Tag Archives: Raffique Shah

Carnival, General T&T, Health, International, Politics

Man, mosquito and money

By Raffique Shah
February 02, 2016

Raffique ShahIn this space yesterday, Dr Sherene Kalloo launched a broadside against Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh and his almost jokey war against the Zika virus, pre-empting a column I had already half-written, titled “Man vs Mosquito”.

Dr Kalloo argued that Minister Deyalsingh’s declaration of war against Zika and the Aedes Egypti mosquito by deploying soldiers, as hard-hit Brazil has done, as being a failed strategy.

It has not worked in Brazil and it will not work here.
Continue reading Man, mosquito and money →

Crime in T&T, General T&T, Violence

Deliver us from evil

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By Raffique Shah
January 27, 2016

Raffique ShahIt occurred to me some hours after I heard the news that gunmen had murdered two Laventille schoolboys that I felt no emotions over the dastardly act.

I was not saddened or consumed with anger. I was not even outraged over the manner in which the youthful victims were grabbed from their ride home, much the way Hitler’s Nazis separated Jews from Gentiles, or how Israelis now separate Palestinians from Jews, marking them for death, executing them right there in public.
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Finance, General T&T, PNM, Politics, Recession

Destiny in our hands

45 Comments

By Raffique Shah
January 27, 2016

Raffique ShahAs a nation, we can do nothing about the plunging price of oil except watch with alarm as crude slides below US $30 a barrel.

Even if we ramp up production, which has fallen by approximately 50 per cent over the past decade, it will make little sense. At this point, it might be better to leave the oil in the wells rather than sell it for peanuts.
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Entertainment, General T&T, Music

Humility was Jit’s hallmark

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By Raffique Shah
January 11, 2016

Raffique Shah“I don’t know who Jit Samaroo was, but listening to others speak, he must have been a great man…my condolences to his family.”

That was a caller from Princes Town to TV6’s Morning Edition’s host Hayden Blades, who devoted much of last Friday’s programme to persons wanting to pay tribute to Jit, who had died the day before.
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General T&T

Aging in this cussed country

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By Raffique Shah
January 04, 2016

Raffique ShahIn a few months, I shall cross another threshold of aging, scoring seventy years of life and officially transitioning into the status of “old geezer”.

The dawning of a new year set me thinking about the past and the future, although I know I have fewer years ahead of me than behind me. In such circumstance, retrospection becomes the preferred option.
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Finance, General T&T, PNM, Politics, Recession, UNC

‘do so ent like so’

44 Comments

By Raffique Shah
December 29, 2015

Raffique ShahI am surprised that so many people are surprised by the termination of services-firing, suspension, the euphemistically-couched “sent on administrative leave”-of several senior government officials, the most prominent being Governor of the Central Bank, Jwala Rambarran.

Clearing the politically-constructed State-stables of partisan appointees is a ritual that occurs every time a government changes.
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Finance, General T&T, PNM, Politics, Recession

Whey the money really gone

38 Comments

By Raffique Shah
December 14, 2015

Raffique ShahCentral Bank governor Jwala Rambarran was the unlikeliest man to kick the hornets’ nest, but that he did when he named the firms that used the most foreign exchange (forex) over the past three years.

Amidst a cacophony of complaints from businesses and individuals about being denied adequate sums of forex for legitimate uses, Rambarran went on the offensive by identifying the 18 biggest users.
Continue reading Whey the money really gone →

Finance, General T&T, Oil and Gas, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, Recession

Recession was predictable

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By Raffique Shah
December 07, 2015

Raffique ShahThis recession did not creep up on us like the proverbial thief in the night.

It was long in the making. In fact, from as far back as the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, when Clico collapsed and the price of oil plunged from a brief high of US $140 a barrel to $30, informed, patriotic citizens were warning governments to go easy on the wild spending, to set aside more savings in the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund, to wean the population off dependency on subsidies, and most of all to diversify the economy from its over-reliance on oil, gas and petrochemicals.
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