PRIME Minister Patrick Manning yesterday said a church being built at the Heights of Guanapo is above board, as he accused his detractors of “religious persecution” of him and the Full Gospel faith.
Manning charges religious persecution
Prime Minister Patrick Manning says born-again Christians must stop accepting the denigration of their faith by people who know none of their beliefs.
Continue reading Manning charges religious persecution
Newsday Editorial
February 24, 2010 – newsday.co.tt
WE were most disappointed at Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s silence over the controversial church that Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner alleged is being built by the Shanghai Construction Group (SCG) in the Heights of Guanapo.
Last Friday in the House of Representatives, Warner made his startling claim which raises crucial questions over the alleged use of public resources for a private venture. He held up a photograph of the construction site, which is reportedly manned by Chinese labourers.
Continue reading Mystery Church
Guardian Editorial
February 11, 2010 – guardian.co.tt
Having had the absolute and unwavering support of the people of Laventille for the 54 years of its existence as a political party, it is highly contemptuous of the PNM’s political leader, Prime Minister Patrick Manning, to go into that part of the country, which is riddled with crime and sunk in underdevelopment, to name in an ad hoc manner a committee of ministers and parliamentary representatives to discern the problems of the area. Where have Mr Manning and the PNM Government been all this time?Specifically, as it relates to the stewardship of Mr Manning’s administration, between 2002 and 2007, Prime Minister Manning and his Government announced a plan for the rehabilitation of east Port-of-Spain, inclusive of the “behind the bridge” areas, Laventille and Sea Lots. Where has that plan got to beyond talk and the establishment of a company, presumably to effect the job?
Continue reading Laventille, don’t fall for sweet talk
Newsday Editorial
February 11, 2010 – newsday.co.tt
Trinidad and Tobago News Blog
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog
PRIME Minister Patrick Manning, at a PNM meeting in Laventille on Tuesday, re-ignited the debate as to how well, or if you like, how badly the Government has been spending public monies.
He raised the prospect of the Government having to borrow to fund its expenditure and thereby possibly incur strange looks from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Manning said the Government had last year suffered a $6.9 billion revenue shortfall, while this year’s shortfall is about $7.8 billion.
Continue reading More fiscal discipline
By Raffique Shah
February 07, 2010
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog
Most readers would interpret my headline as suggesting that UNC “founding father”, Basdeo Panday, is enjoying sweet chutney/soca music in keeping with the spirit of the Carnival season. For them, “Karma” is a music band whose lead singer, Ravi B, won the recent Chutney-Soca Monarch title. Ironically, Ravi’s winning song was titled “Ah Drinker”. Ravi was not referring to orange juice or WASA’s now-scarce potable water, but to the wanton abuse of alcohol.
Continue reading Karma, Bas, not Kamla
Mr Panday must step aside now
Sunday night’s victory by Kamla Persad-Bissessar, placing her as the new political leader of the opposition United National Congress (UNC), is tantamount to a political earthquake in T&T. And while the political shake-up may not leave anyone dead, there are likely to be many careers that end up being badly wounded. Mrs Persad-Bissessar has done what many men before her have failed to do: she toppled the man whose name has become synonymous with post-independence opposition politics in T&T—Basdeo Panday. Although the election machinery was clearly stacked against her and her slate with a large number of voters being disenfranchised, the huge margin of Mrs Persad-Bissessar’s victory for the post of political leader of the UNC was a clear indication that almost every member of the party wanted change.
Continue reading Defeated Basdeo Panday Holds On
by Michelle Loubon
January 25, 2010 – guardian.co.tt
The PNM does not wash its dirty linen in public. Prime Minister Patrick Manning made this comment during the party’s 54th anniversary celebrations interfaith thanksgiving rally at Balisier House, Port-of-Spain, yesterday. Its theme was “We’ve come this far by faith.” Although he maintained the PNM did not interfere in the politics of other political parties, Manning boasted that the PNM model was the best with regard to internal organisation and discipline. “We take careful note of what goes on in other political parties…We want to know what not to do,” he said. He then waded into the practice of washing dirty linen in public. “If you find dirty linen being washed in public, it has to do with the method of selection,” Manning said.
Continue reading PM: PNM does not wash dirty linen in public
By Raffique Shah
January 03, 2010
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog
Should political turmoil erupt in 2010, it wouldn’t be because of the Property Tax or government’s now toned-down spending spree. The opposition, united or divided, cannot trigger mass action, the kind we experienced in 1970. If anything, it’s the extreme insensitivity of uncaring ministers-Peter Taylor’s ‘living off the fat of the land’, Gaynor Dick-Forde’s ‘only 12 people against the tax’, Neil Parsanlal’s Goebbels-like, weekly media-bashing-that would send angry masses streaming onto the streets.
Continue reading Firestorm is a-coming
By Andre Bagoo
December 29, 2009 – newsday.co.tt
CHAIRMAN of the Commission of Inquiry into Udecott Professor John Uff QC has hit back at the State-owned enterprise for making what he described as “improper” allegations against him in a High Court lawsuit the Calder Hart-chaired company has brought to challenge the proceedings.
Continue reading UDeCOTT Improper
By Raffique Shah
December 27, 2009
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog
‘TWAS a year that brought mankind’s madness crashing into the stark realities of the punitive sins of excesses, the deleterious effects of unbridled greed, and maybe, just maybe, it also slammed some heads-in-the-clouds freaks to ground level.
Continue reading Year we learned discretion but ignored destitution