Tag Archives: Politics

Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Media, UNC

ex-AG Anand Ramlogan charged with two offences

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Sep 01, 2017: Anand’s cases adjourned to next year

Anand goes to court Friday, charged with two offences
Former Attorney General, Anand Ramlogan, was today charged with misbehaviour in public office and obstruction of justice arising from allegations contained in a report made by David West to the Commissioner of Police, on January 28th, 2015.

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After 12-hour interrogation of ex-AG Ramlogan: Cops go to DPP today

By Gail Alexander
August 30, 2017 – guardian.co.tt

Anand RamloganFormer attorney general Anand Ramlogan was under arrest last night awaiting a decision on his fate this morning.

After 12 hours of questioning following his dawn arrest by police yesterday, Ramlogan remained in custody at Police Headquarters, Port-of-Spain. This in connection with the witness-tampering allegations made against him in 2015 by Police Complaints Authority chairman David West —a probe of which now appears to have reached a head.
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corruption, General T&T, PNM, UNC

Burden of corruption

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Br Raffique Shah
August 29, 2017

Raffique ShahIt’s not that we have achieved nothing in 55 years as an independent nation. It’s more that successive governments that have held power during that time have squandered bountiful resources and wasted opportunities that, in the span of half-a-century, could have transformed Trinidad and Tobago into the paradise it had the potential to be. That we are today on the brink of becoming a failed state rather than being a beacon of success is an indictment against every prime minister who held office.
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General T&T, Politics, Tobago, Tourism

Gluttons for political punishment

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By Raffique Shah
August 24, 2017

Raffique ShahAmidst the cacophony that has erupted over the inter-island ferries fiasco, the calls for official enquiries of one kind or other into the leasing of the Ocean Flower II convince me that as a nation, we are gluttons for political punishment.

The Prime Minister, yanking our collective chains with perverse delight, names business magnate Christian Mouttet as sole investigator into circumstances surrounding the Port Authority’s (PATT) decision to lease the Ocean Flower II and the aptly-renamed Cobo Star cargo vessel from a seemingly mysterious company, and to hand in a report to him within 30 days.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics, Tobago

Ferries fiasco symptom of systemic societal problem

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By Raffique Shah
August 15, 2017

Raffique ShahIt is incomprehensible to me how two boards of directors at the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT), two line ministers responsible for the operations of the ferry service between Port of Spain and Scarborough, and a battery of senior public officers in the employ of the PATT and Government, could make such an unholy mess of the sea-bridge, culminating with the acquisition of a defective old tub that failed to even arrive in the country.
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General T&T, Oil and Gas, PNM, Politics, UNC

Remembering Malcolm Jones

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By Raffique Shah
August 10, 2017

Raffique Shah“I’ll share with you a personal secret…I. Don’t. Like. Pone!” said Malcolm Jones, emphasising every word he uttered. I couldn’t believe what he revealed: a Trinidadian who did not like pone, that cassava sweetbread whose taste and texture are sinfully irresistible to natives of this country? We eat pone by the slabs, not slices. “Malcolm,” I responded, “what kind of Trini are you?”
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Finance, General T&T, PNM, Politics, Recession

Keith Rowley’s Glorious Moment

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 31, 2017

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeLast Sunday, Jonathan Fenby, author of The General: Charles de Gaulle, suggested that Emmanuel Macron, President of France, was following closely in the footsteps of Charles de Gaulle, founder of the Fifth Republic, by using his office with the same majesty, grandeur, and decorum that de Gaulle did. He clarified: “Both are (or were) very well read, formally courteous and with an attention to detail. Though not as rousing an orator as the general, Mr. Macron uses speeches, as his predecessor of a half a century ago did, as instruments of pedagogy, notably with his address last weekend on the 75th anniversary of the round-up of Jews in Paris, when he did not hesitate to criticize de Gaulle by name for the pretense that the French authorities were not responsible” (Financial Times, July 22).
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, PNM, UNC

The Four Ks of Our Destruction

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 24, 2017

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeFor the past seven years the two Ks (Kamla and Keith) have ruled the land. On Tuesday they introduced two other “Ks” to the unsavory mix: Kamauflage, another kamikaze-like maneuver designed to hoodwink our people. Basdeo Panday, characterizes their approach as “playing smart with chupidness.” One could also use the French aphorism to describe their carryings-on: plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose: the more things change, the more they remain the same.
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General T&T, Law, PNM, Property Tax

Was the Valuation of Property Scheme Really Voluntary?

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By Stephen Kangal
July 20, 2017

Stephen KangalThe last minute submission/alibi by SC Deborah Peake to the San Fernando High Court presided over by Mr Justice Frank Seepersad on May 19 that the valuation exercise was voluntary was indeed rejected as unconvincing and inadmissible by the Judge who proceeded to grant the injunction requested.
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Flooding, General T&T, PNM, Politics

Using a National Disaster to Polarise the Country

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By Stephen Kangal
July 05, 2017

Stephen KangalBoth during question time as well as during the debate on the definite matter of urgent public importance that the Speaker accorded to the major flooding disaster that occurred in the wake of tropical storm Bret, the Rowley Government on Friday demonstrated the deep divisions and further polarisation that it is fanning and embedding in this country to serve its nefarious electoral agenda.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics

Marlene fired again

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By Gail Alexander
July 02, 2017 – guardian.co.tt

Marlene McDonaldIn what’s probably the shortest-lived Government appointment in recent memory, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday fired Marlene McDonald from his Cabinet (again) after he had re-appointed her to office just three days ago. In fact, McDonald didn’t even have time to move into the Public Utilities Ministry for which she had been announced last Thursday and for which she’d taken the oath of office at President’s House, St Ann’s, last Friday.
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