Emancipation: To be free!
Posted: Monday, July 30, 2001
(Bukka Rennie) Once again the time has come to mark our emancipation from the physical and material shackles of slavery. But how "free" is this "freedom"?
Anglican pastor, Rev Canon Clive Griffith, now Kwame Mohlabani, of the Parish of St Clement, is right when he contends that we are tired burying African people with unfulfilled dreams, writers who did not write, singers whose songs remained unsung and hard workers who never enjoyed the fruits of their grinding labour while others benefited.
The most psychologically devastating aspect of slavery was its delinking of our sense of self from any association with or attachment to ownership, first of all ownership of our own labour power and secondly, ownership of the fruits, or the results, of our labour power. [More]
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Sparrow statue gets new head
Posted: Monday, July 30, 2001
(Terry Joseph) UNDER cover of darkness on Saturday night, the head of the controversial Sparrow statue was removed and replaced by one resembling that of the Calypso King of the World.
This, after statue committee vice-chairman Errol Peru was quoted in another newspaper on Friday as saying there was no plan to alter the statue.
His statement came in response to an article carried exclusively in last Thursday’s edition of the Express, which first told of the plan to refashion the statue’s head.
Since its unveiling on July 22 at the St Ann’s roundabout, the statue caused a public outcry, with most saying it didn’t look like the revered cultural icon.
Speaking to reporters last Tuesday night, Sparrow eventually agreed the statue did not look like him and let on that he had already posed for sculptor Madan Gopaul to create the new head.
Up to yesterday afternoon, workers at the roundabout were still putting finishing touches to the altered statue and the plinth on which it stands. [More]
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The trickle down effects of corruption
Posted: Sunday, July 29, 2001
(Raffique Shah) Economists and politicians who swear by the creed of unbridled capitalism often refer to the "trickle down" effect of capitalist economies. What no one has addressed, though, is the "trickle down" effect of corruption. Ordinary citizens learn that in a society that is riddled with corruption, their survival is dependent on collaborating with the corrupt.
So the $20 (no less than $100 nowadays, I imagine) bill slipped under the counter, or the bulging envelope left on the desk of some senior official, became the norm from the early days of PNM rule.
In my column last week, I highlighted a few major incidents of corruption under the PNM. I don't intend to dwell on the seedier side of PNM rule except to add two dimensions that have filtered down to today's free-for-all under the UNC government. Some time ago when I touched on this topic, John Eckstein, a former PNM minister, took me to task by suggesting that for all the allegations against his party, only John O'Halloran was guilty of corruption in 30 years of PNM rule. Eckstein had to be naive to think that by offering O'Halloran as the sacrificial "black sheep", others who were equally guilty of plundering the treasury would have their souls cleansed. [More]
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In defence of freedom
Posted: Sunday, July 29, 2001
(Selwyn R. Cudjoe) ONE is always amazed by the quaint stupidity that emanates from some elements of our society. The same newspaper that called Eric Williams "a communist" when he entered politics in 1956, praised the police whom they say "exercised a high degree of patience" in contrast to Professor Cudjoe and his supporters who "acted in open defiance of the law' (Trinidad Guardian, July 26).
Continuing its indecent assault on language and the freedom story, the editorial argued "the country is now being put on notice that 'civil disobedience’ is now being advocated as a means of advancing the cause of a political movement." It warns Professor Cudjoe and his supporters "if civil disobedience means disregarding lawful instructions by the police, the public interest requires the firmest disapproval of such a tactic."
And this is precisely the point. Civil disobedience begins with the basic premise that some laws and/or their implementation are unjust and therefore ought to be disregarded or broken openly. [More]
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Chronicle of Corruption
Posted: Sunday, July 29, 2001
Bid to bribe Baldeosingh falls flat
(Express) OUSTED Petrotrin chairman Donald Baldeosingh was offered a US$2.5 million inducement to deliver the SW Soldado contract to FW Oil two weeks before the close of bids.
The inducement was made at a June 16, 2000 meeting at a private suite of rooms at the Sheraton Biscayne Bay Hotel in Miami.
Sources, speaking on condition on anonymity, disclosed that FW Oil’s joint venture partner, L-Con, offered to finance a US$2.5 million aluminum smelter project of Baldeosingh’s private company, Enman Services, in exchange for the lucrative Soldado field.
But Baldeosingh was said to have reacted sharply to the offer, making clear his position that he was there in his private capacity as chief executive officer of Enman and not as Petrotrin’s chairman. [More]
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Emancipation Greetings
Posted: Saturday, July 28, 2001
(Shaka Thomas) On the occasion of the 163rd observance of the verbal end Plantation Chattel Slavery in the British West Indies by the proclamation of the Emancipation Act of Aug 1st 1838. It is an appropriate time to remind all citizens that Emancipation is the one single event that changed the history of this country forever and should be celebrated by all. It legally freed not only the African at the time, but the Amerindian, the Chinese, the Europeans and as a direct result saw the introduction of the East Indian, and the later arrivals including the Syrian and Lebanese communities.
It has given us our present identity, composition and character, for which we as an Independent nation now have the responsibility of fashioning a society like no other, that has been created before. And we believe inspite of whatever negatives, we are well on our way to creating such.
The message for Emancipation then, which is really is a process and not a day as we chart our way forward, is that we should get rid of the things that enslaved/enslaves us, such as greed, pettiness, corruption, laziness, hate, envy, selfishness, apathy, malice and indifference. Today there can be no Emancipation or it would be meaningless, if there is no respect for all creeds and all races as we all seek to find our rightful place in the boundless faith we have in Trinidad and Tobago's destiny which surely is to create a society where liberty co exists with responsibility in an environment of peace, progress and prosperity.
Happy Emancipation to all.
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T&T going down fast
Posted: Saturday, July 28, 2001
(Johnson) THE EDITOR: Due to the events occurring in our beloved country it is now impossible for citizens to remain silent. The average citizen looking at events must be bewildered by the contortions in the various issues facing the country today. Let us examine a few:
The Chamber of Commerce constantly berates NCC, Caroni and other State enterprises for their demands on the national purse while at the same time implores the Minister of Trade and Industry to save the racing industry. The question remains, which contributes more to the economy, horse racing or Carnival?
The Government gave Fifa/Concacaf a contract to build four stadia and refurbish one. Fifa/Concacaf is represented by Jack Warner.
Yet we see Jack Warner on our TV complaining that the stadia are not completed and we face the danger of Fifa shifting the tournament to another country. Will Fifa punish Fifa for this delay?
The Opposition leader accuses the Police Service of being mindless things who will shoot people as soon as they start to demonstrate. Since when?
The Minister of Finance awards a contract to a firm to investigate among other things the illegal award of contracts.
Faced with this the Minister requests the new board of the NWRHA to award the contract to the same firm on a sole selective tender basis. Have the conditions for award of a sole selective tender been met? If as its first official act the board of the NWRHA compromises its integrity what can we expect down the road?
Localisation of banks began almost thirty years ago. The local indigenous bank is now desperately seeking a foreign partner to assist with its development. At the same time two major local banks are gobbling up other banks in the Caribbean.
Will the CEO of this indigenous bank tell us who is the foreign partner directing the expansion strategies of Republic or Royal. Why do we need foreign partner visionary leadership?
The president of T&TFF says it was not "on the field performance" that got our football team 25th place on the Fifa ranking list but "the ability of the T&TFF to market the team". I don’t know if to laugh or to cry. At last France has elected better marketers than Brazil.
Most of the players whose names are being called in corruption scandals are seeking out one firm to do their "spin doctoring". Coincidence or ...?
Maybe your readers have similar concerns. After considering the above scenarios can we conclude that all is well in the Republic?
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Best Village vs Miss Universe
Posted: Friday, July 27, 2001
(Kurt Garcia) It is remarkable how insensitive those in authority in this country can be to the real development of the community and nation building activities that releases and encourages the true fulfillment of our human potential. I am speaking here about the deliberate attempt by some persons to apparently stifle and kill the Best Village program, by misinformation, lack of information and a general disregard for an activity that has contributed so much to so many and to our country. To list the names and achievements of the program. would probably take a book, and the information is well documented and available for those who may have doubts about this and needs no rehashing here.
When this is viewed against the background of approximately 100 million spent on a 1 night Miss Universe contest, a 6 million 5 day World Beat Festival and a 30 milliom 1 night Millennium Concert, it cries out for justice and fairplay for the ordinary grassroot person and communities in this country and the way their monies are being spent. Less than a tenth of that money, could have engaged almost every community in this country, in a productive capacity for several months that would have been to the short and long term benefit of this country.
Imagine how mnay youths would have been absorbed in the program for the holidays, the new skills to be learnt, dance, storytelling, music, theatre, choreography, directing, acting etc. This program gave and gives so much to our community and nation, it is unfortunate that it has no priority status with those in charge, who constantly speak about nation building, while ignoring the most potent instrument for so doing. Best Village which engages our people at the level of the community, may very well turn out to be the proverbial " stone that the builder refused ". I hope someone listen to our cries and pleas.
-- Thanks
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Corrupted eyes can't 'see'
Posted: Thursday, July 26, 2001
(Heather Moore) A quote taken from Sparrow in TerryJ article dated 26/07/01:
"The man never saw me and was given only a one-dimensional view to work with,"
This is the most correct statment Sparrow has made he probably does not know how true.
This sculptor had no history of sparrow no true understanding of our culture and they give him the mandate to capture the spirit of this ledgend.
Come on Clico apparently you only wanted to pass some money and get some cheap PR, but if failed it just showed the public that you all, still have no respecty for the history and culture of the Island.
Apparently you all at Clico never 'saw' Sparrow either and were only seeing in one dimension. "CORRUPTION". [Terry-J's Forum]
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Sparrow Breaks Silence
Posted: Thursday, July 26, 2001
The real Sparrow
Photo: Robert Taylor
(Terry Joseph) CALYPSO King of the World, The Mighty Sparrow, has eventually endorsed a popular view that the statue in his honour, unveiled last Sunday at the St Ann's roundabout, does not look like him.
Speaking to reporters outside the Mas Camp Pub, shortly before he took the stage for Tuesday night's hour-long concert, Sparrow said: “It doesn't look like me. I know it does not look like me, but you also have to pay attention to some other issues. The wider picture. [More]
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Madan Dracula
Posted: Wednesday, July 25, 2001
Statue of Sparrow
Photo: Robert Taylor
(Terry Joseph) Lyrics penned since 1975 by The Mighty Sparrow sprang suddenly to mind on Sunday, shortly after a statue purporting to be a likeness of The Calypso King of the World was unveiled at the St Ann's Roundabout.
Normally an event of joyous celebration, this one took quite the opposite turn, when even invited guests gawked in astonishment at the image presented. Sparrow, in the quintessential diplomatic arabesque, said he didn't have his spectacles so couldn't comment.
And Sparrow knows of these things. In fact, in his 1975 calypso "The Statue", he reported a conversation with one such figure, the chorus line of which went: "Ah coming down, ah coming down." If his sculpture could sing, its debut performance would undoubtedly include that hookline, given the barrage of criticism levelled at both the work and its creator, Madan Gopaul.
Sparrow himself must have spent part of the past two days musing on another of his old choruses: [More]
Comment here
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After 300 years - Carnival fallout
Posted: Monday, July 23, 2001
(Bukka Rennie) Carnival, the art of mimicry, extempore, vaps and spontaneity, after some 300 years is such a major basis of our national psyche that unless and until we learn to harness and manage Carnival we may just never be capable of socially transforming this civilisation of Trinidad and Tobago.
The day we prove successful in harnessing Carnival is the very day that a new Trinidadian and Tobagonian man and woman shall appear. Believe me.
It is all about comprehending process; understanding how project management moves from planning to implementation and to maintenance and the processes involved in the inter-linking of these stages. Our national malaise is precisely the failure to interlink these stages in our way of seeing and doing. [More]
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John: I did not lie about AATT payment
Posted: Monday, July 23, 2001
(The Express) Transport, Tourism and Tobago Affairs Minister Jearlean John said she did not lie to the Parliament when she told the House on Friday that the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (AATT) had no record of any $10 million payment to a Florida-based paper company for work on the new airport.
"The information came from the Airports Authority. The information was supplied by the Finance Manager, Mr Josie Mahabir. What do I have to lie for? I did not lie to Parliament. I am not in the habit of lying much, moreso to Parliament."
She said she has a duty to answer all questions placed to her as completely and truthfully, based on information supplied to her.
According to documented information provided by Dr Keith Rowley to the media on Friday under the heading "Birk Hillman Consultants Inc," the $10 million payment was made to a company called Overseas Communications Investment Company sometime around June 29, 1998. [More]
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$17.5m missing NWRHA to investigate
Posted: Monday, July 23, 2001
(The Express) A $17.5 million loan to the beleaguered North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) which cannot be accounted for is now the focus of the authority's new board of directors.
The money was part of a $26 million loan deposited in a bank account of the NWRHA in June last year.
But no one in authority seems to know what has happened to it.
Today, a committee of the board of directors is due to meet and is expected to debate what happened to the money. NWRHA chairman Robin Maraj told the Express yesterday: "The NWRHA Financial Committee will be meeting and may have a look at it." [More]
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Corruption Perception
Posted: Sunday, July 22, 2001
(Winford James) Whether or not the UNC government is a financially corrupt one is undoubtedly an important legal, moral, and political question, but a far more important question is, If they are financially corrupt, what do we as a people do about it?
But first of all, we have to know that they are corrupt. But how do we get to know? We've got to start off with some sense of what corruption is, and few of us, perhaps only the amoral, would dispute the definition that corruption is action contrary to law, convention, and reasonable expectation that is calculated to benefit the perpetrator and his empire exclusively. Put more simply, corruption is abuse of one's position to enrich oneself at the expense of others. In reference to a government such as the UNC, it is UNC ministers, UNC chairmen and directors of state boards, UNC CEOs and managers of state agencies and companies, etc., stealing from the state, the taxpayer, and firms and persons seeking state contracts in order to illegally, immorally, and unreasonably enrich themselves. [More]
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The new beau
Posted: Sunday, July 22, 2001
(Selwyn R. Cudjoe) Part of the problem of discussing issues of legitimate public interest with illiberal minds and persons of intellectual density is that substantive issues go begging while peripheral issues become cause célèbre. Bhoe Tewarie is selected to become the principal of the University of the West Indies (St Augustine), the premier academic institution of the area. I raised issues related intimately to the man’s scholarship and fitness to run the university and is subjected to abuse and dotishness unbecoming of serious people. [More]
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A Culture Of Corruption
Posted: Sunday, July 22, 2001
(Raffique Shah) I often wonder why so many people seem to be surprised at the widespread allegations of corruption that have dogged the UNC Government, almost from the moment it first took office in 1995.
It's as though it's our first encounter with graft, kickbacks, with demands being made of big foreign corporations seeking to do business here. Okay, I concede that over the past few weeks we have been swamped with allegations of impropriety and by the suspension from office of senior officials at several institutions. Media exposure and coverage of the incidents might lead many to conclude that we are trapped in a bottomless pit of filth from which none will emerge untainted. [More]
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A Chronicle Of Corruption
Posted: Sunday, July 22, 2001
(The Express) Panday blocks Ramesh: Refuses to give AG Petrotrin report
Part III of an investigation by CAMINI MARAJH
PRIME Minister Basdeo Panday has taken a tough stance on the rights and protection of ministerial turf, slapping down a formal request of his Attorney General for a copy of a confidential forensic report detailing widespread corruption at State-owned Petrotrin.
Panday was said to have rebuked his Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting for an attempted incursion into the murky affairs of the state oil and gas company. Panday denied outright a formal request by Maharaj for a copy of the Integrated Security Systems (ISS) report, government sources disclosed. He also shot down a Maharaj suggestion for the establishment of a new parliamentary committee to investigate corruption, to be headed by an independent senator, said sources. [More]
Stars of the soldado saga
Probe finds massive fraud in Petrotrin oilfield contract
US oil firm pulled out after third bribe demand
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Dr Doolittle Too
Posted: Wednesday, July 18, 2001
(Terry Joseph) TODAY'S nationwide premiere of Eddie Murphy's new movie, Dr Dolittle 2, might just leave cinema owners disappointed, given last week's release of a local version, starring dog-lover Hikmet Ahamad and San Fernando Mayor Gerard Ferreira. [More]
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Jamaica: Little Known Secret About Edward Seaga (JLP)
Posted: Monday, July 16, 2001
(Corey Gilkes) Edward Seaga has had a long standing relationship with the U.S.A. government........
As early as 1979, Edward Seaga in conjunction with the United States government proposed the need for a Puerto Rico style relationship (and a mini-Marshall Plan) for the entire Caribbean and the USA. Thus the United States instituted the Caribbean Basin Initiative.
The Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) was signed into law by the United States government in August 1983, and came into force January 1984. The CBI is a political model (based on the Puerto Rican model) and is comprised of economic arrangements between the USA and certain Caribbean and Central American counties. Seaga and others promoted the Caribbean Basin Initiative as a trade agreement that would stimulate business in the Caribbean, open up competitive sources for U.S.A. importers, provide beneficiaries with greater security for duty-free access to the United States. [More]
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Carnival confusion in Miami
Posted: Monday, July 16, 2001
(Terry Joseph) After five years of unity, Miami Carnival is in the throes of another acrimonious standoff between bandleaders and the body that brought them together to stage the united version.
Word reaching the press is that, once again, two Carnivals will now take place on the Columbus Day weekend in Miami, with one parade having its climax at Bicentennial Park and the other at the Opa-locka airport grounds.
In the circumstances, the United Miami Carnival Management Committee (UMCMC) is no more, replaced now by Miami Carnival Inc (MCI), which is the version staying at the Opa-locka site. [More]
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US oil firm pulled out after third bribe demand
Posted: Monday, July 16, 2001
Part II of an investigative report by CAMINI MARAJH
HARD on the heels of revelations of US hundred thousand dollar kickbacks on State-issued contracts comes confirmation from a high ranking Petrotrin official that the pullout of a large offshore contractor from the State-owned oil company was related to demands for additional bribe money. [More]
Part I Probe finds massive fraud in Petrotrin oilfield contract
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So What if the UNC Corrupt?
Posted: Sunday, July 15, 2001
(Winford James) A colleague of mine, a committed member of the UNC, said to me with all the aplomb in the world that despite the charges of corruption being levelled against agents of the UNC government there was no proof of corruption. What proof did he want beyond what had been unearthed in, say, the operations of the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) and Petrotrin? With a stumble in his voice, he couldn't say. If proof couldn't be found, was there therefore no corruption. No, he unhesitatingly said, but there was a need for proof, if the charges were to have any meaningfulness. I got the distinct sense that you could be corrupt once you were good enough to hide the proof. [More]
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Speaking with Forked Tongues
Posted: Sunday, July 15, 2001
(Raffique Shah) FOR generations that grew up on an entertainment diet of old "Western" movies, the "Indian" saying, "White man speaks with forked tongue" had a special meaning. It denoted the deceit of White settlers who often lied to the indigenous people as they tricked them out of their valuable lands and ultimately decimated them as a people. Centuries later, we have seen and heard enough from our own, politicians in particular, to rephrase the saying, "Black man, too, speaks with forked tongue".
Last week the Express broke the news story that a Cabinet-appointed committee (Working Group for the Restructuring of Caroni Limited) had recommended to government that the sugar industry be shut down by October of this year. The story spoke of a draft report to Cabinet, dated May 25, which stated in bold terms in its first few paragraphs: "An objective analysis of both the internal and external environment confirms (sic) that the local sugar industry cannot become financially viable.....a total shutdown of the industry is inevitable." [More]
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Public Policy versus Human Needs
Posted: Thursday, July 12, 2001
(Dr Kwame Nantambu) Political theory suggests that one of the main functions of any government is to protect and maximise the interests of its citizens. In the pursuit of public policy, a government has to determine to what extent economic development, albeit industrialisation, can be achieved at the expense and/or neglect of basic human needs.
In other words, economic success does not necessarily mean that the citizens are better off in the receipt of their basic human needs; in some instances, the citizens are worse off as a result of economic success. TnT is such a case study.
The welfare of the majority of TnT citizens seems to receive second or third class priority, while the first priority of the political powers that be is to achieve first world economic status for TnT. [More]
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Food for thought
Posted: Wednesday, July 11, 2001
(Terry Joseph) Twice during this past fortnight, rather unpleasant stories surfaced regarding the quality of food being served at two of this country’s leading hotels.
The morning after a high school graduation dinner held at the Hilton on June 29, guests reported in soft warm terms, details of severe digestive discomfort linked to the previous night's fare.
Some 50 guests at the St Joseph's Convent graduation dinner were affected by food poisoning. One man said his wife was forced to wear disposable diapers overnight and several persons were hospitalised. Hopefully, the yearbook pictures were taken before dinner, or some grimacing might show up in the photo. [More]
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Lessons from Chaguaramas
Posted: Monday, July 9, 2001
(Bukka Rennie) Every avenue for people's expression must be encouraged and enhanced. Everyone should be heard. Full stop. That is the cornerstone of modern human existence. So there is nothing to condemn about Radio talk-shows except to say that some of what is expressed turns out to be uninformed opinion.
Like the woman who recently informed the listeners of 102 FM that Mr Keith Rowley's attempts to mobilise his constituents to march, protesting his indefinite suspension from Parliament and to force Mr Patrick Manning's recognition and acceptance of such tactics, were akin to CLR James' attempts to force Dr Eric Williams to march on Chaguaramas "for confrontation", she says, and to demand from the Americans the return of that piece of real estate to T&T. [More]
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Bhoe: The Blessed One
Posted: Sunday, July 8, 2001
(Selwyn R. Cudjoe) HISTORY may cite the beginning of T&T's modernity as the day ANR Robinson gave Basdeo Panday the two seats he needed to take over the country. Anyone who observes the carryings-on of the UNC realises that during its tenure, every last shred of morality, decency and integrity has vanished from the land. Yesterday, another member of that organisational cadre was expected to be inserted into the heart of a social institution that is supposed to instil values of morality, decency and integrity; encourage the quest for truth; and promote freedom of enquiry. As in everything else, the lives of students and faculty, to paraphrase Thorstein Veblen, will be reduced to its economic necessity, bereft of anything else that marks them as moral or ethical beings. In this new dispensation, amorality will be the sine-qua-non of existence. Everything will have a price; nothing will have a value.
Bhoe Tewarie is in line for the position of Principal of UWI (St Augustine). If this happens, integrity will reign, meritocracy will prevail and the university will achieve new heights of excellence. With an assurance undergirded by conviction, I will tell my niece who will enroll at UWI in September, “Study hard darling. Your academic brilliance will get you through. Just emulate the life and career of your principal and everything will be fine. He represents the acme of academic excellence, the epitome of social commitment, and the touchstone of disinterested scholarship.”
I wish I could tell her those reassuring things. If I did, I would be lying. Dr Tewarie is the antithesis of all those ideals; the worst thing that could happen to our university. He is an academic pretender bedecked in scholarly armour. http://www.trinicenter.com/Cudjoe/
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No East Indians in national football team
Posted: Sunday, July 8, 2001
(Raffique Shah) The question that should be asked of Singh is this: How many Indians are there on the Indian national football team? I am sure they play football (soccer) in India, but how do you explain a country with more than 1 billion people not having a football team capable of reaching the "second round", far less the finals? Contrast that with tiny nearby enclaves like Quatar, Dubai and so on, that are doing fairly well.
Singh fails to come to terms with the cultural realities of Indians that propel more of them towards cricket (#1), badminton, hockey, and a few more sports. In time, India could be a football force to reckon with: in fact, given its size, it ought to be. In Trinidad, there were the like of the Sadaphal brothers and aother duo whose name I do not now recall. In central Trinidad, a fair number of Indians played in my day, and even currently many more play for club teams. My nephew played for Pres Chaguanas a few years ago.
One cannot, however, integrate the national team by "vaps", or by edict. Like the army (which I wrote extensively about), it must be left to the individuals to be attracted to the game and to aspire to play at the highest level. So this Singh fella is really way off the mark. Or maybe he's on his own mark--spelt "apan jhat"
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PNM, UNC, Self-Destructing?
Posted: Sunday, July 8, 2001
(Raffique Shah) It's the acme of irony, this predicament of the UNC finding itself incapable of functioning in government except by replicating the PNM at its worst, and the PNM, unaccustomed to being in opposition, doing more harm to itself than to the ruling party. Many analysts see this as the beginning of the end of both parties. And those who are convinced that there is still room for a "third force", are gearing themselves to fill the vacuum they are sure will arise out of the current imbroglio.
It was not accidental that the NAR recently bought a new building to house its headquarters, boasting that "not even the UNC has its own building". Political leader of the once-powerful party, Anthony Smart, obviously sees a window of opportunity in the confusion that threatens to destabilise-if not destroy-both the UNC and the PNM. Smart must feel encouraged by the increasing number of people who turn up at the party's functions and meetings. But transforming double-digit membership into the six-digit support-base that is a pre-requisite to gaining power, More
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Probe finds massive fraud in Petrotrin oilfield contract
Posted: Sunday, July 8, 2001
Accusations of bid-rigging, collusion, personal greed, boardroom duelling and US hundred-thousand-dollar kickbacks paid into secret offshore bank accounts have temporarily scuttled Trinmar’s bid to reactivate the South-West Soldado Block 25 project.
The contract, which was awarded in September under a sea of controversy to FW Oil Inc, a Houston- based exploration outfit headed by oil magnate Frank Wade, was scrapped in March in the midst of a corruption probe and put out to re-tender on June 10.
But Petrotrin’s bid to wipe the slate clean and re-tender the job, said to be worth about US$200 million, ran into difficulty one week after notices were published in the local press. The re-tender was stopped by the Attorney General’s Office. [More]
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Red and other Coloured Herrings
Posted: Wednesday, July 4, 2001
(Gilbert Browne) The Indian revisionists seem to be hard at it. I grew up in an area of east Trinidad that was approx 70% Indian. Football at the lowest level attracted less than 10% Indians even though interaction at school & other levels was relatively high. Talking about youngsters forming a club and putting up their pocket change to keep it going.
Throughout my years in the game and progressing to 1st div play, fewer still came through to that level. Most Indians in the village never stayed with the game into adulthood. Indians and other ethnics like Chinese & Syrians, chose to stay out of football rather than being systematically kept out as an apartheid system would do. Even now scores of youngsters can be found at the UWI back grounds 'taking a sweat' and many are Indians. But 'taking a sweat' is not football at the highest level and few are prepared to undertake the training and sacrifice needed to make it to the highest levels.
Going from the East to play in POS meant that those who felt they were better hardly ever passed the ball to me in the beginning. Initially I had to scavenge and tackle for most of the balls I got until my teammates developed confidence in my ability.
But the wailings of DH Singh has been the modus operandi of Indians in this society for decades. It worked beautifully up to 1995. Just shout 'alienation' and 'victimisation' and those in charge would do anything to pacify the group. This was partially exposed in the late 1980's when the Indian exodus to Canada was mounted amid claims for refugee status. Most other citizens of T&T knew the claims were false and an official Canadian investigation actually found evidence to the contrary. Still manages to extract millions from T&T citizens annually since a visa system at approx TT$500 was introduced to control the hitherto open entry policy.
Strange that in a sport with apartheid, Secondary School football administration and overall refereeing and its administration is dominated by Indian officials and participants. Not surprising that people like the referee Ramesh Ramdhan who officiated in the last World Cup - a first for a T&T national - remain silent in the face of this false position.
Hotep warned some months ago that this claim re football was going to be made.
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