Bertrand Bhikarry's blog
It's a strange time for me. Over the years I have gotten so accustomed to bashing the government, it's almost what I do now for fulltime for entertainment - in the perverse sense of the word. Now with The Change and all, I do not know what to do with myself.
I cannot beat up this government, not much and certainly not so soon in their term. Maybe I might not even do that when they slip up, as one is wont to allow with a child - One's own child. And make no bones about it, the Partnership is my product. As much as any who voted for them has a right to say.
So what can I do? However I feel my sensitivities veering now to the Opposition, as least as it pertains to thing to write about. I can complain about many things and feel the Opposition is my friend in need. It was such a situation just earlier this year. Maybe the writer in me is just a complainer. Maybe the government to me is a natural enemy. Go figure.
So I'm looking around for complaints that I can lay the blame somewhere squarely, but increasingly I am coming to see the truth - as its told elsewhere. 'I have seen the enemy, and it is within me'.
Peer pressure. It's something that recognized as important by almost every generation, but it has not been examined for its potential as a key tool for the environmental lobby of Trinidad and Tobago. Here's an example of how it works.
Some time ago in Great Britain, the thrust to conserve energy, to 'go green' by lessening the individual carbon footprint was taken up by the computer industry. UK based research had shown that a office computer left running overnight cost the owners an additional forty pounds every twelve months. The unused machine was also contributing to a chain of events that led to the unnecessary generation of more than half a metric tonne of carbon dioxide. Effectively, even in their absence, the office worker's bad habit were adding to the problem of global warming.
Providing the computer users with the logical arguments of downsizing their carbon footprint had no impact on many staffers, some of whom cited longer working hours, memory fatigue and even technical reasons for leaving machines on overnight. Having night watchmen turn off the desktops made no significant impacts on the practice either.
The ultimate solution was found when someone had a bright idea to tie a green helium-filled balloon to each computer that was left running after working hours. The visual effect of the floating green spheres marking the recalcitrant PC operators as big carbon footprint offenders was enough to curb the bad habit, almost on the day in most cases. Repeat offenders were in the minority, as follow-up checks indicated.
{Read more}
These are changed times for Tobago, according to the man in the street. The recent boom in construction brought new faces to the island, among them an expatriate oriental community, and a fair amount of 'Trinis' across from the sister isle. There's even been a few new residents from as far away as the Indian continent itself. As it happens, not everyone who comes to stay, looks the same way as those who comprise the key population. To repeat, it's all part of the times in which we live.
The influx of the different racial elements here has not been benign as perfectionists and optimists would hope. 'Incidents' occur, although there has not been a scourge of open conflict. In the undercurrent of what passes for population dynamics, kindred spirits will, and do polarize, in spite of the calls for integration by all noteworthy religions and philosophies. In the midst of this the Tobago Indo Multicultural Association (TIMA) now lifts its head, no doubt hoping to fast-track integration between the major racial parties involved.
It's a delicate walk ahead for such a group in this small island, akin to the proverbial stroll in a minefield. In spite of its political bond, the population of the twin islands are not exactly in sync in every way. Therefore parochialism can be a problem here in Tobago, as it is in almost every small community worldwide.
The various races now living in Trinidad has long since crossed this bridge. For them there were advantageous mechanisms like the Carnival or the structured nature of diverse workplaces. Such forced opportunity does not exist in Tobago, as in reality the National Festival has stabilized into a Port-of Spain based event, and the limited state jobs here are already filled by Tobagonians. As such the groups may never converge in the workplace, nor the fete. {Read more}
I found a readable book recently. However the following words are largely taken from a review by someone else.
"..this newest book by Godin (Seth Godin: Tribes) argues that lasting and substantive change can be best effected by a tribe: a group of people connected to each other, to a leader and to an idea. Smart innovators find or assemble a movement of similarly minded individuals and get the tribe excited by a new product, service or message, often via the Internet
"Tribes," Godin says, "can be within or outside a corporation, and almost everyone can be a leader; most are kept from realizing their potential by fear of criticism and fear of being wrong. He continues "We can be leaders if we want, tribes are the way of the future and change is good."
On that last note, the advice found in this book should be used with caution. "Change isn't made by asking permission," Godin says. "Change is made by asking forgiveness, later after the fact." That may be true, but in this economy and in certain situations, it may also be a good way to lose a job. "
I wonder which politician we will see coming up with the forgiveness ploy?
Management is undoubtedly one of the top occupational niches of the 21st century, but isn't managing a swamp taking it a bit too far? A managers task is defined as the
'organisation and coordination of activities in accordance with certain policies, and which achieves stated objectives'; but since a wetland is not dimensionally bound, it calls for unique management styles not readily templated.
At right: A villager makes his crab traps using bamboo culms.
Wetlands, or swamps, or marshes; the nomenclature is interchangeable but generally it is understood to be areas which remain submerged, can be partially submerged at times, or is in close proximity to rivers or lakes. What has never been questioned by those who derive a way of life from the resource, is that it is beneficial, of very great importance.
Of course there are the people who do not interact with low level, muddy and pest filled areas, yet value them as primary assets . These groups can harbour interests detrimental to the welfare of the wetlands. At times for example, they require the land space, or even the waterways, as the first stage in a developmental thrust, and would justify the potential for damage as 'foward thinking', and as adding economic benefit to the wider population.
{Read more}
It makes good sense of course. Give the vote to the person who is best placed to make things happen for you and your community, and by extension the country's needs will be served. Not that it was ever that simple in Trinidad and Tobago.
I think of my wife as I say that, I think of her at the racetrack putting her money on a certain horse. She knows her nags, more than the average person I should think, yet she never ever bets on an equine athlete she didn't actually 'like'. She'd find a little something, somewhere in her sensibilities to justify putting out on her favourite.
I think the snap elections we just got wind of are going to be decided by something as elemental as one woman's prerogative at the betting cage. Basic instincts rule people, even to the extent of risking their moolah. It will be more so when voters seek to place a fingerprint on the ballot slip when comes The Day.
There are many arguments otherwise. Statisticians will state PNM has already won by placing voters within boundaries. Social scientists think the larger part of the population has irrevocably embraced a malaise which delivers an easy, if unsustainable lifestyle.
But what of the swing vote? The 'undecideds'? Can they upset the PNM plans to sweep the field? People who know of things like crowd mentality and psychology of the masses, opine that spin artists and others who work the election processes can only effectively impact on the consciousness of the swing vote only in the backstretch, the long haul.
Such folk think the wily Mr. Manning has removed the lengthy campaign period associated with most general elections and in doing so also took away the period needed to cajole the swing and the undecided voters.
{Read more}
I'm not a big believer in things Bible, but I must say I collect them. Among my favourites is a huge old leather-bound one delivered to me by a good friend. He used read from it to the then bedridden owner - a septuagenarian now sadly passed on.
I hold it dear for various reasons; at times to check up on biblically derived outbursts from the good old George Umbala Joseph, and also to pray for others who may be in places of power and Party. I also fully intend to use it for bringing comeuppance against any who write mean comments at the end of this post.
At first it was my fascination with the book of Solomon, but then the parables drew me in as I lost the testosterone and garnered the brain cells back, in a manner of speaking.
The parable which holds my attention now, on this Holy Weekend are the ones about the wolves in sheep's clothing, and the leading of the lambs to the slaughter. Eh? Well it had to do with Environment Tobago taking the good Dr. Keith Rowley, a PNM stalwart, to task for an infringement of the EMA's CEC process for his urgency in leaping a few fences to get his sheep farm going in Moriah, Tobago. {Read more}
It was just a few years ago. In 2007 Environment Tobago (ET) was mobilising towards active participation with the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) in a vaunted co-management deal for the Kilgywn marsh. It would have been a big deal for everyone. Co-management was very much in the news at the time, and the NGO would have been on the cutting edge of environmental stewardship, as far as RAMSAR guidelines went.
So it got lost in the shuffle if the signs are anything to go by. In spite of having the Memorandum of Understanding in their hands since then, the legal department of the Tobago House of Assembly has been very busy with other things, unfortunately for Kilgywn and ET.
Never in stasis, this resilient little group has come to terms with the realisation that a partnership is not what the THA wants. The signs are obvious. The Forestry Division of the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment (DNRE) has been making overtures for the construction of 'recreational facilities' at the Kilgywn coast, and it's very much an in-house affair.
In what's now the typical approach, there has been no long-term planning, no community input, nor has it taken into account the varied nuances, the other factors which can impact the future user; like crime in the area. That the THA can disregard all the recommendations of the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) for the best use of the area justifies the old saw; "To the man with a hammer all problems are nails." {Read more}
".. I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages,.."
As with all bad news, so too with adverse natural events - it never just rains, it pours!
In an earlier post about drought, various terms given to the different types of the phenomenon were discussed briefly. There was talk of meteorological drought, agricultural drought, and a paragraph on a third aspect; hydrological drought. There's yet one more stage to consider; Socioeconomic drought, a close relative to the fourth horseman of the apocalypse. {Read more}
People see the fire on the hills, and if they would pay attention to the silent voice of conscience they'd feel the chill. A lot is happening each time a bushfire begins somewhere in Trinidad and Tobago, and it all leads to the dread spectre we hear of in other places - drought.
Drought is not a thing we know of down here, although we may have heard of it, or we may have seen its effects from a vantage point at the front of our televisions. The thing is, drought for us need not become the threat of our lifetime, heaven knows we have enough other things to worry about.
But what is drought really? We usually only see the images of dry desert in the equatorial regions. One easy definition of an arid area; 'a place which contributes nothing to the waters of the ocean system' puts Trinidad and Tobago 'in the cool' speaking figuratively.
Science tells of three types of drought; Meteorological, Agricultural and Hydrological. These are dry terms for what is essentially the bane of civilizations. While it is accepted that drought is a normal phenomenon, part of natural climate variability, understanding the process can help us stave off its negative effects to some extent.
A insidious aspect of the process of drought is the length of time it takes to show its face. When it's finally recognised, usually it's too late for the community where it occurred. At first the symptoms will just be a little less rain, for shorter periods, and in lessening amounts. {Read more}
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