Big Fish, Small Fish....

We are dealing with so many things in the national conversation simultaneously that it is getting harder and harder to decide what to write. Take this week for example, we are dealing with (all at one time) the urgent need for Dangerous Dog legislation to save lives, the legitimacy of this State of Emergency, the uncharacteristically yet very noticeably silent PNM (despite all hot spots being PNM constituencies), among others still vying for expression space, but the one topic that seems to be holding the most traction since the start of this exercise has been the issue of big fish small fish where raids and arrests are concerned.

Divided almost clearly along political and racial lines, there are many who see this State of Emergency as targeting black ghetto youth almost exclusively while ignoring the Big Fishes in society. To hear them speak the lack of raids in affluent and upscale communities beg many questions, and in these instants and for the purposes of this war on crime state of emergency, i want to ask, who or what constitutes a big fish?

This is the same country where eight hundred million dollars worth of cocaine was seized in a raid on Monos Island not that long ago which resulted in the successful prosecution and jailing of a handful of gardeners and fishermen. This is also the country where four billion dollars worth of the drug began its journey to the UK before it was intercepted by international forces, yet to my mind no one has been held accountable for that crime. There was also the comical 'finding' of a multi million dollar quantity of marijuana at an upscale automobile dealership recently, and like the 'discovery' of the twenty one million dollar drug haul at Piarco last month, only minnows and laborers have so far been made to account.

To my mind and correct me if I'm wrong, the closest this country has come to being able to put a face and a name to illegal drugs and firearms was when the police, in the process of searching the premises for documents for a fraud case against him, found an alarming stash of high powered automatic weapons and exotic drugs as well as complex sex toys at the home of contractor Hafeez Karamath now deceased. That case is said to be before the court, but to cynics in this country that means that it is going nowhere.

To clear up some of this confusion where fish size is concerned, let us put the conversation out there for everyone to weigh in on and hopefully guide the government in their pursuit of a crime free T&T:

For example, corrupt Businessmen whose wealth are overwhelmingly disproportional to their capacity to earn, are they fish? If yes, what size, or should it depend on the size of their fortune?

Corrupt (rogue) police officers and soldiers, are they fish? And if so, big fish or small fish?

Abu Bakr and the members of the Jamaat, long suspected of being involved in the drug trade as muscle and intermediaries, are they fish also?

Can government officials on the take, corrupt Judges, Magistrates and lawyers be classified as fish? I would think based on their ability to frustrate the intention of justice they could be medium sized if not large fish, but i am willing to be guided if I am mistaken.

While it is becoming clear that from a criminal justice point of view there are many different sizes of fish to pursue, if each of these categories have their own 'big fish,' I (like many, many others) would like to ask, why not start from the top of the criminal tree?

Why not go after the big daddies in the drug trade (which seems to be the source of most of our criminal enterprise and its associated violent response), those capable of financing, planning and executing multi million dollar deals while mopping up the soldiers, the hitters and the cleaners simultaneously?

Shouldn't a well reasoned, well planned anti crime operation that was launched with such draconian measures as a State of Emergency target the entire underworld and not just one class of fish?

In my opinion any action against crime is good action and i need to say this clearly, but if you do not cut down the evil tree from its root, what is the point of disposing of the low hanging fruit? 

Trinidad is a small country, and while we may not have evidence to prove who is doing what, everybody seems to know who is doing what and we know that the government knows also. If they (the government) are unable to pass and enforce legislation that prevents the movement of drugs through this country, and if they cannot prevent the illegal enrichment through the proceeds of the narco-enterprise (money laundering etc), then what is the point of the pretense?  

Regardless of size or class the government should be encouraged to target ALL fish in the criminal ocean, or what we would have had here at the end of however long this exercise takes is nothing more than a hastily planned, poorly orchestrated PR stunt that did nothing of any real and lasting value for the country and would have just distressed an entire population of people for no good reason.

Political Suicide.... (on the State of Emergency)

As if intent on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, in one act Kamla Persad Bissessar has turned an entire nation against her and her government and has raised the stocks of people who are no longer even in the political arena. Now all of a sudden men like Roget and Panday are feeling the loving embrace of new friends as people warm up to the concept of them, or as the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. What could have prompted this exercise in stupidity?

Someone said to me the funny thing is if they had set out to fail then they succeeded and I have to agree. Was this the results of a good idea gone bad?

Even men like the venerable Ken Gordon and stalwarts like Martin Daly, former supporters of this same type of draconian measures are twisting and turning to find ways to justify or even understand what exactly it is the government is trying to do. The business community is counting its losses in the millions of dollars, and the small man as usual is being hit the hardest. All businesses that exist for a 'night' trade usually employ hourly paid workers who are not getting paid now because there is no work. To compound the matter the government has chosen to do this right before the expensive school books and supplies semester, making this a double whammy for the hardest hit. Had they thought this through I am sure that common sense would have prevailed but was anyone thinking?

One of the biggest casualties of this fiasco is that the strongest weapon that a government has in its arsenal to bring order back to a disrupted society has been diluted and neutered by this missue. Akin to burning down your house to rid it of roaches, using a state of emergency to control crime is as clear an admission of failure as anything could possibly be. Despite nights of torching and looting London never declared a State of Emergency nor did they institute a curfew. They put more officers on the ground with instructions to enforce the law so I have to ask, why couldn't that have worked here?

I have been saying since May 24th that whoever is advising this Prime Minister is working dilligently against her and has as their designs the making of her into a fool. If I were to advise her now it would be to call off this state of emergency immediately and call whatever wins you have a victory. Put laws in place to follow on from here in a strong and positive manner. Invite the US to man our coasts, borders, ports and airways as our drug trafficking problem is a symptom of their drug consumption problem so it ought to be their responsibility on their dime. As we seem to clearly know the hot spots we should build police precincts and spread mobile police posts throughout them, especially at all entrances and exits to make shutting down one zone that much easier. Build the gun court and announce zero tolerance on illegal guns. Launch it with the proposed forty eight hour amnesty so who get 'ketch' after look for what they get.

Madame Prime Minister I do not know what it would take to salvage your reputation, your legacy and your government now, but ending this charade would be a massive step in the right direction. Fire your entire canbinet and start from scratch. There are good people in the society who are willing to serve their country, men and women of strong reputation and moral fiber, surround yourself with these. Make the eradication of poverty and crime your watch words, your focus and your mantra, and take steps to put things in place to show that you mean it. Create the proposed Second Chance Foundation to convert petty criminals into contributing members of society, and start to dismantle the walls of racial tension that have been building since May last year. 

There is no time like the present to begin the work of undoing this serious cock up that your Cabinet and advisors are responsible for, and the faster you fire them all and start over the better.

And in This Corner.... (Kalipersad v Ramlogan)

In the now famous interview heard around the world (well maybe around the country), interviewer Dominic Kalipersad and Attorney General Anand Ramlogan went toe to toe in a match worthy of star billing similar to the 'rumble in the jungle' and one that i fully expected to end in a scuffle with fists flying, torn jackets and spitting for good measure.

For his part Dominic opened the interview sounding like a jilted lover confronting her abuser more than anything else and held that demeanor for most of the proceedings. Ramlogan, who always appears uncomfortable in grown up clothes, did his best to hold onto what ever little composure he brought with him despite the onslaught unleashed from the word go. The entire exchange had all the makings of a schoolyard match up and with neither prepared to flinch, as they say in dance circles, this one was on. 

From the first word Dominic seemed to be trying on big boy underwear and went wading into Anand looking for a fight. What seems to have come across to others as a local version of a foreign interview came across to me as a parody of a real interview and I would not have been surprised if Jim Carrey and the Wayans brothers had joined them on set. Going so far as accusing the AG of 'softening' when he refused to be baited (00:42 seconds into the interview), Kalipersad's agenda was clear from the get go.

Ramlogan for his part was doing his best to stay on point as he was obviously there to promote his and the government's agenda, but started to squirm under the constant jabbing of the interviewer and one could tell this was about to get interesting. The same Kalipersad who later accepted from Police Complaints Authority Chair Gillian Lucky that she cannot comment on the issue of the Commissioner for fear of prejudicing the matter refused to accept the same position from the AG and did his best to get something like an answer on a subject despite the AG protests that he could not comment on it without compromising it and insisted that he preferred to defer the question to the Police Service Commission. 

Now, while I am loathe to defend any politician for evading a direct question, if he could not answer because of the Office he holds he could not and Kalipersad should have shown him the same respect he showed Lucky. Perhaps Gillian handled herself differently and would not give Kalipersad the wiggle room that that Anand did or perhaps Dominic had an agenda with Ramlogan that he did not have with Lucky we will never know, but why treat two interviewees differently when asking the same question begs more than it answers.

Between 1:56 and 2:02 Dominic picked at a silly issue over what the AG may or may not know from his (Kalipersad's) perspective, which started the steep and sudden decline from interview to spat. From 2:25 on Dominic seemed to lose perspective and was in fact asking and answering his own questions, leaving the already etiquette-challenged Ramlogan no alternative but to bark his responses, taking the matter even further and making for the type of lackaray Trinis live for.  Continuing his heavy footed two step, the AG went on to deliver his agenda with Dominic listening briefly in silence, and had we known then what we know now, we would have paid closer attention as this was no polite pause, this was lock and reload.

From 3:16 on the battle of wits began in earnest, opening with a barrage of 'he said/she said' and culminating with a line being drawn in the sand. At 3:30 Ramlogan smirkingly inferred that the entire country understood the proclamation by the Prime Minister on the State of Emergency better than he (Kalipersad) did, and if you listen carefully you could almost hear the claws coming out. At 4:39 Kalipersad sarcastically thanked the AG for his explanation while accusing the Prime Minister of misspeaking, to which the AG replied "I do not accept that at all." 
"Well you may not accept it but it was the reality" was Kalipersad's curt response, causing Ramlogan to sit up in his chair with it dawning on him that in this game of cat and mouse he was expected to play the role of mouse, a realization that did not appear to sit well with an AG bent on selling the government's view as to what was real or not and was obviously having a hard time taking attitude from this two by four interviewer.

Body language is a hell of a thing, and at this point both masks came off for all to see. By 4:58 and with arms flailing the normally sedate Kalipersad 'dissed' the success of the first night of the government's effort and rattled off figures in a condescending way designed to provoke, causing Ramlogan's face to contort between smirk and smile and showing his discomfort with what was taking place. In response he accused Kalipersad of having preconceived notions, to which he (Kalipersad) cut him off and reiterated his position, further causing Ramlogan to lose all composure and by 5:08 his amazing response to Kalipersad was "If you insist on interviewing yourself I shall leave the set." 


Dominic's response, far from trying rein in this 'interview gone wild,' baited the Attorney General even further and told him he was free to leave if he wanted to. At this point the interview was at the lowest it was going to go without eye gouging and hair pulling, and the entire nation stood as one slack jawed in disbelief. Mr. Kalipersad for his part did his profession little service, and his parting jab at the Attorney General as to him 'inviting himself there' showed an almost partisan disrespect if not for the Office then surely for the man, and to this writer Dominic Kalipersad, being the seasoned and professional journalist that he is ought to have known and done much better.

The remaining five odd minutes were filled with Ramlogan trying to make the government look better than it should considering the paltry results of the effort thus far, doing his best to make the seizure of six guns and the arrest of twenty two petty thugs sound a whole lot more than they were in reality. Looking all the part of the mouse who belled the cat, Kalipersad was now rocked back in his chair allowing the AG to speak and exposing the holes in his contribution which were coming now fast and furiously. His (Ramlogan's) second agenda seemed to be to revise history to accommodate for the glaring inconsistencies in the appointment of the Acting Commissioner of Police, and he walked with a letter to prove that the government was willing to do everything they could to make their mistakes fit their version of the truth. 


By 8:21 Dominic was asking probing questions on the veracity of the AG's prop, but by now the storm had passed and no one was paying any real attention which lulled us into believing the worst was behind us, preparing none of us for Kalipersad's now famous parting jab 'please don't be rude,' which was supremely ironic as this was a public demonstration of rudeness journalistic style.

Having lost what amounted to the most revealing issue in the whole interview, that the government made a mess of the handling of the entire State of Emergency and are caught up in a web of if not outright lies and deceit then absolute creative trickery to make their shaky ground solid, Kalipersad tied the fiasco together with a neat little bow and allowed the AG to make his final point and at 10:37 on the fade out one could distinctly hear the AG say "Why yuh So..." with the rest drowned out behind the TV6 News theme, leaving all who heard to speculate as to how that particular line ended. 

Handled better more could have been accomplished, and I am ashamed of Dominic Kalipersad and embarrassed by the mess he made of this. In a country woefully lacking in journalistic integrity or excellence, his actions in this interview set us back even further. As is becoming the norm in this country, people seem content to accept odor over substance and I fully expect more of this sort of thing than less in the very near future as others rush to emulate this new style. As the saying goes, if what we reward grows, strap yourself in and brace for a bumpy ride.

The Pandora Conundrum... (On the State of Emergency)

Sweeping your opponent from power by promising to curb runaway violent crime is one thing, actually being able to deliver on the promise is something else entirely. The current administration was always aware of the state of the crime situation in the nation, yet its members felt confident enough to pledge to the electorate that should they be given the mandate, their team would solve the problem and put the scourge back in the box.



Fifteen months later things are as bad as they have ever been on the crime front, with things devolving to the point that even the very protective forces required to achieve the stated reductions are themselves threatening to march against the government.
 With the situation threatening to spin out of control and with very few options left at her disposal, the Prime Minister called her Cabinet together and after a marathon meeting announced to the nation that the President had been asked to declare a State of Emergency so that the army and other resources could be brought into the equation.



Many have been calling on the government for firm and decisive action and like it or not, this is it. Based on the violent reality that life in T&T has become, it would be disingenuous to say that if I was in Government and based on the drastic upswing in the numbers for murders and violent crime since 2001 I would not have done the same thing. Sold to the population as being limited in scope, this state of emergency we are told is intended for the crime 'hot spots' throughout the country where the most violent crimes have been occurring, begging the question as to why were there no other options available?

Section Eight of Part Three of Chapter one of the Constitution gives the President certain powers where the declaration of a State of Emergency is concerned, and once he is satisfied that the necessary criteria have been met he can do so unrestrained.
 Bear in mind that any such declaration is no joking matter, and for a country like ours to invoke that subsection of the Constitution risks harming the country's international reputation and the economy by extension. The Prime Minister and her government had to know that and to them this has to be an all in bet, because regardless of how it is spun, suspending the Constitution for an internal matter will always be seen as an admission of failure to deal with the same crime wave they promised to have the answers to while on the campaign trail.

Public opinion since the announcement has come down around Party lines as expected, with the Opposition scrambling for reasons as to why this will not work. In their shoes I would be guided to voice my opposition on legal and civil rights grounds and wait the government out. I cannot see the sense in predicting the outcome of something that is hard to predict and if anything the government must know that they are walking a political tight rope with this one. For their part the PNM Opposition oversaw the largest blood letting in our nation's history, with more people dying violently in our country over the last decade than in countries that were actively engaged in war. Now is certainly not the time for cheap politicking, but Dr. Rowley does not seem to have anything other than reactionary politics in his bag of tricks.

My concern will always be that basic civil and human rights are not trampled unnecessarily as this is being carried out. No one declares a State of Emergency just to have one, and it is clear that the protective services intend to cary out operations that require wartime powers. That in itself will always be reason to pause, but I am aware enough to know that if something substantial was not done at this point in time we risked losing control of the country to the underworld permanently. I am also knowledgable enough of the consequences of unrestrained power in the hands of the few, and what thinking people need to monitor now is how this operation is carried out, what exactly is the objective and how long do these measures remain in effect. It is clear that at some point we were always going to have to push back, but regardless of the justifications behind this Constitutional interruption, we the people need to ensure that we come out of this as a nation ruled by law.

Facing Reality... (Getting Our Politics Right)

All of the problems that plague our nation can be attributed to poor governance meted out over the years from independence to now bar none. The lack of anything like a vision that unites all of the people continues to confound our national development and has left us with a hodgepodge of policies and legislation in some major areas of governance that accomplishes little other than to keep the people at war with each other over trivialities.

As it stands now we are being governed by a barely functional UNC led coalition many predict are unlikely to survive the full electoral term, and waiting in the wings as the only alternative is an unrepentant, unreformed PNM eager to pick up from where they left off despite having only just been removed from Office for failure and corruption on a massive scale. For their part they seem prepared to do nothing other than to wait the current government out, hoping to capitalize on their collapse and doing anything in their power to hasten its occurrence. It seems that in our politics political parties do not have to be good, they just need to be not as bad as the next guy. 

If by some miracle the Partnership were to survive and were to be successful in any meaningful way, that success would force change within the PNM if that party ever wanted to hold the reins of power again; If that were to occur, instead of working to the lowest acceptable denominator our Parties would be encouraged to improve their game to stay politically relevant and compete with each other in service of the people, but we are not that lucky.

There is a serious question that needs to be asked and someone needs to ask it. Of the one point three million Trinidadians and Tobagonians alive today, is this really the best we can do?

It should be sensible to assume that the more options we have to dilute the stranglehold the entrenched and racially separated Parties have the greater our chance for something like representation in the Parliament, so then why are we not forming new Parties and working to build support one constituency at a time? We would be much better served as a nation if our House of Representatives was made up of nine or ten Parties working in coalition and arriving at policy implementation through negotiation and consensus instead of the dictatorial absurdity that occurs now.

There are many who would have you believe that this cannot work only because they are wed to the status quo and benefit from it somehow and you have to do your best to ignore them. The truth is that this is the future of global politics and, as was clearly demonstrated on May 24th, the people of this country are open to political experimentation if only to find a formula that works. To my mind devolving centralized power away from those two failed institutions could only be a good thing and is the perfect way to go. Our democracy is built on representation of the people, and until the power is back in the hands of the people we will continue our slow decline to failed nation status.

Of all the active politicians currently in our employ on both sides of the political divide there are few that should be trusted and fewer still that could be respected. They have conspired to defraud and have twisted the rules in their own favor to make corruption and pilfering a sport, and at the end of that tiresome day it is the people of this country who lose. We will not get hospitals that work and playing fields and community centers in the communities that need them most as long as one Party or another can take any constituency's vote for granted. We need to change the game and send representatives to the Parliament who reside in the constituency, who have demonstrated devotion to their community by their involvement and service and it is on the backs of people like these should we build our governments.

Trinidad & Tobago continues to be blessed as twin jewels that together form a richly abundant and beautiful tropical paradise, but it is cursed by a people so politically confused as to line up every five years and vote against themselves by picking always from the lesser of two evils who seem hell bent on proving just how evil they could really be. 

Simply Disarming...

Gun advocacy groups are fond of saying that guns don't kill people, people kill people. Using clever misdirection to deflect from reality, the cunning play on words achieves its objective by distracting from the reality that it is also an absolute fact that people with guns kill more people than people without guns are able to do. That being the case, I would like to suggest that maybe we need to revisit the initial position and focus on the problem that guns and weapons of all types pose to the wider society and make it unprofitable and uncomfortable to be found in the possession of illegal weapons of any kind. Simply put we need to declare war on weapons of war and make it cost prohibitive to be found to be in possession of one.

The Wikipedia definition of a weapon is: 'A thing designed or used for inflicting bodily harm or physical damage.' The two major weapons used to terrorize, maim and murder in Trinidad & Tobago are guns and cutlasses, and we need to face this head on and deal with it. Cutlasses are multiple use implements and are also classified as tools so they may need special treatment in law and law enforcement, but guns are for killing, and that fact makes being in possession of one illegally a tedious position to explain. Based on this alone, prosecution for illegal gun offences should not be that difficult and were we to be serious about this a special 'Anti-Gun Court' should be set up to fast track cases of illegal gun possession with mandatory jail time and onerous fines increasing per offense swiftly and surely imposed.

Starting from six months and five thousand dollars for a first offence and escalating, by the third offence a career criminal could find himself facing a fifty thousand dollar fine and a six year jail sentence, effectively neutralizing him as any type of threat to society for everyone else's benefit. Make no mistake guns serve one purpose and that is to embolden the lawless by exerting advantage, making victims out of their targets in order to achieve their nefarious agendas. We need to 'flip the script' as they say and turn the tables by making being caught in possession of an illegal firearm such a frightening prospect through the promise of swift and effective prosecution as to make it an unthinkable option for the criminally minded.

With regard to cutlasses, and while one has to admit that they serve purposes other than criminal enterprise, they should not be carried on one's person in public unless that person is a certified farmer and his cutlass is properly wrapped in gazette paper and securely tied with string. When traveling in a vehicle a cutlass must also be so wrapped and secured and stowed in the trunk of the car so as to prevent it from being easily used as a weapon. Anyone who is not a certified farmer caught in possession of an unsecured cutlass in public should have some serious questions to answer, and should those questions fail to elicit adequate and reasonable responses the fine for the first offence should be a minimum of five thousand dollars with six months jail time an option available to the Magistrate depending on default or circumstances. Simply because they can be classified as a weapon, these sentences need to be severe and should also escalate in value based on serial convictions so as to have the desired effect. The message must be very clear, that we will not tolerate weapons of any kind being used against our citizenry and to be found to be in possession of one is to lose significant treasure and liberty.

The Ministry of National Security should launch an aggressive planned and sustained anti-gun campaign by first giving illegal gun owners forty eight hours to surrender their weapons through the use of an amnesty, following which the police should crack down on known offenders and utilize every resource to find all illegal guns and prosecute their owners.

Hoping and wishing and praying that guns 'go away' has not worked out to well so far, neither has burying our collective heads in the sand.

Mama, This is Mas Too...

One year ago exactly to this date this column entry was entitled 'Mama This is Mas,' and was all about the destruction of traditional Carnival by the Bikini bead Soca movement at the expense of traditional and culturally rich Trinidad Carnival. This is an update to that article and hopes to bring new ideas to a discussion that is still very polarized.

The original carnival 'artistes' who see themselves as defenders of the culture believe themselves to be besieged by a horde of money men milking the festival for everything it's worth, oversexing the product to take advantage to that weakness in our biology and that what is being sold is contributing to the destruction of our society through an attack against social norms built on morality and decency. While there may be some justification in this position, one cannot overlook the fact that this new 'Soca Mas' is also relevant to its target audience, is a very profitable, popular and sellable product and should be allowed its own space (even if that space was to be controlled) to be fully realized.

There will always be good arguments to be made for and against both events depending on your perspective, and it is time the debate was brought up to a rational level so that the needs of all contributors and participants could be understood and respected.

The conversation must continue from the position that Carnival as an expression is highly infectious and will not be denied. Despite different attempts at control over the years, the artform itself continues to spawn and mutate leaving traditional Mas to struggle to claim its own space. This new version has taken advantage of the relaxation of social boundaries over the years and its popularity is contagious. The cross pollination into East Indian culture as 'Chutney' and the viral exportation of our version of Mas globally (as opposed to Rio Carnival) is a testament to the need and validity of such a social release and again we need to approach both sides of the conversation with open minds.

Perhaps, instead of arguing which of the 'Carnivals' has more validity, a point could be made for the severing the two into two separate and distinct events, allowing each to grow and develop outside of the influence of each other.

I suggest traditional 'Trinidad Carnival' continue to be held as the pre-lenten cultural festival and governed by rules for participation  to keep it true to its original design. Participation MUST be limited to traditional and old time Carnival Mas (locally designed & made), calypso and steelpan, and descriptive rules put in place so as to disqualify those that fail to meet such criteria. There should be limits to the size of the bands as well as the volume of music trucks on the roads, and there must be at least one steel band or brass band accompaniment in bands above a certain size to guarantee the involvement of all sectors of society.

As this event would showcase the history, talents and traditions of a large cross section of our people, it should be supported by the State and promoted as such.  

Soca Mas could be moved to an existing holiday weekend (say Discovery Day weekend), established as a festival and promoted worldwide in its own right . Soca Monarch, Chutney Soca Monarch and all competitions having to do with Soca Mas should be moved to the week prior, and should also include what now obtains as pre Carnival fetes.

There is a win win in this as all groups get to participate freely without compromising or diminishing the other, and the Government (through the Ministry of Culture & Social Development) must take the lead in bringing all participants to the table so as to maximize the opportunities inherent in each event.

From here we could really lay claim to being the inventors of carnival and the repository of it as culture for all people all across the globe.

At some point in our maturing we may come to realize that everyone winning is a good thing, that common sense could help us find more and better solutions if we are willing to be open to other points of view.

Something to think about... 

Just Speculating...

Astute financial watchers have been noticing a trend on the local market with one stock in particular whose trajectory is not in keeping with the existing flatlined market trends and is suggesting to them that something big may well be afoot. This movement is adding fuel to the fire as there are strong rumors making the rounds of an international financial consortium that may be about to make a move for control of Republic Bank Limited, and if the sudden and steady increase in the value of that bank's shares over the past couple of weeks are indicative of anything to go by, there may well be some truth to this.

Compounding this further, there is talk of a possible government agreement (through the Ministry of Finance) to divest its shareholding (the 53% of the total one hundred and sixty million Republic shares issued that it controls through CLICO/CL) at TT $100 per share, and if this is indeed so then this could be a deal worth roughly 8.5 billion TT dollars to the government's coffers at a very opportune time, with many in the know speculating that it is already a fait accompli with the deal set to occur over the next couple of weeks.

Now if this does in fact happen as suggested, what it could mean to the government in the immediate term is that it would find itself in a position where it could pay off all creditors/investors/policyholders/shareholders and any others who may have claim to the failed insurance giant through the sale of just one asset, leaving itself in full and complete control of the entire group debt free and cash strong.

 

Such a turnaround must seem almost magical in what it could mean for the government, as any and all development and divestment plans for the Company will now be theirs and theirs alone to make; the cost of ridding itself of the negative surrounding the debt burden will be surely considered as money well spent, and this one move could have the effect of buoying both the economy and the government's fortunes simultaneously. 

There are some in the financial sector who are not so sure and hot on the heels of the recent RBTT takeover, have expressed concerns over the return of foreign ownership to our banking sector specifically in a time of depressed values and global economic downturn. They point to the lack of controls where social planning and development of people policies are concerned, essential to stability during times of recession.

Others are more optimistic (even if cautiously so) that this could be a win win for the government and the people of Trinidad & Tobago if handled correctly. They point to the fact that State owned First Citizens Bank and the Unit Trust Corporation can be considered immensely strong and freed of the CLICO/CL burden at this time could be considered poised for growth; they suggest that instead of focusing on possible negatives they should in fact  be looking for ways to maximize these opportunities and safeguard the economy.

Business is business, and if the Government finds itself with the means to direct policy through social issues such as home ownership and small business development, then these two institutions should be utilized to control the home mortgage market through the introduction of low interest loans to first time first home owners, as well as soft loans to and lines of credit for start ups and established entrepreneurs.



As few things have the power to stimulate the economy and regulate the society positively the way home ownership can, this opportunity to lead from in front should not be squandered. At the end of the day, the people of this country needs strong decisive leadership to keep it out of the grips of recession, and this event, should it take place as rumored, will go a long way towards making that a reality.



As of this writing Republic Bank shares are priced around ninety four dollars, and while nothing in investing could ever be considered a sure thing, if the takeover is going to be announced at TT $100 as rumored, this could be a wonderful opportunity for serious investors and first time speculators alike. 

Roget's Conundrum....

There is a saying: "some men are born great and others have greatness thrust upon them." 


While that saying appears complete in and of itself, it requires a counterfoil to exist in reality, and in these instances Ancil Roget, you are it. You are the exception, you are the opposite that proves the rule - some men are born inadequate and some men find the rug pulled out from under them in the pursuit of greatness. 

After taking what must have seen like forever to become the pinnacle of labour discontent and mean it, Comrade Roget now finds himself at the tip of the spear of labor history that may just as easily run him through as anybody else. 

Almost overnight the country went from dealing with Watson Duke in all his glory to not having to worry about him anymore, and without getting as much as a pause between installments, we find ourselves confronted with the specter of Ancil Roget in his place, with the main difference being instead of the comical stunts used by Duke to make his point, Roget has opted for the hard line, threatening the country and causing the nation panic and concern.


Had he not opted for such a hardened position so early in the proceedings he may well have enjoyed public support against a government who seemed intent on doing their damnedest to squander whatever remaining goodwill they may have had leftover from the general election, but instead of tapping into that public discontent, his approach came across as dangerous and threatening to the nation's political stability and turned the people off of him and his grand adventure. Having left himself no retreat, his lack of experience and immaturity has shown through and has exposed him as verbally talented but weak on details. If he does succeed in getting workers to continue on in this vein he may well cost many their jobs and could go down in history as the man who broke the unions.



To make things worse and as if conspiring to thwart him at every turn, world events seem to be coming down on the wrong side of his entrenched position, robbing him of anything like popular support and leaving his army confused as to where to go from here. With the mobilization orders already given, there exists no real avenue for retreat that he could reasonably take that saves him enough face to continue on in command for any length of time, and the deeper this engagement digs in and the more protracted the deliberations, the less ground he may find under his feet; such is the nature of the 'all in' bet, you are either damned sure of the strength of your hand or you lose everything you have on one play. 



Regardless of what he does now the government owns him and dictates his future. Yes he may be able to cause some disruption and yes there may be outages, but they wont be long, and he risks his very freedom if he runs afoul of labor law. Now that the people, the business community and even the Central Bank have cautioned him against disrupting the economy in pursuit of what is appearing more and more to be a political agenda as much as anything else, any risks he takes he takes alone.



His only hope is that the government reaches out an olive branch and gives him some sort of settlement in key areas that he can brandish publicly as victory, while conceding and abandoning others in pursuit of survival of the system. The line in the sand is now the only thing we all see, and it is only he who drew it there that has the power to erase it.

Where the rubber meets the road though, everyone needs to back off of this for a while, return to the bargaining table and hammer out the best possible deal for the workers under the current global economic conditions. From a union leadership point of view Ancil Roget may already be a dead man walking, and when things on the labor front have quieted down and is the least embarrassing for him personally, Comrade Leader needs to step down.
 

Effing Economics... (Gimme, Gimme, Gimme)

So based on all that we are hearing,  the business community believes that the Minister of Finance should say 'Eff' everybody else and deficit finance for continuous growth regardless of the consequences to the economy, a la the very Tesheranomics that got us into this mess in the first place. Similar to the voodoo economics of the last Administration,  the concept they advocate seems to be spend until things get better, or to quote a famous advocator of this type of policy, accelerate out of the skid. But what happens if accelerating fails despite all best intentions and we do in fact crash, wouldn't we have just made it all that much worse?

According to the Unions the Government needs to say Eff' everybody and raise wages and benefits regardless of the impact of the inflation such an action would cause, despite the onrushing recession and anticipated global downturn. Their policy seems to be you could march your way out of anything. But what if this overreaching takes us to a place where demand and supply cannot sensibly meet, are these risky destabilization tactics worth the cost to society in the long run?

And according to the Clico/CL investors/shareholders/creditors, the powers that be need to say 'Eff' everybody else and cover the default regardless of the cause and despite the risk to the treasury, just so they could get paid. Similar to their initial imprudent investment policy of who dares wins that got them into the mess in the first place, these people fail to see that while their losses are tragic, no one held a gun to their heads to make them invest in the first place. The fact that the government is bailing out everybody over time ought to be good enough and these people need to have some patience before national opinion turns against them further. In a country run by greed where everyone thinks 'Eff' everyone else, I need to get paid, the posturing and anti-government rhetoric is not helping their cause in any way that adds value to anything other than their own agenda and someone needs to caution them to stop.

Given an opportunity recently to be part of a radio show dedicated to this issue I was appalled at some of the contributors whose cut throat suggestions included (among other things) utilizing the Heritage and Stabilization fund to pay down debt, and the one lunatic who suggested that we withhold pension increases and apply those funds to union demands instead. Tell me, based solely on the posture behind that idea, what is the difference between advocating that position and robbing someone with a gun?

Having gone on record applauding the Minister of Finance for displaying the strength of character required to resist taking the populous position similar to many in his government (making the minority happy at the expense of the majority),  I would again like to encourage him to keep on the road that he is on, the one that takes us to safe and secure growth in a balanced economy that 'Effs' nobody and ignores the yapping of the greedy, selfish and self serving mongrels in society who insist on making the most noise.

If we are to learn anything from the recent stock exchange crash and downgrading of the United States' credit rating it is that now is not the time for playing fast and loose with national finance. Mr. Dookeran needs to be sensible in his deliberations and not be swayed by the rabble of self interest. If I were to give him any advice at this time it would be to batten down the hatches and prepare for the coming storm or, as the old people say, make sure you measure three times before you cut.

To those holding up the frail, the elderly and the infirm as examples of those who should be given priority I agree, and legislation ought to be drafted to class those persons as 'special needs' cases so that they could be moved to the head of the line and have their payments expedited. To those who think that it is only they that matter and that everyone else could take a side, I recommend Mr. Dookeran taking a leaf from Dr. Eric Williams' play book -  let the jackasses bray.

A Top Down Approach to Dealing with Crime...

Of all the obstacles to progress where the enforcement of law and order in our society is concerned, none have as great an impact as the current failings in the courts, the Judiciary and the Magistracy. Far and away the most effective means of ensuring discipline is the fast and efficient application of consequences where crime is concerned, but due to the size of the backlog clogging the courts all we appear to be doing is layering one new mess on top of another every day, despite the best efforts of our law enforcement officers. 

We continue to blame the police for the failure to 'put the bad guys away,' but the truth of the matter is this same problem is affecting the morale of our boys in grey and is contributing in no small measure to the ease with which our security forces are being corrupted. Lawyers and criminals alike are using this log jam to their own advantage and making a mockery of the very system that is supposed to enforce the law and one wonders when will this be dealt with as the urgent matter that it is. I had suggested to an Appeal Court Judge almost twenty years ago that one of the solutions to this problem lay in the creation of a special 'Backlog' Court, set up to deal with every case pending prior to a determined cut off date. This would have the effect of freeing up the existing system to deal only with matters that come before it from that day on, and where there are matters that overlap, the current cases court should get precedence and the sitting Judge freed to focus on the most serious of offenses in the interest of the pursuance of justice. The newly formed backlog court would deal with all matters prior, and ought to be staffed to effectively dispose of them in a timely manner. 

Dealt with scientifically utilizing approaches such as these, one may well find a noticeable drop in crime as career criminals (held and prosecuted for their most recent crimes), would spend the 'waiting time' for appearance at their previous matters at the president's pleasure and not free to inflict their indiscipline on the law abiding. Gone would be the days of crime sprees by the emboldened offenders out on perpetual bail, and gang members would then be encouraged to find different careers and social clubs to join as the underworld path would clearly be seen to be a one way street to nowhere fast.

As a follow on in this same vein as this suggestion and in keeping with the idea of making our courts more effective, I have also suggested (as I am sure others have as well) the creation of a Capital Crimes Court to deal with matters such as murder, drug trafficking and treason. I have also suggested (for reasons of national security) that this Court should be constructed complete with remand facilities in the army base at Tetron as, besides being a much more secure location, would also save much time between locations saving the taxpayers the cost of transport to and from the courthouse and the jail. In fact, if the space is available there should be a special jail built there that could be secured by the army, again solving many problems, saving money and taking crime out of the public eyes. 

At some point we must come to realize that not every problem that exists should continue, and there are few man made problems that do not have man made solutions available to the willing. If we were to treat with this matter effectively we may well find that instead of longer custodial sentences we would be then able to utilize retraining methods to transform hard core criminals and petty thieves alike into contributing members of society. Our penal system does not HAVE to be a jail for those on the beginning of their descent into the criminal lifestyle, and the powers that be should be encouraged to look into redevelopment as a means to reducing recidivism and send functional, able men and women back into the society from which a lawless, antisocial criminal was taken. 

MP's Evaluation Report 2011...

Like most people I too was taken aback by the suddeness and the extent of the Prime Minister's recent Cabinet reshuffle, and it is only when I stumbled upon the Ministers evaluation report that I understood why she acted in the haste that she did. 

Here is a summary of what that document contained:

"As requested Madame Prime Minister, the report is provided based on performance since initial appointment. With regard to the personnel at caption, please find an overview in the following paragraph:

N.B. While these evaluations are intended to be used as guidelines for promotions or dissmissal depending on the needs of the sitaution, they are in no way conclusive and further study is recommended.

• Austin Jack Warner - This Minister works well, when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap.  Major accomplishment to date lies in still being one step ahead of the law.
• Herbert Volney -  This member will stick with us until retirement, unless we do something first.
• Anand Ramlogan - To hear this member speak, his accomplishments are so big they can only be compared to that of a black hole in space -- unfortunately, neither have been confirmed to exist. 
• Suruj Rambachan - Since our last evaluation, this member has reached rock bottom and has started to dig.
• Therese Baptiste-Cornelis - This young lady has delusions of adequacy. When she opens her mouth, it seems it's only to change whichever foot was previously there.
• Glenn Ramadhar Singh - Can string two sentences together, but only if he borrows the string. He sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them. This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.
• Winston Dookeran - Offers plausible excuses for errors.  If you give him a penny for his thoughts, you'd get change.
• John Sandy - Some drink from the fountain of knowledge, he only gargles. He would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle. 
• Stephen Cadiz - Wheel is turning, but the hamsters all appear to be dead. Is still able to get the job done -- if someone else helps.
• Chandresh Sharma - Is definitely not the sharpest knife in the drawer, and seems to find twenty reasons to do anything except the original task. 
• Dr. Rupert Griffith -  Has a room temperature IQ and has committed no major blunders today, that we are aware of. If it wasn't for a poor work ethic, he wouldn't have any.
• Winston "Gypsy" Peters -  If he were any less situationally aware, we'd be watering him twice a week. This member is not really so much of a has-been, more of a won't-be.
• Dr. Roodal Moonilal - Has a full 6-pack, but lacks the plastic thingy to hold it all together. He's so dense, light bends around him.
• Anil Roberts - A prime candidate for natural de-selection, if you stand close enough to him, you can hear the ocean.
• Emmanuel George - This employee should go far -- and the sooner he starts, the better.
  
  Compared to the evaluation of the Opposition MP's for the same period, it is not a stretch to imagine a world where Trinidad is no longer recognized as an independant nation but is treated more like a University for Circus Performers.

• Dr. Keith Rowley - This member has a knack for making strangers dislike him immediately and would argue with a signpost.
• Dr. Amery Browne - If you see two people talking and one looks bored...he's the other one.
• Marlene McDonald - Has two brains: one is lost and the other is out looking for it. When her IQ reaches 50, she should sell.
• Patrick Manning - He brings a lot of joy whenever he leaves the room. This member is so stupid he couldn't count his balls and get the same number twice. This man has all his marbles together, and would be a credit to the Party if he could find where he hid them.
• Patricia McIntosh - Speaking with this Member was like engaging in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent. While talking to her one sort of gets the impression that she is watching a spider climb up a wall.

• Fitzgerald Jeffery - Appears to have either donated his brain to science before he was done using it or may have accidentally fallen out of the family tree.

If you've gotten to this point and fail to see the humor in the situation, you may be due an evaluation of your own.

Bridging Needs and Development...

It is time that we as a people started demanding more of our elected officials where national development is concerned and less where greed and self-promoting, self-enriching projects are concerned. Time and again we are sold on schemes that never materialise as they are usually conceptualized from the 'what's in it for me' perspective and not from the view of how do we develop our nation and our people. Where are the exciting heart and mind capturing initiatives to spur development and drive investment?

We seem to be either devoid of leaders with holistic development vision, or their inward self serving posture leaves them devoid of ideas on a national scale, and we the people need to demand much, much more where our development is concerned.

As an example of such thinking I would like to offer some ideas that I believe could have a transformative effect on this nation and its people and lead us closer to something like developed nation status and a place where most would want to live, and I would like to start with:

A Bridge to Tobago

Far and away the most outrageous idea that we could possibly envision, and yet, if possible, this one project could redefine the relationship our two islands have with each other and the way forward for both the Tobago mainland and large swaths of eastern Trinidad, repositioning us as global players in both the developmental and tourism world.

Imagine being able to just pack up the family and head to pigeon point on any old day without having to incur the hastles and expense of a plane or ferry ride?

Imagine living in Tobago and being able to access services in Trinidad utilising mass transit to and from?

Based on the size and volume of this project we would have no choice but to invite outsiders to plan, build, execute and operate this for as many years as it takes to return the investment, and then to continue to maintain and operate and expand where necessary as a continuous joint venture partner with the people of Trinidad & Tobago.

The Project

Imagine four or six lanes going both ways with one each designated for hire and transport, complete with  emergency and breakdown lanes?

Imagine a bullet train in the center running from Toco to Crown Point once every hour to facilitate those who would rather park and ride?

Operated as a toll bridge this would be supremely lucrative and would save us the cost of both the subsidized air bridge as well as the Tobago ferries, leaving those two enterprises to operate in a free market environment and no longer a  burden to the treasury.

There are not many countries who could take on such a venture, but of those there are many who would be very interested. The idea as outlined above would require complete external financing and investor operation as a toll facility until the initial outlay is recovered, and then to continue to operate and maintain as a revenue earner for both the initial investors and thr People of T&T.

Financially viable, the engineers would have to tell us how exactly they would go about doing this. Judging from some mega projects that I have seen I would suggest a few man made islands between Trinidad and Tobago, and properly developed even these could be used as rest stops with restaurants complete with mariners and water sport and function as a destination in and of themselves. There are may available avenues that could be exploited here and the mind boggles at the possibilities. I sincerely believe that a project of this magnitutde will put us firmly on the international map and would spur our economy specifically in the construction sector substantially for some time and open our people to the concept of national development on a global scale.

Executed as suggested and outlined here there are no real impediments to this as a project, and any obstacles that do exist could easily be overcome through sheer vision and determination. It is time we as a people dared to dream big dreams again, but that is assuming that we have the leadership capable of operating at that level.