Originally published on Wired868 Dennise Demming Sunday 9 July 2023

Congratulations to the Ministry of Legal Affairs (MLA). I received my digital marriage certificate in four days without leaving my home.

Unfortunately, we have to start the process all over because there’s an error. The name of one of the witnesses is incorrectly spelt.

Having gone through the application process I was not required to put in the data—this was done by MLA. In the handwritten (analog) version, the name is spelt correctly. How can the digital version have an error?

I understand human error but what’s the process implemented to correct, eliminate or reduce human error? What’s the system that ensures the product delivered to the customer is acceptable?

Digitization should lead to improved efficiency, better services, enhanced decision-making capabilities, and a satisfied public. What’s keeping us back? Our minds and attitudes are what’s keeping us back.

We talk about digital transformation all the time, but we continue to invest our resources in structuring structures without making sure both structure and people are properly matched.

People are the most important factor to transform our paid-for-with-hard-earned-taxes nation. The tax-paid leadership must communicate the necessary mindset transformation by demonstrating continuous behaviour change.

The only way public sector employees will “buy in” to the significant change that’s needed is if they see their leaders at all levels changing their behaviours. Remember the cliché: “people do what you do, not what you say!”

The leadership must invest in the upskilling of the entire public service to help us all adapt to new technologies and ways of working.

Think of the gains of delivering a certificate quickly, with all the elements involved, which were totally and completely undone because an error was allowed to occur—the supervision process missed the error entirely.

Converting a broken analog system to a digital one is still maintaining a broken system. The world has transformed successfully from analog to digital in the public sector. What’s our problem?

We are still in the mode of “…dah not mih job…” and “…dat good enough…”

Digitization, if done correctly, is a fantastic opportunity to confirm data from the traditional records, and to update or correct them as needed.

It would be lovely to have a reset button to hit to foster a culture of learning and innovation. There isn’t one. There has to be careful, well-advised consideration, and surgical education implemented to repair the problem.

In addition, our leaders must demonstrate the capacity to foster that culture of learning and innovation. It’s time for a new leadership that walks the talk of a changed mindset. We have so much potential but we are stuck. This MLA incident is just one example of our “stuckness” and the decades of failure of our leadership.

It’s easy to say: “Time to move on!” But moving on without properly repairing will ensure that the stuckness keeps us stuck.

Black, Blank, or Blink … the race card has been called within a few days of the announcement of the Local Government Elections.  Leader of the Opposition Mrs. Kamla Persad Bissessar (KPB) knew that the hostility of Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Christopher Rowley (KCR) would be easily triggered by her request for her supporters to fill in the blanks of her speech.  And according to a newspaper article, “Dr. Rowley responded to the comment in a Facebook post at about 1.30 am on Friday, June 9^th when he wrote: “Finally!!! Caught in her frequent disgusting race-baiting she is reduced to repeating inane rubbish to try and lie her way out. Anyone surprised?”

I am surprised that the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (PMoTT) continues this obsolete, disingenuous strategy of racial accusations to move our thinking away from the significant issues which are plaguing our land.  I hoped that KCR was more strategic than that.  It is redundant for our PMoTT to engage in this race discussion especially since the mixed-race population in Trinidad is the highest growing race of people.   A 2003 song released by David Rudder and Carl Jacob commented that “how we vote, is not how we party”  and I refuse to accept that this is still true 20 years later.

Research on “ChatGPT” revealed that the 2011 population census concluded that people of mixed ethnic background account for approximately 22.8 percent of the population while mixed Afro-Indian descent accounts for approximately 7.7 percent.  Interestingly, that census allowed for self-identification.  In other words, the respondents were allowed to choose their ethnicity, and “mixed” was a category.  That was more than 10 years ago so I wonder what a current census will reveal!

Our society is culturally diverse because we comprise people of African, Indian, European, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and Indigenous descent, among others.  Our ethnicity is shaped by colonization, immigration, and intermarriage.  Scratch any of us deep enough and up will pop another race.  The “mustard and ketchup” political parties have continuously disappointed us with their unsettling racial conversations as opposed to focusing on inclusivity, diversity, and equality and the necessary systems, processes, and procedures which could improve our society.  Despite the political commitment to remaining fossilized until the last drop or bubble is removed from our earth, our top three topics for consideration are crime, corruption, and economic diversification. I wonder why KPB and KCR choose not to engage in these conversations with a solution-focused approach!

It is time to reform our governance and get rid of these two grave-digging parties.  It is time for the person in the street, some of whom are the 22.8% mixed-race, to vote for persons who will do better.  It’s time for us to take a chance and vote differently to reset our society. No more colorful voting. It’s time to vote based on the IQ and compassion of the representative, and their proven ability to get things done for their constituents.

We cannot continue to cover our deep societal problems with condiments that are flavourful to some but add little value to our overall health.  Our leaders have a responsibility to change the conversation away from this sickening focus on race and concentrate on what is needed for citizens to thrive so that the phrase “Sweet T&T” will no longer be used in sarcasm.

On an early morning visit to Chaguaramas, you can still see and hear howler monkeys.  You can enjoy the sunrise while on a hiking trail.  You can participate in a range of activities in an absolutely beautiful environment.  Chaguaramas has the potential to become the best eco-friendly business and entertainment space in the region, but successive governments have failed at their attempts to make it an environmentally sustainable area. 

If you visit Chaguaramas today, you might be saddened by the dilapidated state of the Chaguaramas Convention Centre where the Chaguaramas Treaty was signed to establish Caricom.  You might be disappointed by the lack of access to several of the beaches and the decrepit state of the Military History and Aviation Museum. You might feel disillusioned when you observe another slowly deteriorating building with a Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, and Fisheries sign.

Governments have presided over the slow deterioration of the Chaguaramas Convention Centre.  A building of such significance and heritage should be refurbished, restored, and made into an income-generating space for use by our people.  It comprises 72 hotel-type Rooms; a 26,000-square-foot meeting space; a lounge; a lobby bar and a restaurant.  The way it is designed, and its location make it an ideal venue to house a “Model” tourism school.

But instead of making it a model tourism school, on July 19, 2021, the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service issued a news release indicating that “Cabinet approval had been obtained for the refurbishment, repurposing, and outfitting of the Chaguaramas Convention Centre into a modern Youth Development and Apprenticeship Centre (YDAC)”.  This refurbished facility is intended to be consistent with the current standards of a modern-day residential vocational training institution.

Looking at the building from the outside, there is no evidence that this work has begun while our youths continue to opt for lives of crime.  If the plan is to refurbish and repurpose the Chaguaramas Convention Centre, then let’s do it, but it is scandalous for a government to preside over the slow deterioration of such a monumental building. 

In a broader context, citizens need to understand the long-term plan for the Chaguaramas peninsula.  With every change of administration some “government funder” is given permission to do something against the provisions of “the 1974 Chaguaramas Development Plan which zoned all highland areas in the Chaguaramas Peninsula above the 350 feet contour and the entire area of Point Gourde as a Nature Reserve”.  Soon after taking office in 2016, a Trinidad Guardian newspaper report quoted the current Minister of Planning and Development as saying that the waterpark is built “in an area where according to the law, it should not be.”  Madam minister what have you done about it?

Maybe the time has come for citizens to take action to preserve what is left of the Chaguaramas peninsula.  Our country is blessed with multiple beautiful green spaces, but we have also been cursed by having leadership that is either unwilling or unable to optimize the use of those spaces in a manner that is sustainable. Taking action to preserve our green spaces is a responsibility that falls on the current generation.  Let’s do better! 

Courtesy Newsday Friday 2 June 2023

Stop behaving as if the word “procurement” is a new addition to the language of business.  The concept of procurement can be traced back to ancient civilizations and the process has evolved over time.  Procurement and procurement systems are a normal part of non-government businesses.  Anyone who wishes to supply goods and services to a company must adhere to its procurement process.  This is what helps non-government businesses thrive and when they deviate from the process, there are usually negative consequences.

Procurement is the process of acquiring goods and services from suppliers through a structured system to which both parties have agreed and formalized, usually in writing.  

A look around the world will reveal that procurement legislation has transformed the administration of public service in many countries.  Why can’t it be a transformational moment for us as well, in Trinidad and Tobago?  One of the first benefits of a systematized procurement process is the creation of a level playing field for all suppliers despite any consideration about whether their inclination is towards ketchup or mustard.

So, what is all the brouhaha about the Procurement Legislation?  In the 18-year journey from birth to proclamation, the PNM has been responsible for the Procurement Legislation for 13 years.  Despite this intimate association for 13 years, the government waited until the actual proclamation to begin the process of considering the human resources needed to implement the procurement legislation. What’s that old cliché again? Oh, yes: “Better late than never”. 

If the procurement system is implemented with the use of appropriate technology, it will enable those with access to the system to track and monitor all procurement activities and therefore provide valuable data for planning and decision-making.  This can also be an opportunity for citizens to see and understand what is happening with their taxpayers’ dollars.

A technology-driven procurement process might easily provide a level of transparency that can reduce the probability of corruption, mismanagement, and abuses of power.  It will also reduce the time and resources to acquire goods and services and will ultimately lead to cost savings and better value for money.

The procurement legislation is certainly not the cure-all for our problems, but it requires a change in the way we do business and can be the starting point to transform our public service to one which is customer-centred, and not tainted by allegations of corruption, lack of transparency, and inefficiency.

From the licensing authority to the submission of a company’s annual returns, our country has been struggling with the effective implementation of technology.  Unless a different implementation strategy is found, the potential transformation which this legislation can bring will not be realized.  The easier it is for citizens to access information and services, the easier it is to generate trust in our institutions and leaders.

It is my hope that our leaders will use the implementation of the procurement legislation to systematize the way we do business and begin the transformational process which is needed in our public service and throughout our country.  Let’s do this!

Dennise Demming Friday 5 May 2023 Guest Columns

“[…] The theft of billions of dollars could have been prevented if we had a fully functional [Office of Procurement Legislation] according to acceptable legislation. We cannot underestimate the lost opportunity to have invested those stolen funds to take care of our social needs, such as health, education, utilities and infrastructure, and more.

“[…] Undoubtedly, [Moonilal Lalchan] is the most competent person to ensure that the office can hit the ground running and not be stymied by a new appointee who is unlikely to have his experience…”

How can a white paper published in 2005 take until 2023 to be proclaimed?

Approximately 15,000 children were born in Trinidad and Tobago in 2005, and as of this year, those children are adults. Something is deeply wrong with a system that takes the same time in which a baby transitions from birth to adulthood to proclaim a simple piece of legislation. The legislation has been bouncing around for 18 years!

Successive governments have ignored the Procurement Bill because such legislation, along with the establishment of a fully functioning Office of Procurement Legislation (OPRTT), will likely put a spoke in their corruption wheel and add transparency to the awarding of contracts.

The theft of billions of dollars could have been prevented if we had a fully functional ORPTT according to acceptable legislation. We cannot underestimate the lost opportunity to have invested those stolen funds to take care of our social needs, such as health, education, utilities and infrastructure, and more.

With a structured, transparent approach to procurement, our levels of honesty and integrity would have been different.

It’s commendable that after eight years in office, this Government has ensured the proclamation of the Procurement Legislation. Despite the three amendments to the law and regulations, we are finally ready to proceed with adding order, transparency, and good governance to the awarding of contracts.

Five years ago, on 12 January 2018, the President of the Republic appointed Mr Moonilal Lalchan as chairman/ procurement regulator, and this gave several of us hope that finally, our country was on the way to regularizing the award of contracts and ultimately ensure that the back-room deals would be reduced.

I never imagined that Mr. Lalchan would have occupied office for five years and be unable to implement the law. I hope the government sees the value in having him reappointed as chairman/ procurement regulator.

Undoubtedly, he is the most competent person to ensure that the office can hit the ground running and not be stymied by a new appointee who is unlikely to have Mr. Lalchan’s experience.

The Piarco Airport scandal is an example of how wrongdoers prevail in our country. Since its inception in 1996, the project was plagued with allegations of corruption, and to date, the persons who have been accused and who even faced the courts are still free.

It confirms to those inclined to the transgression that you can continue to do wrong and face minimum consequences.

If we are to change the corruption culture of our society, the leadership must change the way it does business.

The Swiss psychiatrist Carl G Jung is credited with the statement: “You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.”

So we can talk about corruption till the cows come home, but if there are no systems, processes, and procedures in place to ensure order, good governance, and integrity, we shall continue to experience the chaos and crime which typifies our daily existence.

Dennise Demming Monday 24 April 2023 Letters to the Editor Wired868

Congratulations to Despers on receiving their second multimillion-dollar gift from the people of Trinidad and Tobago.

Their first theatre gift remains closed, up the hill next to the community centre by the gorgeous, gigantic John Dende Statue resides—which was designed and created by a Laventille resident called Leo Warner.

During the Covid pandemic, I had an opportunity to pay a site visit to the space. It brought back wonderful memories of listening to Pat Bishop lovingly bouffe the band members for mispronouncing their Pan is Beautiful winning rendition of “The Bartered Bride” by Bedřich Smetana as “de battered bride”.

I also relived the moments of looking to the left and seeing the lights at the top of the Lady of Fatima Church and looking to the right and enjoying the breathtaking view of Port of Spain.

Very few institutions get a second chance to get things right, so this TT$14 million building is a unique opportunity that Despers must get right—and the band will not get it right unless a carefully considered business model is created and implemented.

If it works, that business model might be used as a guide for Invaders who have been working on acquiring their own space for many years now. It might also be used by Phase 11 Pan Grove, which is also in the midst of sensitive negotiations to own its space.

The list of potential users for such a business model can go on and on.

The first challenge Despers face is that this location will not attract supporters. The same issues that chased them from up the hill continue and are intensified nationally. Even the US government, amidst its own decades-old epidemic of mass shootings and child killings, has included midtown Port of Spain on its list of places to avoid.

No matter how much I love Despers, fear of crime and violence will keep me away.

Queen’s Hall, NAPA, SAPA, and the Little Carib are all cultural spaces that survive based on state subvention. As a society, we have not worked out how to make cultural spaces sustainable and this Despers space can now be added to that list of spaces that require continued funding.

What is needed is a strategic plan that considers the long-term view of the sustainability of a creative space.

The success of this kind of project requires a specialized skill set that may not be available in the current configuration. It needs collaboration between business strategists, art administrators, cultural enablers, and financial wizards.

As the new owners of this $14 million space, I wonder how Despers will fund the operating and maintenance cost of the building.

An architect friend told me that a back-of-the-envelope maintenance formula is to budget 20% of the construction cost for maintenance.

Despers, I love you and wish you the best—but this is a hard gift to have received.

Originally published on Monday 10 April 2023 in Wired868https://wired868.com/2023/04/10/demming-use-jamaicas-champs-example-to-fire-up-local-sporting-passions/?fbclid=IwAR1AtH-F306VmNZczu3KuhzE6mlhPMmZvo4KmpKS1titjcuD2jzZFJDDlGI

Two of our Ministers recently attended Jamaica’s Champs Track and Field Event. This was a great idea to expand the education of Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, the minister of Education, and Shamfa Cudjoe, the minister of Sports and Community Development.

If their interest was really in coming up with a solution to our “sporting pothole” they would have looked over their “imaginary fences” and chatted with former President of The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) Larry Romany.

He would have pulled a quotation from a 2012 article in which he said: “Jamaica puts a qualified physical teacher into every school, but more than that, each physical education teacher in Jamaica is actually qualified in track and field.

“So they are a coach as well as a phys-ed teacher and they go into the system, and that is why Jamaica has had such success because there is a focussed attempt, a strategic intent on creating track and field stars.”

If the Minister of Community Development was curious about why Jamaica is dominating track and field globally, she would have reached out to former national hockey player Dr Iva Gloudon, a former High Commissioner to Jamaica. And she might have explained that Jamaica’s Champs has been staged for more than 100 years.

There are so many people “over the fence” who could share solutions to our sport and social issues and are ignored because of the perceived colour of their allegiance.

I hope that the two Ministers return home with the understanding that Champs is a grassroots activity. The average Joe Jamaican will find an old school tie or socks or t-shirt or undersized shorts and proudly strut their stuff at the Champs while rooting for their secondary school and re-living long lost memories.

When an activity assumes the cultural significance of Champs, it is an easy sell. But Champs is more than the expression of sport and culture, it is the culmination of years of hard work.

During my Caribbean Games experience, my mantra was: “sport must become the weapon of choice for our youth”. I still believe in the potential and possibility of this statement, but it will only become a reality when we devote the time and effort to craft the strategy for the sport industry.

Of course, this has been done before but our leaders choose not to build on previously laid foundations but to smash any bases that exist.

As blood continues to fertilize our land and our people flounder it is urgent that we put a strategic plan in place to capture the imagination of our youth and fire up our people’s passion for sport and culture.

Whatever we do, there is the grim recognition that it may be another generation before we reap the rewards. But if action is taken now, my generation may pass on, confident in the knowledge that our future sports persons will thrive in a nurturing, passionate environment.

Ria Taitt’s article in the Sunday Express of April 04, 2023, quotes the Prime Minister as saying: ‘In order to get our independence, we agreed to some arrangements which are inimical to good order and brought obsolescence to management arrangements.”  In other words, some of the policies we agreed to 61 years ago are the root cause of many of our current-day problems. Is the blame for the current inefficiency and ineffectiveness of our institutions being placed on our colonial masters?

Where has our current Prime Minister been living over the past 61 years of independence?  He first served in Parliament in 1987 as an Opposition Senator and subsequently as a Member of Parliament in the capacities of Minister of Agriculture, Land and Marine Resources, Minister of Planning and Development and Minister of Housing, Minister of Trade and Industry, and Leader of the Opposition.

Is this a new revelation?  Or is it an inconvenient truth that he is using to walk away from the fact that as someone who has held office for more than 30 years, he has little to show for the action he has taken to improve our systems, processes, and procedures?  Our Prime Minister has held office for 50% of our time as an independent nation and he has the audacity according to the Ria Taitt article to admit that “our system has not discouraged .. on the contrary, I regret to say, it has encouraged white-collar criminal conduct …”

Although it is true that in his 30-plus years in government, he was not the ultimate power holder he has, since 2015 been the power holder and has been in the best position to begin the process of changing the culture.

If he were truly committed to transformational change, he would have facilitated the work of the Economic Development Advisory Board and removed the bottlenecks which stifled them and caused Dr. Terrence Farrell to resign after submitting seven key suggestions to the Government. The suggestions included a Draft Diversification Strategy and Roadmap, a Proposal on Steelpan Manufacturing Industry for Export, and a Redraft of the National Innovation Policy.

If he was really interested, he could have been hyper-focused on reimagining the public service and how to improve the delivery of services to citizens.

If his primary goal was for the betterment of all citizens, he would have found a way to collaborate with the opposition to come up with a strategy to handle both the illegal immigrants from Venezuela as well as genuine refugees, reduce the importation of guns and drugs and lessen the incidence of crime.

History is important and yes, our road to independence was marked by several unfair intersections but isn’t it time for us to look to the future and stop making excuses for the continued deterioration of our country?

With the right leadership philosophy, our country will thrive.  We have talented people and abundant non-oil resources to transform our country. 

“You only know what you know, and you don’t know what you don’t know” … is a quote from Public Health Practitioner Abby Charles as she shares her views with Caribbean Wellness.

Abby is a Trinidadian working in the US since 2006 supporting public health in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. She is also the founder of Bene Caribe, a conscious fashion brand “where ethical consumption and a colourful Caribbean spirit threads the fabric of each piece.”

In this conversation, Abby talks about the stigmatization of mental health and the importance of staging discussions about mental health in Trinidad and Tobago. Apart from normalizing conversations about mental health, there is a need to raise awareness by intensifying the country’s promotional education campaigns.

She talks about using social media as a communications platform but reminds us of the importance of persons in the community being trained to have accurate conversations about mental health and wellness. Abby describes herself as “a solutions finder and an advice giver” but warns that most times people don’t want advice, they just need to talk, and our role would be to be great listeners without judging.

When her friends reach out, she often asks: “Which type of friend do you want right now? Do you want a friend who’s gonna listen? Do you want a friend who’s gonna share some recommendations? Do you want a friend that’s gonna connect you to resources? What are you looking for?”

In all that we do, let’s be mindful that everyone needs a therapist from the time they’re born.

Even the therapist needs a therapist.

Soon the population will reflect on the legacy of our current leaders because elections are in the air.  The number of roadworks I am seeing suggests that the election cycle has begun.  Guess what will come to my mind when I think of the legacy of the current Minister of Works and Infrastructure — the phrase “Rohan’s Folly”.

Under the stewardship of Senator/Minister Sinanan, a “Highway to Nowhere” (HTN) was built at the cost of millions of taxpayer dollars which could have been invested in people development.  It is currently referred to as HTN because both ends of the highway are blocked off and there is no connection to either the Cumuto Road or the Eastern Main Road.  From the Cumuto Road to the HTN the distance is approximately 500 metres and from the HTN to Eastern Main Road the distance is approximately 800 metres. 

Whenever the HTN is completed, the people of Sangre Grande, Toco, Valencia, Cumuto, Mayaro, Guaico, and Manzanilla will traverse the roadway and question whether the construction of the road was worth the destruction of the Moriche palms, the lagoon, and even the Caiman who thrived in the area?  Isn’t the area also designated a reserve?  I totally accept that there is always a balance between development and environmental destruction, but it need not be an either/or situation.  Why haven’t we come up with solutions which protect our legacy and support our development?  Why can’t we have sustainable solutions to our myriad of problems?  “Rohan’s Folly” will be associated with the likely negative environmental impact the HTN will have on the Valencia area.

The story of the Moriche Palm also called the Tree of Life, is important because those palms could have played a significant socio-economic and ecological role in our country as they do in South America.  Some Peruvian societies still depend on the Moriche palms for their survival, and it contributes millions of U.S. dollars per year to their Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  Out of the Moriche Palm estates, they create products for export like frozen sweets, wines, buttons, crafts, jewelry, oils, baskets, purses, sandals, hammocks, birdcages, toys, sunscreen, deodorant, and many pharmaceutical items.  In Brazil, there is the creation of the “Moriche Palm Diet” used by thousands of women worldwide.  In sweet Trinidad and Tobago, we destroy it to build an HTN.

The reported expenditure on HTN ranges from $500 million to $1.7 billion.  Whatever the final expenditure, taxpayers’ dollars have been invested in the construction of the HTN and the opportunity cost is tremendous.  Think of the potential impact (both short and long-term) of investing in the redesign of our education system.  Instead, some contractors have built a highway to nowhere and they all sleep peacefully while “Rome burns”.  I suppose they can afford to educate their children abroad and have 24-hour security.

Our country needs radical intervention to move us out of the current negative cycle.  That radical thinking must be informed by a focus on investing in our people.  It is the only way to maximize our net social benefit. 

Couldn’t the Minister have reviewed the investment in physical infrastructure by talking to the residents of Sangre Grande, Toco, Valencia, Cumuto, Mayaro, Guaico, and Manzanilla to get their views on what they really need?

From where I sit, the legacy opportunity available to Minister Sinanan is to deliver modifications to the poor public transportation system.  Will his legacy be the HTN or “Rohan’s Folly?”

Published on 18/03/23 Newsday