Category: government

They Were Investigating? An Honest Man And His Hart?

March 11, 2010 by Taran Rampersad

The revelation in Trinidad and Tobago Newspapers that Calder Hart had was part of a criminal investigation as of September, 2009, casts some question as to whether the man holding the office of Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Patrick Manning, is indeed an honest man as his pastor alleges.

Why would I write that? There's a problem with the data. Both articles referencing the investigation (linked above) say that the Prime Minister was aware of the investigation that started in September of 2009. Yet in Patrick Manning's 45 documented defenses of Calder Hart, he defended Calder Hart after the investigation was underway:

The Inertia of Trinidad and Tobago

March 9, 2010 by Taran Rampersad

The happenings here in Trinidad and Tobago, now with (or without) Hart and with (or without) Property Tax Reform and with (or without) a true change in Opposition, amongst the happenings in my personal life, have me in the frame of mind where I am compelled to write about the elephant - or in T&T, the Manicou - in the middle of the room.

Inertia.

If there is a tone of displeasure here, it is warranted from this writer's perspective. How is it that the face of the country has changed so little for me over the decades? In speaking with one journalist a few weeks ago, my observations were echoed by someone who had more insight into what has been happening over the decades here than I. The faces rarely change, the problems remain the same, and the sliding scale of what is celebrated has slid below mediocrity.

I may sound negative, but isn't it somewhat odd that the country takes the day off when the national football team comes back from the World Cup after being eliminated, having scored only one goal - against themselves? I used to say that was celebrating mediocrity, but it isn't. It's celebrating less than mediocrity. It's a celebration of stagnation; a simple wave of enthusiasm was what was celebrated - a simple hope that something would change. Maybe I am become old and jaded. I am unimpressed with the idiocies tossed around like a dead shuttlecock in Parliament and in the rumshops. I have shaken my head over the years as I have seen more and more money poured into bad ideas - ideas that were so patently bad that even John Q. Mediocrity shook his head with the next nip of puncheon. {Read more}

Privatisation for Control: The Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority

March 2, 2010 by admin

Yesterday, I took some people down to the Siparia District Revenue Office to get part of their form required for water connection filled out. And the office was closed. A sign on the door said that the Siparia District Revenue Office we were at would be closed as of December 31st, 2009 and told people to go visit the Siparia District Revenue Office - without any form of direction. It ends up that the office wasn't closed, but the sign is there to confuse people.

We met others who wanted to get things done at the District Revenue Office. Tired of no answers, I walked to the building behind and talked to the security who - in their infinite wisdom - told people that they should listen to the news since the people employed by the District Revenue Office were 'on strike'. If you want any information in Trinidad and Tobago, talk to the security guards. It seems that they know everything, and for a little power to demean others they will willingly disburse information.

The day was lost. But I did recall hearing something about the strike - thankfully abbreviated from the 'industrial action' used way too often. I came across this video this morning (hat tip to Margaret Rose), and it gives an interesting - and in my opinion, correct - perspective of what Trinidad and Tobago government has been doing as a whole. That it's on the Internet is inspiring, that Om Lalla and P.S.A President Watson Duke hit the issue so well should become viral.

  {Read more}

T&T state houses' warranties shorter than the appliances' within them?

February 4, 2010 by Edmund Gall

9 Years: Unacceptable

October 28, 2009 by Taran Rampersad

When I got an email this morning with the title of 'Unacceptable' from Raul Bermudez, through the main computing email list of Trinidad and Tobago, I wondered what it could be this time. There are plenty of things that I believe should be considered unacceptable in Trinidad and Tobago. Rather than list those, I'll get to the meat of the email.

The content of the email was a simple link to Andy Johnson's article, Standard of living 'generally acceptable'.

I read. It's about information that has just been released from the 2000 census. 2000. A primary school student would be able to surmise that the information is 9 years old, but that isn't Andy's fault. 9 years. And there are many people who I know that claim that no one approached them about the census, so there is a question of how thorough the census actually has been.

But it took them 9 years to release the information. 9 years. Likely, the report has only now been released - and that means for the last 9 years, the government has been doing planning for infrastructure and the future without data to substantiate it. And those plans have been enacted in the form of annual budgets that make as much sense as the lack of hard data behind them.  {Read more}