Taran Rampersad's blog

So the State of Emergency is extended. Effective today, the curfew as announced by the Prime Minister will be from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. We all knew it would happen; the government has a luxury of a strong majority that made the Opposition no more than a lubricant for all of this. In fact, the Opposition was as effective as oiled brakes - a result of their own time as government and it's democratically judged efficacy.

But I'm apolitical. I'm more interested in issues. And in the issues department, the best equivalent of most of the debate was, "my mummy can beat up your mummy". It was a true embarassment to watch. But the grandstanding was in full force, I suppose, with live cameras on the scene and a captive audience of those who want to know what's going on in Trinidad and Tobago.

Let me get to the issues.

There's a few things that I'd love to hear come up when the House of Representatives debates the specific grounds on which the decision to declare a State of Emergency was based, according to Section 1 (9) of the Trinidad and Tobago Constitution. The public was not made aware of the specifics of why, exactly, the State of Emergency was declared other than some vague references to information that cannot be shared in the interests of National Security.

With the State of Emergency, there are questions raised as to what freedom of expression remains - something that Judy Raymond touches on in her Trinidad Express article, 'The real state of emergency...' (emphasis mine):

The form of the regulations that the authorities chose to issue really has a wartime ring: they allow for "censorship and the control and suppression of publications, writings, maps, plans, photographs, communications and means of communication."

Citizens may not possess documents that may "cause disaffection or discontent," nor try to "influence public opinion in a manner likely to be prejudicial to public safety and order."

You can be jailed, it seems, for having not only illegal weapons but illegal opinions.

 

30 Aug 2011, 21:48

The lights are out. I'm writing this on paper with pen to upload later, a flickering candle sputtering its resistance to the breeze. I write in its light, my hand casting a shadow upon the page. Being prepared meant having the candle and the flashlight at the ready - the candle neatly wedged into a Malta Carib bottle on a table outside, the flashlight near at hand, a cup of cool juice at hand. The issue with electricity in parts of Trinidad had caught my attention yesterday.

From a few different angles...

The Government

If there's one thing that is apparent, it's that the government is doing a lot of talking, trying to assure the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago that things are going well. This is a necessity as to do otherwise would make people think things aren't going as well or that the government is using the State of Emergency to its own ends, whatever those might be imagined to be - or whatever they may be. Unfortunately, the government hasn't been as eloquent in its speech and the Prime Minister has been lacking in her own appearance on the television - probably because she doesn't want her person associated with the State of Emergency. Instead, she has handed the reins over to the National Security Minister, John Sandy, Attorney General, Anand Ramlogan,  the Chief of Police, Mr. Dwayne Douglas Gibbs, and Chief of Defence Staff Brigadier Kenrick Maraj have been representing the government in media interviews.

The official NP statement is that there is no few shortage at this time. Source. 

So the lines are apparently simply reactions to the rumors. And, sadly, by the time people read this they will be back from having stayed in line for a while - unless they had their radios on and caught something about it.

One has to wonder about why people start such rumors... but then, the rumor was of a Petrotrin strike, not of a NP fuel shortage...

I was told this morning of a rumor that Petrotrin was going on strike during the State of Emergency. This was emphasized by the lines I recently saw at NP stations throughout the San Fernando area; whether true or not there is a rush to assure stocks of petroleum and diesel.

Is it really a strike? I don't know anything concrete yet.

In other news, here's an interview of Martin Daily that's worthwhile (hat tip to Nicholas Laughlin on Facebook).

It's a Tuesday night in San Fernando, Trinidad - quiet and calm, the second night of the State of Emergency.

It's all over Facebook right now about the 'Limited State of Emergency' that the Prime Minister announced this evening. What is peculiar is that in the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago, there is no mention of 'Limited' - and the reasons for a State of Emergency are supposed to be:

8. (1) Subject to this section, for the purposes of this Chapter, the President may from time to time make a Proclamation declaring that a state of public emergency exists.

Via CheezeCakes Trindad on Facebook: 

URGENT!!! For all parents, Nestle is asking for everyone to return all BANANA BABY FOOD expiring 2012 because it may contain GLASS. Please copy & paste for all babies safety. Bar code 7613033089 73, EVEN if you are not a parent please help forward this post.