many occasions he would not shut down Petrotrin and went ahead and did the opposite. “His most recent lies have been a charge that the highway to Point Fortin would end in Penal and that the Manning PNM government had started the highway construction project. Both are lies. Work on the highway is already progressing at the Point Fortin end and it was the PP government that started the highway extension project in January 2011”. Rowley is an alien to the truth.
The independence of all arms of the nation judicial, executive and presidential operates as one big family. The most dangerous plan of Rowley is to use the President, PolSC to select a person whom he can control. He will succeed because the PNM family is prepared to aid their dictator to the death of democracy. Party before nation…
TMan has let out the secret. The UNC does not want people of African descent to share in the national patrimony at all. He writes, “Tobago with its population of approx. 60,000 receives an annual budgetary allowance which far exceeds the per capita allocation of any corporation within Trinidad.” And he continues, “All economic indicators show that Tobago is a drain on the T&T economy and budgetary allocation.” No problem with the UNC handing over billions to Lalla of the SIS and him vanishing into Panama, no problem with the UNC thiefing out the treasury, but you know Tobago is a drain, and as they also say, Laventille is a drain on the treasury. What they really are saying is that the treasury belongs to them, to give to their friends and family. That’s why when they got into office under Kamla Persad-Bissessar they raided the treasury and enriched their friends and family. It’s all part of the ethno-nationalism of the UNC and its original incarnation, the PDP led by Bhadase Maraj.
So here is Kamal Persad and Ashram B Maharaj writing the introduction to H.P. Singh’s book and ending with these lines, “Bharatiyamukti can only be achieved by bringing to an end black neo-colonial domination. This can only be achieved by Bharatiyashakti. The creation of an Indian homeland by the political unification of the states of Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad into Bharatiyadesh is the ultimate destiny for the Indian nation in the Caribbean and South America. This could be achieved by peaceful constitutional means: if not, Indians should not hesitate to use militant means for ultimate freedom” This is the dream of the UNC, but they have realized that constitutional means and militant means are not feasible, so they have embarked on a more tricky strategy, divide and rule. Divide Trinidad and Tobago from Caricom, and divide Trinidad from Tobago, divide black people from black people; send Kangal to fool Tobagonians into thinking that oil and gas will be all around and separate, separate. Go it on your own, Trinidadians trying to keep the oil and gas from you. That from the greediest people on the planet, they say they want to give all the oil and gas money to Tobago. They don’t even want to give Tobago what is in the budget for them, but they say they willing to give them all the oil and gas money, if only they would go for independence. You see how to dupe people. Constitutional means didn’t work, militancy can’t work so try trickery. Tobagonians stupid they think, they will fall for it, and in any case we have Watson Duke, he will dupe them, sell them out. He like his pocket full. With the UNC the treachery never ends. The attempt to destroy Trinidad and Tobago never ends. If Tobagonians listen to that bunch of self serving, greedy malcontents, they will end up as bleached bones on the sand, picked clean by vultures and corbeaux who keep circling as they wait for an opening.
The United Kingdom established a policy which can be summarised , “IF the colonies want Independence , give it to them”
Trinidad’s position should be, IF Tobago wants Independence, give it to them.
It has nothing to do with greed. It is simply allowing a people to their own self-determination.
TMan writes, “Trinidad’s position should be, IF Tobago wants Independence, give it to them. It has nothing to do with greed. It is simply allowing a people to their own self-determination.” You mean like if Kashmir wants independence, for which they have been agitating for years, India should give it to them? Or if the Sikhs in Punjab want independence, for which they have been clamoring for years, India should give it to them? What about independence for Scotland, seems like it is a rising claim, Britain should give them it? What about the Indeshi folks here in T&T, they were at one time calling for an independent Indeshi homeland in Trinidad, give it to them? And the Bharatiyadeshi folks, give them it? Some in Texas are calling for independence, isn’t that a harkening back to the civil war? The southern slave owning states in the US wanted to become the Confederation States of America and declare themselves independent of the United States of America, they basically wanted to continue the practice of slavery, the Federal Government under Lincoln refused it and fought a civil war over the issue of independence for the Confederation States. 620,000 people died in that war, and the main reason for the war was that the Southern states wanted to continue the practice of slavery, continue the racism and dehumanization of African descended people. And it’s not only independence countries seek, they seek to be unitary states, like Trinidad and Tobago, so what if folks in the Leewards islands want to have a unitary state, give it to them right? And Caricom, why not a unitary state? Isn’t that what Caricom is working towards in many ways? So if it is what people want, why object to a unitary state? So the point is people may want to be independent or they may want a united state. In Tobago, the PDP is hiding Duke and promoting Farley because Duke is calling for Tobago independence and Farley calling for the opposite. So they want to confuse people. So why doesn’t Duke come out and say that the PDP is calling for independence? Because he knows what Tobago has always called for is more autonomy, not independence. So again TMan lets the secret out, Duke and the PDP want independence, not autonomy. Don’t hide Duke, come out and say so.
There has been a lot of talk by Tobagonians for independence. Tobagonians have in the past told Trinis “Tobago business is Tobago business, not Trinidad business”. Just send the highest allowance to us we know how to spend the money. So for 55,000 citizens out of a population of 1.3 million, Tobagonians get 4% of GDP. As soon as Rowley became Prime Minister he gave a billion dollars to Magdalena Resort. The last election he immediately increased subventions to Tobago, not a dog bark. Then he offered Hoteliers a cool $50 million of tax payers dollars as bribe to win this THA election. In 2005 one billion dollars went missing. Nobody was held to account because it was Tobago business with Trinidad money.
Since the formation of the Tobago House of Assembly, Tobagonians have been charting a course to Independence. https://www.tha.gov.tt/about-the-assembly/ . The 1980 THA Act 37 basically spells out the formulation of an independent nation. The maritime resources that Tobago has is much more than anything Trinidad could ever imagine. Once oil or gas starts flowing in their territory the appeal for independence will grow stronger. Today, Tobagonians are a confident embolden lot owning villas whilst gainfully employed in the government sector. They are more prosperous than the “scrunting” Trinis. Assemblymen are getting their cut out of the national largesse. They are fulling their pockets from the excessive lard coming out of the Treasury.
All things Tobagonian: The Shaw Park Cultural Centre project was initiated by the THA at a cost of $194 million in 2006 and by 2012, rose to $552 million. In 2016, is was estimated to have risen to over $1B.
The Scarborough Library from 19 million to a reported 86 million, the Hospital from 130 million to over 700 million and the Financial Complex from 22 million to a reported 106 million. The Airport extension now is over a billion dollars.
Tobagonians may want independence but why turn away billions in “easy money”?
No Mamoo, Tobagonians haven’t been pushing for independence, they have been pushing for more autonomy. But truth does not matter much to you.
Autonomy— the right or condition of self-government. Yes they want more autonomy. (Independence). But they can’t leave the billions from the empty treasury. So they not going to go totally independent. If that happens it will take at least 5 years to implement. Only a referendum with a clear question can decide that…we know the PNM will never allow that. More Indo Trinis are going to Grenada, where the respect is better. Election time we are insulted.
So the strategy of the PDP in Tobago could be called “strategic ambiguity” where they say two different things at the same time in order to confuse people. So you can’t say the PDP isn’t supporting vaccines (Duke says the vaccine will kill you), because Farley seems to be saying – take the vaccine. You can’t say the PDP is for an independent Tobago (don’t confuse with autonomous Tobago) because Duke calling for independence, but he hiding and Farley calling for “federalism” whatever that means. Farley seems to be saying – no violence against women (I guess so), Duke on charge for rape. Farley seems to be saying (I not sure about this one at all) – no corruption, Duke accused of thiefing out the PSA pension. Farley out in the open, Duke hiding. Farley has no say in the PDP, Duke is the bossman. Strategic ambiguity. Really it’s more like strategic nonsense, they trying to dupe Tobagonians. To me strategic ambiguity is like this – you have a fowl coop in your yard with plenty yard fowl, two fellas show up wanting to clean your yard. One of them doing all the talking, the other one is a known fowl thief, but he not saying anything, he only looking around. You think you should give them fellas the job?
Things that make Birdie proud of the PNM.
(1) 87% debt to GDP. After 77% the economy slows down.
(2) Over $ 127 billion in debt. It was $ 57 billion when they assume office in 2015.
(3) worst economic downturn in 2017.
(4) Highest flooding in 2018.
(5) Highest per capita Covid deaths in the world, Nov. 2021.
(6) NGC, Loquan wasted $500 million and Rowley said he have confidence in him.
(7) Trinidad holds the record for the most potholes in the Western Hemisphere. It will only get worst.
(8) Foreign exchanged have dried up except for the 1% and PNM loochos.
(9) Point Lisas Industrial Estate closing down. Every few weeks boom. The closed plants are:
1) Mittal Steel complex, 2016
2) MHTL’s, M1, 2017
3) Yara, 2019
4) Methanex, Titan, 2020
5) MHTL’s M3, 2020 (idled)
6) Nutrien 02 (idled)
(10) Cost of living has gone up over 300%. Goat used to cost $20 a pound now $60 a pound. $40 for a small cauliflower. Gas price went up 3x. VAT increase…
Great is the PNM. And they always fail.
Mamoo, sounds like a great opportunity for you to get away from the great PNM ‘evil’.
Kian hush. I hope you have your sorrel, ham (Massey $50 ham) and some parang music. It is time to celebrate “we” party. Anyways be careful on the highways opps everything dead, u safe…(smile). I am sure doc Cudjoe having all of that good stuff plus some black cake. Be careful Covid not discriminating. Even though Bro. Rowley lock down the border, look what happening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6cYBer65zA