Paramin Parang Festival 2006

Paramin Parang Festival Draws Thousands
Parang lovers by the thousands came together for the Paramin Parang Festival 2006 which took place on Monday 18th December, 2006, on the hills of Paramin. This year was the 29th anniversary of this celebration and the turn out was fantastic as usual.
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A clip of parang by the Lara Brothers

A clip of parang by the Paraminios Parang Group

Letter to the EMA – Re: The Rapid Rail System

By Stephen Kangal
December 17, 2006

Rapid RailRe: Mandatory Conduct of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Prior to the Award of a Certificate of Environmental Certificate (CEC) for the Design, Build, Operate and Manage (DBOM) Contract for the Establishment of the Rapid Rail System (RRS) by the Ministry of Works and Transport

I have the honour to bring to the attention of the EMA that it must insist that the Ministry of Works and Transport should apply to the Authority for the issue of the appropriate Certificate of Environmental Clearance prior to the award of an international tender to establish the proposed billion dollar 120km Rapid Rail System (RRS) from Diego Martin to Sangre Grande and from POS to San Fernando.
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Santa Shah is coming to town

by Raffique Shah
December 17, 2006

Raffque ShahI have been thinking about my approach to Christmas which many have described as being that of a Scrooge, not a Santa. True. I dislike seeing people exhaust all their earnings and savings on this one occasion, only to have to resort to borrowing to survive the few months afterwards. It happens to most low-to-middle income earners. With portents of global warming soon bringing an end to all life as we know it, what the hell? So let the masses overeat, drink excessively, and be merry. As for me, I shall join the fete, even transforming myself into Santa. I’m sharing gifts aplenty, too-starting, as usual, with the big boys and girls.
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Cops: More Trinis call in with tales of lottery scam

ScamFraud Squad officers in San Fernando and Port of Spain yesterday, following the publication of the Express front page story, received a number of calls from people who said they had fallen victim to an international lotto scam. Police said that people from areas throughout the country had responded to the story about Trinidadians being fleeced in internet and postal lotto frauds.
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National Symposium on the Aluminum Smelters

by Christopher E. M. Castagne
December 11, 2006

Aluminum SmelterThe symposium on the aluminum industry in Trinidad and Tobago which took place this past Wednesday was the most positive development in the entire smelter issue so far. For the first time in this two year old debate, the nation was presented with credible, relevant and current information on all of the major aspects of the proposed smelters. This included information and research on the economic, social, engineering, legal, and environmental concerns and implications, as well as on the Global Aluminum Industry, presented by local and international experts with decades of experience.
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‘Hobbing with the nobs’ is debt-dealing

By Raffique Shah
December 10, 2006

Elite DiningI kept wondering for some time now how long it would take Starbucks, the upscale coffee chain, to start doing business here. Last week I read where some local entrepreneur indicated he’d cornered the franchise. I guess by next year Trinis who did not know of Starbucks before would be flocking to the coffee house. A few years ago, in London, I had my first encounter with it. While I sipped an over-priced, under-flavoured “cuppa”, I observed the behaviour of customers in this consumer-driven ambience. I found it very revealing.
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Order of the Republic Exclusionary

By Stephen Kangal
December 09, 2006

IndiansI have never ceased to agonise in mental pain at the continuing undue pressures being exerted on our Indian community to exercise constant and eternal vigilance geared to curb and correct the natural predilection of some public decision-makers in Trinidad and Tobago to exclude its presence from public symbols that claim by depicting selectively to represent the cultural diversity of our multicultural landscape. The absence of Indian names of public buildings and notably roadways are relevant in this regard.
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Debt forgiveness

By George Alleyne, newsday.co.tt
December 6 2006

Tony BlairBritish Prime Minister, Tony Blair, can best demonstrate that he is serious with respect to his recent statement on slavery by having legislation drafted and introduced in the United Kingdom Parliament for the provision of reparations to former British colonies in Africa and the Caribbean, which were victims of slavery, the slave trade and/or de-industrialisation.
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