Tag Archives: Patrick Manning

Political cocktail: the sacred and the profane

PM Patrick Manning and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar
PNM Patrick Manning vs UNC Kamla Persad-Bissessar
By Raffique Shah
May 23, 2010

I AM told by people who have witnessed election campaigns in other Caribbean countries that ours are not unique in their curious blend of the sacred and the profane. I regret not having experiences like theirs so I can make comparisons. I doubt, though, that elections platforms in any other country can rival ours when it comes to hypocrisy, contradictions and shamelessness.
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Time For Change

PM Patrick Manning and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar
PNM Patrick Manning vs UNC Kamla Persad-Bissessar
By Ras Tyehimba
May 22, 2010

I am convinced that for the good of the country the present Manning-led PNM administration needs to go. To this end, I agree with the points expressed in this article, Election 2010: An Opportunity for Change.

My view is simple – the present Manning-led government is just too arrogant, dishonest and squandering to be rewarded with another term in office. The corruption under the PNM invokes memories of the infamous John O’Halloran, and in my view, surpasses that of the UNC while they were in office. The Manning-led government has presided over mass squandermania while expecting the public to pay for their excesses through such initiatives as the Property Tax Bill.
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No New Property Tax

Karen Nunez-Tesheira and PM Patrick Manning
Karen Nunez-Tesheira and PM Patrick Manning
THE EDITOR: I acknowledge that taxes must be paid and sometimes increased in order to maintain and develop the society. Any government could point to all they ‘did for the people’ with our taxes and natural resources dollars, but I am sure if people scrutinize the projects we would find corruption as the underlying reason they bought into many ideas or chose certain companies to work with. Ever so often, a case will get the attention of the wider public.
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Cutting Corners Mister Project Manager?

Calder Hart and Prime Minister Patrick Manning
Calder Hart and Prime Minister Patrick Manning
THE EDITOR: The following quote was reported in the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian newspaper on 17th May, 2010, and it has been attributed to the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago:

“Prime Minister Patrick Manning last night conceded that State enterprise Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT) may have ‘cut corners’ in order to deliver on its mandate. Manning also stated that the governance model with UDeCOTT and other special purpose and state enterprises ‘require improvements.’ He said such companies ‘cut corners all the time,’ but that this was done in order to get around bureaucracy and to meet the demands placed on them.”
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Sleepless over Property Tax

Karen Nunez-Tesheira and PM Patrick Manning
Karen Nunez-Tesheira and PM Patrick Manning
THE EDITOR: I am a small businessman running a corner shop from a small place underneath my house. When election called, I was hoping that there would have been much talk about property tax but what I am hearing is a very little. The new tax is a very worrisome proposal. I am about to finish paying my mortgage in the next two years. My wife and I working hard, let go all luxuries, saved money, cent by cent to pay up mortgage in 20 years.
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Rowley’s PNM problem

Diego Martin West candidate Dr Keith Rowley
Diego Martin West candidate Dr Keith Rowley
Express Editorial
May 20th 2010 – trinidadexpress.com

As he sat on the People’s National Movement (PNM) platform on Tuesday night, Diego Martin West MP Keith Rowley was clearly a man between a rock and a hard place.
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