National security is being reduced to political drama. Many of us followed the recent parliamentary debate on the proposed United States–linked radar installation in Tobago, simply hoping for a clearer explanation. What exactly is being built? Why Tobago? And how will this affect us? Unfortunately, those basic questions were never properly answered, leaving many citizens more uncertain than informed.
It has been widely stated that Trinidad and Tobago has, for many years, participated in Caribbean and hemispheric security cooperation under different governments. It is also worth asking whether our country already operates coastal surveillance radar systems in both Trinidad and Tobago as part of wider regional information-sharing arrangements aimed at tracking illegal drugs, weapons, and human trafficking. Similar systems reportedly exist across the Caribbean and are supported through long-standing regional agreements and partnerships with international allies.
This broader context was missing from the parliamentary debate. Instead of helping citizens understand how this installation fits into existing arrangements, the discussion focused narrowly on secrecy.
What many citizens really want answered are practical questions. Who will control the data collected in Tobago? Will local agencies have full access? Which authority will provide oversight and ensure compliance with our laws? And do we actually have the boats, trained personnel, and resources to act when threats are detected?
These questions go to the heart of sovereignty and public trust. Citizens of Trinidad and Tobago deserve calm explanation, honest engagement, and clear accountability. National security is too important to be reduced to political drama.
The “WRA” (We Run Arima) organized a fantastic half-marathon in Arima, creating an exhilarating experience for participants. However, the event was marred by a tragic incident: a young and dedicated photographer lost his life in an unfortunate accident. He had been passionately capturing the essence and excitement of the race, making the ending even more heartbreaking.
Though the details of the accident are not my focus, I am deeply concerned about an ongoing issue that casts a shadow over this incident. The Minister of Works, Rohan Sinanan, has held his position for the past eight years, yet the problem of illegal activities persisting on the priority bus route remains unaddressed.
Parking on the Priority Bus Route (PBR) without proper approval is a violation of the law. This raises pertinent questions: How many of the cars parked along the route at 5:00 am displayed visible approval stickers? How many driveways that provide access to homes have received legitimate authorization? Are the small apartment buildings adhering to regulations for driveways connected to the PBR? Have businesses acquired proper approval for their PBR access?
The presence of intersections lacking traffic lights further compounds the concerns. The gravity of these issues highlights a troubling reality – individuals are seemingly allowed to commit offences with the tacit approval of the Minister of Works. In legal terms, a crime encompasses any action or omission that constitutes an offence punishable by law. While the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) is responsible for enforcing the law, all ministers of Government bear the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that matters within their jurisdiction are effectively implemented.
In 2017, I wrote an article highlighting 3 evils that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago permits on the PBR. Those evils were the issuing of PBR passes to members of the “in-group” while the population endures the pain of an almost non-existent transportation system; the facilitation of houses and businesses with direct access to the bus route and the facilitation of a gas station with an entrance and exit onto the PBR.
Recently our leaders have been talking about the lawlessness of our country, and that’s valid, but I say to them, “Don’t complain about what you permit!” Someone permits the excessive issuance of PBR passes and that just adds to the congestion. Someone permits these illegal structures on the PBR … someone allowed the gas station access to the PBR. The only way to change our society is for our leaders to start doing the right thing and send a message to the entire country. The death of this young photographer is tragic. Minister Rohan Sinanan, Minister of Works and Transport: How many more must die before you stop the facilitation of criminal activity on the PBR?
Goodbye, Auntie Tantie. May our country continue to benefit from your wisdom and fervour. As you depart, I wonder what has changed during your service as the first female President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
Early in your tenure, I was inspired by your visit to Sea Lots on that Friday evening. Then you embraced Auntie Tantie as a “badge of honour” and had the Tantie courage to pelt bouf at our parliamentarians whenever you had the opportunity.
Throughout your term in office, you have shown empathy for our people, and I recall being stunned by your statement, “People are hurting, and they feel parliamentarians are not listening.”
‘If you are seen to treat each other with respect, courtesy, and good humour, there can be a trickle-down effect and eventual cascade. But when acrimony, contempt, and divisiveness is the example you set, you cannot be surprised when those attitudes and behaviours are replicated on the nation’s roads, in our schools and homes, and on social media.
You continued in that address and said to the Parliamentarians:
Unfortunately, it seems that your messages have fallen on the ears of 41 tone-deaf Parliamentarians who are focused on how they can benefit personally yet have zero empathy for the daily pain citizens are experiencing.
You are leaving office and the country continues to be in deep crisis as captured by your statement: “I fear we have become a savage people. Lines drawn between ethnicities, political affiliations, the haves, and the have-nots, worker, and employer, citizens and migrants have solidified into intolerance, impatience, unkindness, vitriol, and in many cases, downright nastiness…”
In that single statement, you have captured the key issues which our politicians should be addressing.
As the population awaits the selection of your successor, I am hopeful that the new President will be able to use his/her office and weekly meetings to encourage the Prime Minister to focus on the need to redesign our antiquated and mal-functioning systems and processes.
Although your departure provides another opportunity for a new beginning, I would prefer that your successor takes your lead, and carries forward the message that politicians should allow the plight of people to be the impetus for policy change.
Auntie Tantie … Thanks for your service and may your universe unfold exactly as you wish.
Today is the anniversary of your 14th month at the helm of our country and from all indications there is very little for us to celebrate.
On the campaign trail, you stated that the traffic situation is a quality of life issue which is intolerable. You further promised a mass transit solution and inspired the population with your rhetoric about what we could do if we did not spend 4 hours on the road.
I am requesting an update on the status of the mass transit plan as you promised.
We say we are pegging our future on the success of a strengthened Tourism Industry but we keep shooting ourselves in the foot by not strengthening Caribbean Airlines nor presenting our strategic plan. The current shouting about Sport Tourism will fail because there are NO bedrooms around the excellent facilities which have been built in Central Trinidad.
To borrow a phrase from Dr. Gabrielle Hosein, “If I was the Prime Minister” here is what I would do to make sports tourism a reality.
I would convert the Couva Children’s Hospital into a sports tourism complex which could house athletes and provide a service for the convalescence of international, regional and local athletes. (There is no facility where athletes can convalesce in the region).
I would invite accomplished sports doctors and physiotherapists to function there during the winter periods or periods which coincide with off-season training of athletes and cyclists.
I would go after the hosting of a major international swim or cycling activity to show off my facilities to the world.
The Couva Hospital is ideal because it has a good combination of wards (which can provide dormitory facilities for athletes), private rooms which can house officials and medics, cafeteria facilities, recreational facilities and medical facilities. More importantly, it is within an easy commute from our world class facilities. Without bedrooms and other amenities, the aquatic centre and the cycling centre would have a difficult time attracting the traffic that is needed to make them viable.
These suggestions will put us ahead of the curve in several ways.
Minister Young’s inability to play with a straight bat inflicted upon the country a level of discomfort as we contemplate the real reason for US naval presence in the region while it is reported that there are oil tankers on their way to Venezuela. In the absence of a clear statement by Minister Young or the Prime Minister, the population is left to continue the speculation about the relationship between the visit by Venezuelan delegation, the alleged sale of fuel by Paria Trading, the alleged denial by Aruba that they had any dealings with Paria Trading and the Prime Minister’s denial of any knowledge of who was in the delegation.
If Prime Minister Rowley could replay the entire match and examine each stroke, he would see the obvious missteps which brought him to this state of play. Firstly, he would see that the attempt to put spin on the Venezuela issue was ill advised and akin to using a brash 20/20 shot when he should be continuing to build a solid test match innings. Secondly he would see that in this version of the game, openness and transparency would have won him greater support than the current unrelenting pressure to find out what was the real reason for the visit by the Venezuelan delegation.
We have drifted away from the classic form of cricket and have embraced a defiled version in which the rules are changed and twisted on the altar of expediency. The “concrete stand” is filled with children who are learning this new form of the game and are waiting to execute their version with precision. There is a need for some intervention to teach them that the game is a noble one for gentlepeople to play by the rules and those rules are applicable to daily living.
As this series ends and the captains prepare to take a fresh guard, I am hoping for a return to something nearer the classic form of the game where we display patience, sportsmanship, consideration for others, honesty, integrity, transparency and a host of other leadership characteristics which make a positive difference to our lives.
When a mayor resorts to angrily scolding a roomful of more than 80 adults (all of whom can vote), it tells me that he has forgotten the road travelled to the office he holds. It tells me that he should not be the mayor of anything; he should really return to the ‘block’ from whence he came.
Photo: San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello (via newsday.co.tt)
There is a long-standing human relations principle, which is also practised in bringing up children: praise in public, criticize in private. San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello’s recent outburst indicates the extent to which the party he represents disregards the people they should be serving and feel empowered to not think twice about verbally abusing us.
There was a time when the standard practice was that the organisers and the mayor’s office would have met and worked out the details prior to the function, therefore ensuring seamless execution. If the master of ceremonies made a faux pas, a quiet word would have been sufficient. If there was chatter from the audience while the mayor was speaking, a simple pause could have been enough to quiet the audience. But maybe the mayor was so boring that the crowd was totally disengaged. Maybe he lacks credibility to such an extent that the audience felt no compulsion to even listen to what he had to say.
Such verbal expression of anger is aggressive, violent, abusive and lacks the grace and dignity we expect from the holders of high office. I am not surprised because Mayor Regrello represents a party that perpetuates such hatred toward the population that the leader had no difficulty likening women to golf courses that needed to be groomed; the minister of finance had no difficulty jeering at the population when he boasted that there was no riot despite frequent increases in the price of gasoline; the attorney general suggested that a victim of sexual harassment said: “ah want money.” I can go on ad nauseam with the examples of abuse being perpetrated upon the very people who continue to vote them into office.
The mayor should have heeded his own advice that ‘the children are looking on’ and found the grace and dignity to de-escalate the situation so that what happened would have been publicly unnoticed, but privately dealt with. Instead, he chose to mar the celebration of the accreditation of a laboratory.
I long for the day when officials exercise their duties so that we all feel inspired and hold our heads proudly because they are representing us well. For now, many of us sit and cringe as mediocrity, bacchanal and disquiet prevail at all levels of our society. I keep asking, when did we get to this level of incompetence? But I live in hope that a new normal will be established based on mutual respect, grace and dignity.
The past few weeks have left me stunned by the antics of our leadership. Penny, Marlene, Burkee, Simonette, Espinet, Quamina … I can go on and on, but there is one common theme: they were headlined in the media because of some act of incompetence by the leadership of our country. This single-term government has stumbled from issue to issue, and every time I think it can’t get worse, something worse happens.
How can two government ministers sit in the same post-cabinet news conference and have a fundamental disagreement on any issue? In this case, the issue was the appointment of the CEO to manage Heritage Petroleum. One minister said that there will be a search for a replacement, while the other talked about allowing the CEO to operate remotely.
Photo: Former Heritage Petroleum CEO Mike Wylie (via Trinidad Guardian)
My conclusion from this public display is that the cabinet is so fractured that they can’t even keep ‘on message’ in the public. That says that the Ship of State is in the hands of a captain who is still clocking his hours to certification. We are in a danger zone and every decision taken will impact our quality of life for the next generation and beyond.
From the onset, the closure of Petrotrin and the establishment of the holding company was contentious. As a citizen, I saw another example of autocratic leadership and duplicity. The closure was presented as a fait accompli when a few months before, the headline was that the union and the management were working towards a way forward with the restructuring of Petrotrin.
We have squandered another opportunity to motivate our people to change our work ethic. If it was aimed at union-busting, then it failed. Unions are here to stay, so at all levels of our society, we have to find a way to work with unions or employee associations called by other names.
Heritage CEO, Mike Wylie, may have come in with the best intentions, but something went wrong with the process of selection. How thorough was the medical and why is compensation being considered when he is unable to function in the manner for which he was hired?
Former chairman Espinet has functioned as an effective hatchet man to transition Petrotrin into Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited (TPHL). Does anyone else wonder what happened for him to be removed so unceremoniously? Poor Quamina, a nice guy, a competent attorney, but an on-the-job-trainee (OJT) in the energy sector. So we stumble on.
Photo: Michael Quamina with Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi (via Trinidad Guardian)
In other countries, the population would be clamouring for transparency and accountability about these major decisions. There would be a loud demand for collaboration among cabinet colleagues instead of the public stumbling which occurred in the post-cabinet news conference. In looking at the board composition for these four companies, I also wonder out loud about the absence of women.
TPHL BOARD: Michael Quamina (Chairman), Reynold Adjodhasingh (Deputy), Newman George, Anthony Chan Tack, Joel Harding, Selwyn Lashley, Eustace Nancis.
HERITAGE BOARD: Michael Quamina (Chairman), Newman George (Deputy), Reynold Adjodhasingh, Selwyn Lashley, Joel Harding, Ryan Toby, George Leonard Lewis, Peter Clarke, Reeza Saleem.
PARIA BOARD: Newman George (Chairman), Eustance Nancis, Christine Sahadeo, Peter Clarke, Reeza Saleem.
GUARACARA BOARD: Newman George (Chairman), Anthony Chan Tack, Peter Clarke, Christine Sahadeo.
Are we so afraid to challenge that this travesty will be allowed to play out over the next 15 months to 7 September 2020?
Dennise Demming 