By Raffique Shah
May 04, 2014
Does anybody remember or know what happened with the scandalous “Section 34” issue? I recall that in the euphoria of the 50th anniversary of Independence, on August 31, 2012, some powerful person had that section of the Administration of Justice Act surreptitiously proclaimed, thereby opening a gateway to immunity (well, almost) for persons charged with corruption in the Piarco Airport matter.
Continue reading Another scandal we’ll forget
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
June 19, 2012
There was a time I would be hurt whenever V. S. Naipaul called us mimic men and a false society. I used go after him mercilessly saying how wrong he was and why we were a young society, trying to get things together. When, at the end of From Columbus to Castro, Dr. Williams endorsed Naipaul’s view of our world, I was crushed. I felt betrayed.
Continue reading Fake Society
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 11, 2012
Karl Hudson Philip’s brilliant advocacy for a respect of legal tradition and his reminder that standards ought to be adhered to touched an important note in Trinidad and Tobago’s psyche. Reading Hudson Philip, I was reminded of a time when things were simpler, standards were more transparent and justice [or perhaps consistency] was among desired outcomes. One stands amazed as one contrasts the legal maneuverings of Ish and Steve, the shenanigans of Calder Hart and Laurence Duprey, and the audacity of Harrynarine of the Hindu Credit Union with the behavior of British officials during the days of slavery.
Continue reading Looking Backward
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 29, 2011
There is blindness among the leaders of the UNC government that will lead to its demise. Overconfident by the results of May 2010, it refuses to see that its victory was not so much an affirmation of their prospective policies (which were ill-thought out at best) but a refusal of citizens to accept what Mr. Manning and his team were doing. In rejecting PNM the electorate stated categorically that they were against Manning’s increasingly tendencies of one-manism, his refusal to listen to others; and his knee-jerk support of Calder Hart whose practices left many persons uncomfortable.
Continue reading Let the Jackasses Bray
By Clint Chan Tack
October 18 2011 – newsday.co.tt
PRIME MINISTER Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday dropped several bombshells in the House of Representatives, exposing what she described as major corruption scandals which took place under the former People’s National Movement (PNM) government.
Continue reading PNM SCANDALS
By Nalinee Seelal and Alexander Bruzual
Saturday, August 21 2010
A day after they made one of the biggest weapons seizures, police described the Valsayn mansion of late millionaire contractor Hafeez Karamath as a drug den for the rich; a factory for the manufacture of exotic high-end hallucinogens.
Investigators estimate the mansion, located on a one acre property in the upscale neighbourhood of Palm Road, Valsayn, is worth more than $12 million.
Continue reading Drug Den for Rich
Friday, July 2 2010 – newsday.co.tt
WITH AN estimated $5 million in materials and equipment now removed from the site of the controversial church project at the Heights of Guanapo, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan yesterday said he was “mad, upset and vex” in the wake of what he described as the “wanton looting” of the building which led to its collapse on Wednesday.
Continue reading ‘Only CoP and God Knows Why’
June 20, 2010 – guardian.co.tt
Investigators may have to extradite former executive chairman of the Urban Development Corporation of T&T (Udecott) John Calder Hart, as he has moved to block criminal charges by severing all ties from this jurisdiction. The shocking new twist comes on the heels of the whopping $3,400,000 million selling price tag on Hart’s sprawling mansion at #No 6 De Lima Road, Second Avenue, Cascade. A deed dated May 20, prepared by attorney Mark Laquis of Pollonais, Blanc, de la Bastide & Jacelon of Pembroke Street, Port-of-Spain was delivered anonymously to the Trinidad Guardian Head Office on Friday evening, in an unmarked envelope.
Continue reading Calder Hart’s Castle for Sale
at the Heights of Guanapo - Inset: Ex-PM Patrick Manning
Sunday, June 13th 2010
REVELATIONS about the controversial cathedral-of-a-church being constructed at Guanapo suggest that ex-prime minister Patrick Manning may have been more involved in the project than he suggested when the issue was first made public. The new People’s Partnership Government has commissioned investigations into the project. Should our worst fears come to pass, though, it would be ironical that religious fervour, seen by many as the road to salvation, would instead turn into the seed of destruction for Mr Manning.
Continue reading Let the chips fall where they may
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Continue reading Which party are you supporting in this election and why?