Basketball and crime fighting: Another re-routing

Basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal gets ready to lift Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar for a slam dunk

Like the towering crime problem, basketball star Shaquille O'Neal stood between the Prime Minister and Jack Warner. A pitched tent and a big cheque brandished: problem solved. Young, black males, living under the watch of the nation's garbage, take their usual place as the face of criminal enterprise.


If the PM wishes to pitch a tent, take this advice. Pitch tents in the downtown core, and the residential areas with the massive houses and slipways to the sea. Announce and fearlessly execute search warrants on the homes and businesses of the big players in the trade in drugs, arms and violence. Bring in the big-shots of crime.

Days before redirecting the small-man to basketball instead of crime, Warner managed to re-route opposition to his national security appointment. As such, the distracted debated the course of the billion-dollar highway to Point Fortin instead of Warner as minister. Now, with the decrepit Beetham as backdrop, the PM forgot her Government's previous shack-attack under the State of Emergency and renewed love for the community. This is another Warner re-routing, diverting attention to the lower rungs, away from the folks at the top.

The mixed views on Warner are evidence of the country's desperation to save itself. The day after his appointment, Warner and Collin Partap trampled the separation of powers, and those mixed views resurfaced. They show off a country repressing its inherent sense of justice in favour of the means assumed necessary. In time we will discover that it is difficult to defend the law by breaking it, a matter the SOE should have taught.

Even the Attorney General (AG) found a cover for Warner, as usual. The AG's statement that Warner's presence at the removal of protesters, "prevented the desecration of religious deities", is ole-talk. Warner is neither a minister of religion, nor the minister responsible for ecclesiastical affairs. Clearly, there is a well-known legal path for dealing with protesters, if it comes to that. It does not help the optics that contrary to Warner's assertion, he did not merely "show-up" or "turn-up" at the protest site with arms folded. Newspaper photos show the two ministers toting away protest paraphernalia, and carrying with them the chronic misunderstanding of office which besets politicians.

Ministers Partap and Warner remove items from re-Route protest site

With protest tents down, the PM and Warner pitched tent in Beetham.

Jack Warner is Minister of National Security: Mr. Warner's baggage

Trinidad and Tobago's new Minister of National Security Jack Warner oversees the destruction of a protest site. Minister in the Ministry of National Security Colin Partap stands next to Warner

Disingenuously masked as a reconfiguration of the Cabinet and State boards, this is the firing of John Sandy and Jack Warner's redemption or demise. Warner's baggage deserved closer examination before handing him unrestricted access to private lives and public institutions. In failing to do so the PM's judgment must be questioned.

The biggest concern is that this could be further confirmation that along this Government's path, good governance is overtaken by political survival and personal enrichment. Amongst other things Warner remains associated with unpaid bonuses for the celebrated national football team; untidy accounting for funds provided to the World Cup campaigns; allegations regarding donations meant for Haitian earthquake victims; and more recently the ownership of the FIFA-owned and funded Centre of Excellence.

Concacaf's Center of Excellence

The international media has not forgotten Mr Warner. Apart from Reuters' and the BBC's tongue-in-cheek announcement of Warner's new appointment, last month the UK media referred to Lasana Liburd's news website wired868.com which published documents linking the Warner family in a personal way to the Centre of Excellence. Liburd, the former Express journalist who famously broke the Simpaul Travel/World Cup 2006 ticket scandal over the 2005 Christmas season referred to an $11m mortgage held by two Warner family companies, Renraw and CCAM, and secured by the FIFA-owned property.

Of all the people involved in allegations against Warner, he deserves to have them investigated and his innocence established. At a minimum, both Warner and the PM should have an interest in determining that nothing in Warner's FIFA and personal dealings makes him unsuitable for Cabinet. The public's agony is the fact nothing is happening and Warner, his party and his leader simply press on. The public also has an interest in the details of Warner's relationship and financial dealings with Chuck Blazer, his long-time CONCACAF colleague and a man once described by a Manhattan judge as being "without credibility". These matters, above any other investigation consuming taxpayers' resources, deserve priority.

Unless we answer the Warner allegations, the country would question the lessons of working hard and playing by the rules.

Denesh Ramdin's awkward celebration: Freedom"s sticky wicket

The headlines: "Abdulah out''; "Ramdin fined''; "COP activist resigns''. On this Labour Day celebration of freedom there is sufficient evidence that freedom is never absolute, its enjoyment not without consequences. In many cases it comes down to doing what is right without being wrong.

West Indies' Denesh Ramdin sends a message to cricket legend Sir Vivian Richards

With Denesh Ramdin, wicketkeeper, batsman and pamphleteer, we may have missed the real story. Focused on four words scrawled on a piece of paper and deemed inappropriate, there were a few other things which stood out as Ramdin released the shackles of low scores and dodgy performances. In the first place Ramdin was willing to take on his critics, and silence them with results. Unlike our politicians Ramdin did not ignore the noise, sputtering on, voices of concern inconsequential. He took criticism to heart and fashioned a fitting response. He needs to remember that Viv Richards' message to him was about consistency, not lack of potential.

The legend- Sir Vivian Richards

Second, Ramdin's triumph is in the fact that he kept this pamphlet in his pocket as he started the fourth day of the Test, he on 60 runs, Rampaul on a few and last man Tino Best still to come with a batting average under ten. Remarkably, Ramdin actually needed the sheet of paper, a moment of celebration and defiance becoming necessary, his second Test 100 achieved. Ramdin's continued belief in the face of those disheartening odds is a more significant story than disciplinary action appropriately condemned by Geoff Boycott.

What People's Partnership?- The PM's challenges

As part of the dwindling hope the PM's vehicle for change barely lives up to its "People's Partnership" name. Sure enough people create much of their problems but political parties promise to make them all disappear. No political-party-turned-government can deliver on such impossibility and the People's Partnership has worked no miracle, Ministry of the People notwithstanding. The Partnership is singular only in name. It is made up of a series of partnerships, some impossible, others ill-conceived and a few well-intentioned getting nowhere.

Amongst the people promises the fight against crime topped the Partnership's list and moved quickly from top to flop. A still-unexplained national security threat provoked a national lockdown. Initial praise turned to criticism, then cynicism. In a comparison of fish, no big ones ended up in the net and we know that no government elected without transparency in political funding will likely reel the big fish in. Rotten politics is still the crucible of crime.

Protesting poor road conditions and social services

Of the partnerships forged in search of government, the one which appeared most significant at the time was amongst potential rivals, each conceding an opportunity to split up the non-PNM vote. All that remains of that political ceasefire is self-interest, demonstrated in no less way than the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) clinging to a position in the Senate while shedding board appointments. It is incongruous for the MSJ to allege poor governance at the level of boards and board chairmen and stand aloof of that allegation as part of the Government in the Senate.

In any event that partnership amongst political rivals is not the most significant within the People's Partnership. That honour belongs to the sometimes uneasy bond between the UNC's chairman and its political leader. Despite compelling governance and political reasons, the UNC chairman remains in the cabinet, a senior minister in the PM's team.

The Army called out for crime-fighting (Andrea De Silva photo)

It is a low threshold of governance the PM has set for herself and her Government and the rest is therefore unsurprising. Out of that mould, the ministries and State entities proceed, shamelessly repeating the mistakes of the predecessors. Nothing about the Partnership's handling of the State sector is refreshing; the pervasive odour is rancid and not necessarily unrecognisable. It is the inevitable product of a country pushed into decline by smartmen and showgirls.

Shooting at Eaton Centre, Toronto: The Canadian example

One person dead and others injured as a bold targeted shooting shocked the city of Toronto on Saturday. Within hours the media were briefed by the city's chief of police Bill Blair, the popular mayor Rob Ford standing close enough but definitely in the background. In the discipline of governance and responsibility, bullets are not marked with political party symbols.

With the police and not the politics in charge, the CoP provided the communication, clarity and confidence lacking 4,000 kilometres away, Trinidad and Tobago regressing problem by problem. Civility has been lacking but a recent Express editorial used the word "crassness'', another step down.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar

Numbed by relatively high homicide rates since 2001, in Trinidad and Tobago it is only the killing of children which still creates a stir. Even so reaction lasts a couple days because there is no shortage of headliners. But for Canada and its 34 million people, there are memories of once-rising gun violence and high homicide rates, so even the prime minister reacted to the shooting, saying that "Canadians should be assured that such depraved and monstrous acts will be met with the full force of the law".


It is not something our Prime Minister may say, the neutrality of emotion having set in and the pervasiveness of "spokespeople" increasing distance between the PM and issues.

Sugar Aloes sings "She's Royal" but: We ent arrive as yet

Calypsonian Sugar Aloes

As we head into Indian Arrival Day, the anniversary celebration of the People's Partnership Government led through inadvertence to this column. The surprise performance by calypsonian Sugar Aloes at the event is the only thing most people will remember. And thereafter, Aloes's appearance, choice of song and its political significance became too important to ignore.

His appearance was bittersweet. On one hand I appreciate the potential of a hardcore PNM supporter performing in celebration of two years of the PNM going into opposition. It suggests that even the centre of the parochial camps is not impenetrable and the middle ground could swell even more than the current divide causes us to believe.

But as Chalkdust would say, Aloes did not perform just so. Aloes's performance may be further evidence of the way the politics consolidates the spoils of victory in the hands of those on one side, leaving the other largely empty-handed. The question in Aloes's appearance and performance was whether we witnessed the maturity of a seasoned political commentator or a desperate act of survival for an entertainer-turned-businessman, a man in need of Partnership handouts in the absence of politically-neutral alternatives.

And if Aloes was on a Partnership platform as part of a tour to get State support for the Revue calypso tent, it is also evidence of how we have mistreated the arts, principally everything related to Carnival. Without shame the National Carnival Commission (NCC) is nowhere near the three core elements of its legislative purpose, as a result of which the so-called greatest show on earth is demonstratively indigent.

This is of course unfortunate for both Aloes and the country but not unexpected. The matter of the funding, support and survival of Aloes's Revue tent should not be in the lap of the country's Minister of Housing and the Environment. It belongs to an independent authority which manages the country's arts and its Carnival. But the way it has gone, every facet of arts, culture and creativity make the trek cap-in-hand to whoever is in power begging their way to political handouts.

Aunty Joan gone and Uncle Rudy take over.

Too much corruption: Catch me if you can

Welcome to the land of sun, sea and no consequences. As we move to acquire more prison space, not one politician or high-profile crook occupies existing jailhouse real estate. Crafty lawyers and their crooked clients have combined to permanently engage the pause button. Justice delayed is punishment denied; a fiat to the well-positioned to thief even more.

There is no shortage of evidence of how the rot set in and stayed in. It’s the same coming out of the commissions, media stories and revelations in Parliament and official reports like the latest from the Auditor General. There is little accountability, responsibility, responsible leadership and enforcement.

The tone for neglect is at the top. The law is porous and wherever it has bite it meanders disgracefully. The politicians are unreliable. The Prime Minister casually taps the still-investigated and disgraced ex-FIFA vice president to perform the duties of PM. Without question, His Excellency makes the appointment. Former president Arthur NR Robinson may be maligned but at least he risked controversy in the 18-18 scenario and his refusal of Panday’s nominees for the Senate.

Alongside the CL Financial and HCU stories of poor governance, directors and officers of incalculable ineptitude, downright theft, thuggery and bobol comes the latest Auditor General’s report of the persistent lack of accountability in the State, especially in relation to contracts of employment, salaries, contracts with suppliers and verification of assets and inventory.

Again the tone should be set at the top. Amongst the ministries failing to provide critical reports on a timely basis or at all, many are headed by senior People’s Partnership Ministers. It includes the Ministries of the Attorney General, Housing, Foreign Affairs, Public Utilities, Works, Local Government and the Office of the Prime Minister. Failure to provide these reports is contrary to law but who cares.