2012 Budget Documents- Trinidad and Tobago

Superheroes or Crooks- My column 27 September 2011

In the pantheon of CLICO superheroes, one man inevitably stands out, but CLICO's Superman did not act alone. Any examination of his heroics must unmask and punish his helpers. His trinity was complete with Wonder Woman, corporate secretary extraordinaire and Spiderman, the political party treasurer whose webs pulled remarkable deals together.
The missing comic book characters are the quack pack of regulators anaesthetised as hard assets exchanged places with runny IOU's. Followers of Sir Anthony Colman's Commission of Enquiry salivate as superheroes and villains are indistinguishable. But unless it unmasks public officials this enquiry is for entertainment purposes only. It is juicy but losing a lifetime of savings is no laughing matter.
The serious fact is that much of Superman's ventures were kept behind the closed doors of privately-held companies. In normal circumstances owners of private companies are entitled to run their companies as they see fit, including into the ground. All the law requires of most of these companies is that the annual returns are filed and that statutory payments are remitted as appropriate.

Back to Gene Miles: Corrupt Trinidad and Tobago- My column 20 September 2011

After Gene Miles, the modern design of governance is for the political financiers to take a first charge on the Treasury and for public officials to enforce the lien. Read the Hansard and Budget speeches in particular, every page promises to bring law and order; to make things better and to allocate blame to the other side. Licensing office remains non-collared, its propensity for corruption merely a parcelling of the fat to feed the epaulettes. And there are more epaulettes feeding at the country's gates, people and cargo, going and coming, paying and promising to pay. Foreign sex workers are hounded out of the bawdy houses but nobody checks the boudoir for customs and immigration laundry. With reckless indifference there's always one for the master, one for the dame and one for the little boy who lives down the lane.

Masters, dames and little boys associated with the main parties in the Parliament are fighting civil and criminal battles for services rendered. Former ministers are charged and acquitted. Persons placed in significant state positions operate under various questions. Each one proceeding until apprehended. In 2009 journalist Clint Chan Tack detailed the corruption, citing parts of Ryan's work, Eric Williams: The Myth and the Man, asking how much Williams knew.

To find the root of criminality Prof Ryan must revisit Williams, the earliest purveyor of Teflon coats for public office holders. And he must examine the consequences of the State's own breakaway from the fundamentals of law and order, the emergence of parallel rules, organisations and expectations in and of public office and the vagaries of madam justice, more blindsided than blindfolded. He must ask about slush accounts, hush-money for thieves and chile-mothers and State-operated treasure troves, each ostensibly ring-fenced by Corporation Sole. More hush money is promised by the Prime Minister.

Suriname: South America's hidden treasure- New York Times

Just 500,000 people live in Suriname, a country on South America’s northeastern shoulder about the size of Florida, but the variety of cultures they represent rivals those of much larger countries. The official language is Dutch, in a nod to Suriname’s past as a colony of the Netherlands, but on the streets of Paramaribo, the capital, one hears, in addition to Sranan Tongo, languages like Hindi and Javanese. Chinese characters decorate signs on casinos and corner stores. Motorized rickshaws called tuk-tuks speed past mosques and Hindu temples, giving Suriname a vaguely Asian feel. (With a name that rhymes with Vietnam, Hollywood seems to prefer it this way: the movie “The Silence of the Lambs” seems to suggest that Suriname is in Asia.) Suriname’s obscurity and charm, in an age in which frontiers seem to melt away at the click of a mouse, proves that there are still corners of the world that can provide surprise and adventure, even a bit of awe.

A scrip to scrap: Problems with the Financial Intelligence Unit- My column-13 September 2011

Forget the Prime Minister's Veto: Reloaded starring the veto of the choice for Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). It's just a distracting sequel to Mr Manning's veto of appointments to the High Commission in London and the Commissioner of State Lands, both recently considered by the Privy Council. It follows an old script, but one which still ratchets up combatants already on political and ethnic high alert. In our embryonic war against crime there are more important matters for our big screen.

This is the sort of script to which the Minister of Finance will not be drawn, yet he landed the lackey's role. He failed to help the PM redraw constitutional lines on the nature of the veto. The July 2011 Privy Council decisions on the Manning vetoes explained the narrow nature of the limitations on the power of veto once the objection was of a general nature.

What the Constitution and Privy Council decisions do not offer the PM is the power to supplant the Public Service Commission's (PSC) choice with a personal preference. It is the current Government which gave the PSC the power to select the FIU's executive, only for the PM to turn around, undermine the PSC and disturb the separation of powers.

Artificial Intelligence- My column for 6 September 2011

Police intelligence has become an oxymoron. So suspect it is that trust and confidence in this roughly-hewn public emergency has disappeared. And the question is: have the crime bosses outsourced the clean-up of the lower levels of criminal organisations to the state? Clearly, the early emotional support for the state of public emergency has dampened. Imposed with an insufficiency of detail and justification, support was rooted in fear, vulnerability and desperation. But deployed to assail big drug stashes and dismantle gangs, the owner of the cocaine toted through the airport by a 19-year-old has not been held. Mysteries surrounding the big Monos Island cocaine bust are unsolved: "big fish" and "small fish" were prominent terms in that prosecution, without coincidence.

Pushing them back- My column for 30 August 2011

The public State of Emergency is just a start. It is the country's back-to-school purge, a flush-out of its two-legged toxins. Pockets in every community cater beds and breakfast for criminals, shielding them and suffering themselves. Some communities were just not like that, but criminal migration restyled good places, imploding them with bling, bang and boom boxes. Criminals pushed the country to the edge. Let us push them back.
We are the chief celebrants of the purge. Every one of us trapped within the fence-line, life contained by burglar proof and barbed wire. There will be some relief, temporary, uncertain but relieving. Every life vicariously affected by gangs, crime and criminals celebrates the purge. Listen, everybody have their limit so let the bandits buy legal advice and fight for their human rights. Let me enjoy mine, for once. As the numbers ramp up there will be more streams of relief, because even a sliver of action is better than a slice of hope. Let us celebrate.

36 hours in Portland, Oregon-NY Times

WITH its celebrated bike culture and obsession with all things independent and artisan, Portland is a small-scale metropolis with an outsize cultural footprint. Spread across the twin banks of the Willamette River, this provincial hub of the Pacific Northwest has more than its share of natural beauty and an earnest, outdoorsy reputation. But in recent years, the city has emerged as the capital of West Coast urban cool, earning it a television series, IFC’s “Portlandia,” devoted to satirizing its aesthetic and progressive social bent. Indeed, Portland — whose nicknames include Beervana and Soccer City, USA — is easy to poke fun at. It’s also hard to resist.

Crime and the untouchables- Who letting the cocaine pass?-23 August 2011

Spending on national security has been a billion-dollar hole in the floor; an expedition involving hardware and software but no credible strategy. A billion-dollar cocaine trade remains untouched and bank accounts remain piled high with drug money, shrouded in the politeness of a small tight society. In a culture of look-away, we believe some people have a divine right to anonymity. Cartel-funded profits and hush money course through all-inclusive fetes; real estate; mas and soca bands and exclusive shops in expensive malls. And through the automotive trade, jewellery shops, sport bars and developments stacked on the hills. Genuine commercial activity and drug facades are intricately woven, all befitting their space at the various chambers of business and commerce. On the streets people are not reluctant to make little comments, but no one goes beyond the small talk we grew up with. You can’t fight gangsters with rum talk so none of us has seen a major local drug prosecution in our lifetime.

I do- My column 16 August 2011

Kitty and Geoffrey Inglefield enjoyed 64 years of marriage, both living into their eighties. How many of us will post those numbers? In fact are we even expected to post those numbers; are common-law relationships replacing marriages and for those who get married, will it be a few times in a lifetime? There are lies, lies and statistics so continue through this column with as much scepticism as you need.I knew the advertising agency which Kitty Inglefield founded but I did not know the couple personally. What caught me was the news of their passing within hours of each other and the 64 years of marriage. What a remarkable measure of love and stability and what an increasing rarity. Consider that it is getting more difficult to live to 64 much less be married for that length of time and to the same person. How difficult? Well let's face a few things. Latest UN figures show that life expectancy at birth for a Trini male is 68.5 and 74.3 for a female. Based on that alone, the average Trini male would have to tie the knot as a toddler if Kitty and Geoffrey are to be matched.

I don't know- My column for 9 August 2011

The column is really about things I don't know. About three things I don't know. Like I don't know whether the trade unions are negotiating based on what their members are valued in the labour market or against handshakes made prior to the May 2010 election. I don't know whether the Government understands that it cannot continue to hand out flat percentage increases in every negotiating cycle without distinguishing between its employees' individual performance and skills and value.
And while I know that some sectors have agreed to five per cent for everybody, I don't know whether the Government is any closer to recognising that some skills should attract better compensation to keep the skills loyal to country and the public sector in particular. Which leaves me only to wonder just how much thought is going into these negotiations and settlements and whether this is not a replay of the same old cycle of negotiations. Flat increases across the board could be the work of lazy unionists and employers: but I don't know.

Awaiting CAL's report on runway mishap- My column for 2 August 2011

There is usually a smattering of applause when a Caribbean Airlines (CAL) flight touches a runway anywhere in the world. BW 523's runway mishap in Guyana will now increase the volume on CAL's flights, part gratitude part relief. Aviation incidents are usually related to human or mechanical issues or physical conditions: sometimes all three. This one will be figured out and ascribed a cause or series of causes. Even before that we learn a few things. CAL is not infallible and has a first major accident. Much can happen even after an aircraft safely touches down, so when you do applaud, stay buckled-in and keep in mind the job is not finished. We also know that Guyana is a lucrative market for CAL and not all airports are created equal. CAL needs some assurances in Guyana. It has to take stock of consistency in passenger and aircraft safety and emergency response. The initial sounds out of Guyana point to matters for concern and that is where the Prime Minister and Guyana's President will take the lead.

Diversity on Boards- written by Elizabeth Watson- Governance Expert

It has become well accepted that diverse boards, made up of individuals with a variety of backgrounds, skills and experience, make better decisions. Directors with different backgrounds bring different perspectives and are able to identify and debate all sides of an issue. This can prevent group-think, spark creativity, enhance risk review and lead to better decision-making. Diversity in this context includes diversity with respect to industry experience, functional expertise, market knowledge and leadership style, as well as community perspectives, culture and gender. In the case of an organization such as YVR, where so much of its business and clientele is international, it would seem counter-intuitive to restrict the board's ability to recruit individuals with international experience or perspectives and forgo any competitive advantage such a board might bring.

30 years down the road...My column 26th July 2011

With British Columbia's snow capped mountains for the background, the four women in our group posed for a photo. The camera was quick but the significance remains. No two are alike in this quartet bonded across generations by family, friendship and food. Yet, each is a true Trini. Diversity is our best asset, our collective smoothening of differences as we put all shades, colours and ancestry into one neat 4 by 6 photo frame. But that diversity is also about age and there's some work to do.

Having to write this column from the beautiful ski resort of Whistler, British Columbia, the five over 65 year olds on the trip with my family, tried to influence the column's subject and its contents. Long evenings covered wide-ranging matters, and great food and decent grog will do no harm to conversation and imagination. They succeeded in inadvertently becoming my subject, a reflection of their class, ease and grace. Thirty years on I want to be them.

Harry and the Hindu Credit Union- My column- 12 July 2011

Shorn of its religious façade and relieved of its socio-political tie-backs, the HCU complaints are rooted in simple fraud and deception. And like the CLICO matter which runs in parallel, it is not the work of the leadership only. Fraud was configured at the top but featured glib salesmen at the centre. It was fraud advertised and contracted, touted in three and four-colour brochures and peddled by men in suits. And at each stage of the con-job the divine path to financial freedom was buffeted by doses of spirituality and politics, all in equal measure, each one a little more daring.

Cabinet Reshuffle: Waiting and Watching- My column 5th July 2011

Having lit up the sky with a few bright spots from an otherwise dull cabinet reshuffle, the challenges are more obvious. After a series of financial and management experts as the Corporation Sole, a neophyte takes the job and embarks upon a steep climb. Brand new ministers take up major line responsibilities for Petrotrin, National Gas Co, T&TEC, Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) and the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT): are they too brand-new? And UWI economist Dr Patrick Watson, once touted as a Minister in the Ministry of Finance and potential Corporation Sole, exits the Parliament, most likely temporarily. How big is the loss?
The fixing of state enterprises has to happen against that backdrop. The challenge rests on the shoulders of a new Corporation Sole. And to do that the office of Corporation Sole must itself be fixed. Together with this new Corporation Sole, the new Minister of Public Administration and other new ministers will also have significant roles; can they deliver?

The Board Chill phenomenon- My column- 28June 2011

There are too many state enterprises. The Government must revisit the raison d'etre of state companies. We do not need separate entities for seafood development, film and entertainment; and separate rural, urban and community development companies, PSAEL and so on.

Second, in needing to bring the best talent on boards, civil lawsuits against former boards may unwittingly create a new problem. It is "board chill'' — a reluctance by otherwise qualified persons to serve on boards, fearing that the worst could come out of a change in Government. The state is entitled to hold directors accountable, now or in the future. But no one wants to be hunted and with little to gain and lots to lose, talented individuals may avoid the unnecessary headache of a state board appointment.

Good governance:Fixing State Corporations- Part 2- My column 18 October 2010

Fundamental to the Government's rebooting of the governance rules in the State sector is the rationalization of the sector. The idea of these State companies was that certain policy objectives of the Government could best be achieved in a corporate environment, away from some restraints of legislation, Parliament and politics.

The recent PNM opted for an expansion of the model in which limited liability companies, wholly owned by the State, provided goods and services to the public. With these State companies, procurement through the Central Tenders Board is avoided and internal tender rules apply. Variations in compensation suggest that salary decisions are subjective. Allowances and terms and conditions follow suit, lacking homogeneity across the State sector.In that context a renegade State sector has evolved and Parliament and Cabinet do not provide the major public policy thrust for the sector. There are two operating models and in one, the inner Cabinet defines an end result and gives it to the most malleable State company to execute, without regard to core function.

Good governance: Fixing State Corporations- My column 11 October 2010

The only question is which of the State entities and their boards will, 24 months from today, be the headline acts for all the wrong reasons. Since UDeCOTT and the Uff Commission nothing has assured the public that the familiar path of shady dealings will not be trodden.It is a waste of sensible people's time to debate the suitability of choices for boards and related State appointments. Competence, qualification, experience and ethnicity have not been decisive factors in predicting whether boards will be diligent or will land in trouble. UDeCOTT itself demonstrates that these are largely irrelevant: bad behaviour is not that selective.

There are theories on gender and the lower likelihood of women being corrupt. Patrick Manning did a better job at promoting women than any other leader but, in 2010, "chairman" is still given literal meaning. The seat at the top of the table is masculine, until further notice.

Harvard Business Review- Special Report- July/August 2011

Update on Canadian banking regulation- 2011

The principal governmental and regulatory policies that govern the Canadian Banking sector.

Going after the corrupt:Civil War?- My column 21st June 2011

The Integrity Commission has become a bystander, a fact unsurprising in light of some body-blows the Commission has suffered: a dress-down by the Court in the Rowley matter; resignation of the Commissioners ex-post facto; and the short-lived replacement of those Commissioners, a prelude to the most amazing meltdown of a Commission of any sort. More recent events have added to the blight that appears to have settled upon a much vaunted body, which in better times might be the ones pursuing the former State board members the AG is attempting to rattle with civil suits. More importantly, a working Integrity Commission may save the next party in power the expense of pursuing current persons-of-power.

A better Corporation Sole will also save some money. The redesign of the State-enterprise model is left in limbo, in the backward movement to search for corruption and the forward movement to court. But more attention has to be directed towards cleaning the stables and bolting the doors, as an alternative to chasing the horses. That quaint office of the Corporation Sole is central in many of the love-hate issues between the public and its State enterprises.

In Jack Warner's World- My column 7th June 2011

Different strokes for different folks. That is one way to explain Jack Warner's continued stay in Cabinet. But it is not that simple: Warner has many irons in the UNC fire and the party treads carefully. The big troubles are however higher up the pecking order and FIFA, like global governments and organisations, is now beset by intolerance for the leader-for-life mentality and what goes with it.

 

Pouncing upon every issue is a noisy, no-nonsense internet crowd, resistant to these attitudes of entitlement and this crowd can shake FIFA down. In the midst of this, it is troubling that the AG has fashioned his own rule of law in answer to the Warner/FIFA issue and others. In any event, with all these irons in the UNC fire, do you really expect the AG and the PM to say that Warner should step aside?

The Challenge Parents Face- My column 14 June 2011

Life is about reward, recognition and penalty and parents have no need to deviate from that. Children feel entitled to the best things in life without the effort. We reward good and bad equally and encourage fleeting mediocrity and a whole lot of crap which one day ends piled on some other schoolchild in a drain. Do our children know what we expect from them? Will we tell them, demand it and reward or penalise? Or are we more interested in being popular in our homes and in their lives?

Even if parents are tough, too many parents are inconsistent. We remember school when the school report comes along; make an evening of noise and move on to the next thing. Children are quick to take advantage of our distraction, when we take our eyes off the gauge. Children sense disagreements and then take advantage of the good cop, bad cop routine.


Parents have to work in tandem, plotting the responses, scripting the stories and enforcing the expectations. If parents are to help children make good decisions they have to be experts on what is happening in their children's lives. Before that they have to be in charge of their own lives.

Eating in and around Seattle- New York Times

Frank Bruni, the US foodie says in this NYT piece "I’m hard-pressed to think of another corner or patch of the United States where the locavore sensibilities of the moment are on such florid (and often sweetly funny) display, or where they pay richer dividends, at least if you’re a lover of fish. You could, I guess, make a case for the southern stretch of the Pacific Northwest around Portland, Ore., a city honored by its own cable television show, “Portlandia,” which pokes fun at its artisanal obsessions, epicurean and otherwise. But Portland isn’t as connected to and intimate with the sea and tides as Seattle. It’s not as wondrously watery.In greater Seattle and the San Juan Islands you get a lineup and caliber of local oysters that aren’t easily matched, in addition to superb spot prawns, salmon, black cod and halibut."

Ethics in the Legal Profession- My column- April 2011

In Canada last week the profession had to deal with a different kind of ethical risk, but a risk which also emphasises the public duty of the profession. Eric Victor Cojocaru, had suffered brain damage during his birth at a British Columbia hospital. At the end of a 30-day trial of his medical negligence claim, Mr Justice Groves awarded over $5 million in damages. Or did he simply plagiarise his way to the award?

 

 At issue on appeal was whether the judge plagiarised the written submissions of the successful party. To use the more technical description of the question on appeal, the issue was whether the judge "committed an error of law in delivering reasons for judgment that consisted largely of a reproduction, without attribution".

Ethnic talk in Parliament- My column- Sept 2010

Anil Roberts's unsettling and unfunny "Tobago lips" comments seemed out of sync with his Government's multicultural agenda. Days after, occasional Prime Minister Jack Warner topped Roberts with an incredible self-description as the HNIC, an acronym whose "N" stands for the reviled "N word". These are weeds, innocuous weeds being sown, in what over time could get out of control in Kamla Persad-Bissessar's multicultural garden.
Fifteen years after Sumayyah Mohammed's hijab case shone the light on the word "tolerance" among the country's watchwords, Parliament's new breed of jesters seem prepared to use the self-deprecating style of comedy to get their kicks.

Beyond Dookeran's 2010 Budget- My column- September 2010

With the 2010/2011 budget statement delivered, it is communication and not economics which becomes the real challenge for the Minister of Finance.An annual budget statement is what it is and the theme of the latest is that the last Government did a horrible job and this one will do infinitely better. These budget statements are much like a well stocked ten dollar store.


On the surface there is a little something in there for everybody who is interested enough to check it out. Surely, all the details and fine print do not matter at this stage; what matters is that everything is there and there's a bargain to be had. Stripped of the packaging, some of the things may make sense and may actually be of use. Not necessarily long-term use but some use. Others will be no more than beautiful or perhaps clever packaging, enough to bring a smile or fulfill a promise, with little chance of utility. In between, some things will not last the trip from the store. Still, no one returns to complain and no one returns the products. After all, it is what it is.
And therein lies the communication challenge because this budget could be the making of a manifesto.

The SSA/SIA- The buck stops with the PM- My column- Jan 2011

Politicians are human, take my word for it. Their natural tendency is to blame somebody and if that fails then blame somebody else. At first this Government blamed the previous PNM government and in the dodgy world of politics it was fair enough.When that rhetoric had run its course the blame was backhanded to the permanent secretaries and then shifted to Keith Rowley. Now the country's assault on a most irresponsible appointment to the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) is brushed off by the Prime Minister as a red herring served PNM-style. At the tail end the Deputy Director of the SSA is left holding the bag.
If the reports on the short-lived Director of the SSA are to be believed, this is no red herring and this is not the work of the deputy Director of the SSA. In this SSA fiasco the most disturbing fact is that the Prime Minister, as both head of the National Security Council and the Cabinet, failed to exercise sober and mature judgment in the selection and appointment of an "authorised officer" as the recent legislation describes the Director of the SSA.

The AG's statements in Parliament- My column- September 2010

In the movie industry, sequels are well-known. Sequels are rare in calypso, but an opportunity looms for Eric Taylor, once known as Pink Panther, to pen a sequel to his popular "Misprint". Panther could start with "I say Al Rawi and Hinds are my friends", they print "Al Rawi and Hinds in the ten". And there are other cases of misquotes, mistakes and misreads. It is all understandable, because since May 2010, there have been two sides of the Opposition. MPs have treated the Hansard like a tabloid, filling it with all that was wrong with the Manning-led PNM and the Panday-led UNC. In the Upper House, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan has stuck to this script and has regaled that House with the tales of Manning's PNM, now gone. Ramlogan's latest contribution has drawn immense attention, with the online Express version garnering over 400 responses.

Tribute to mommy- Mommy's Magic- My column- January 2011

Dear Mother. Tomorrow you will be 66: a youthful, vibrant and healthy 66. It's funny how the older I get, the older my idea of old gets. When I was 20 I thought a 50-year-old to be a geezer, but now I think of everybody as youthful. I know your grandchildren will disagree with my self-assessment but who cares: I don't hear half the things they say anyway and I don't understand the half I do hear.

Am I really expected to make sense of "OMG like whatever"? Or am I hearing you say "so be it" because you yourself never understood "hardest hard", "fresh", "cork" and "sick", the expressions I may have been clouted for using?

Fazeer Mohammed gone- Who next? My column- Nov 2010

Expect large shipments of "Play Doh", the Government's choice of material, for making State sector bosses and employees like Ken Ali, a man once jailed for defying a court-ordered ban on reporting a news story. Some existing State employees will not survive the barest scans in the rumour mill. For sure, the PNM bar code will be picked up, but other things will make some persons wholly unsuitable for a senior, or any, State job. The obvious defect is their spine, especially one which encases a working spinal cord. In this Politics 2010 version, one must not expect to be able to think independently of the central system, and stand up on your own at the same time. And this is not new, just the updated versions of the politics built for us since 1956. Fazeer gone, who next?

The T&T spy scandal- My column- Nov 2010

When I grew up in Rio Claro, the older people used to talk about shame bush. A  Patrick Manning revival says there is no shame bush in Parliament. A mouse in the House since his election hiding, Patrick the Peeping Tom overestimated the public’s collective dim-wittedness and amnesia; a photo of an incomplete house his way of making the spy scandal disappear.
Tough luck: no revelation by him could draw attention from the scandalous misadventure of using people’s constitutional rights as a footstool for gaining a vantage point to peer into their closets.
In any event, the PM’s improbable $150 million mansion is dwarfed by Manning’s defeat, prior disgrace and legacy of converting the Treasury into a personal slush fund. A growing number of expensive inquiries, commissions and investigations and the billion-dollar CLICO mess all conspire against Patrick.

Who is watching BP?- My column- Oct 2010

Another shuffle, new reporting relationships and a promise to do better. BP insiders will say these announcements are now typical of the oil and gas giant, built out of the former British Petroleum and AMOCO, with no guarantee that these are effective changes. In the US, BP's problems with refinery safety led to 15 deaths at Texas City in 2005.A major investigation, leadership changes and promises to do better followed. Now, with 11 deaths and billions of dollars in loss and damage in the Gulf of Mexico deep-sea drilling operations, there are more promises. T&T's Occupational Safety and Health Authority (OSHA) should be watching bpTT, if only to see if lessons are actually being learnt.

Corporate Governance- Caribbean Airlines- My Column- Dec 2010

Did the Government read the report of the Commission of Enquiry into the construction sector—the Uff Commission? If before a single board was appointed the Government got to page 10 of the 500-page report they would have found the caution: the relationship between Government agencies and ministers needs to be clarified and an express power given to ministers to give instructions, where it is believed that the minister should have that power.The Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) dispute will replicate itself across the State sector if the country fails to deal with the Uff Commission report.

Tribute to Norris Deonarine- My column- February 2011

Now Norris Deonarine is gone and the earth has lost some salt. In those hours after he saw his life in the sharpened edge of a three canal gone mad, my friend and one-time neighbour would have worked out that more money had been spent during his interrupted life on studying problems in agriculture than actually solving them.
Much of that money would have been divvied up by regional and non- regional academics, technocrats rammed down national throats by funding agencies and former bureaucrats trading their colonial-era desks for frequent flyer miles, in the name of consultancy. In only rare cases would a farmer be distracted from battling anything between felon and fungus to be asked, like Mary was, "how does your garden grow?"

Dealing with State Boards- My Column- October 2010

The only question is which of the State entities and their boards will, 24 months from today, be the headline acts for all the wrong reasons. Since UDeCOTT and the Uff Commission nothing has assured the public that the familiar path of shady dealings will not be trodden.
It is a waste of sensible people's time to debate the suitability of choices for boards and related State appointments. Competence, qualification, experience and ethnicity have not been decisive factors in predicting whether boards will be diligent or will land in trouble. UDeCOTT itself demonstrates that these are largely irrelevant: bad behaviour is not that selective.

Christmas Day, We Style- My column- December 2010

Trinidadians are too afraid of God to drive Christ out of Christmas: story done. Of course, also understand that the reverence is mixed up with hog and grog, all in moderation. Christmas has a special excitement about it, and a Trinidad and Tobago Christmas has a special craziness. Spend 364 days yakking about foreign subways and towers and massive malls. Overrate your Starbucks lattes: but if Christmas morning you not in Trinidad and Tobago, you loss.

The PM and her comments on aid to the Caribbean- October 2010

Ultimately, in a week of 180-degree turns, it's the Prime Minister's airside pooja which will fuel the next debate. In all of it, opinions will be heavily influenced by political support, a stubborn resistance to objectivity. Before the pooja, as Tomas was finished with St Lucia, the Prime Minister showed more political skin than she should in the circumstances, a tale about timing. With high winds around, Rowley and Ramlogan also needed better cover, saved from damage by their 180-degree turns. In Rowley's case a good lesson that, in politics, apologies are sometimes better than explanations.

The girl who made me cried- My column- October 2010

There is a photo of me, my face buried in my hands, simultaneously concealing and wiping away the tears. On Thursday, the person who made me cry will turn five. F.I.V.E—yes, like five fingers on one hand— as she would say. Parenting is an enormous challenge if only because parents know so little about it beforehand, a thing that is not taught. Knowledge comes, if it does, through experience and inadvertence and sometimes from bouncing off a series of struggles and challenges.For a few, knowledge comes at a gravesite, beside a hospital bed, or within prison walls. A recent Canadian report on the well-being of children casts a long view of childhood and leaves us fixed on those first 988 weeks upon which their entire lives depend.

Ethnic proportionality- My column- March 2011

Nizam's problem is the fact that in his soliloquy he adopted a cause which was not that of the Police Service Commission's (PSC) he was representing at the time. The matter belongs with the Commissioner and the courts through judicial review on the basis of institutional bias. Nizam, a lawyer, offered little by way of evidence that the Board's deliberations and decision-making were influenced by ethnicity and he did not explain the basis for dragging an unwilling and unprepared PSC into the discussion.

After Nizam...ethnic questions continue- April 2011

I am left with this question: did Nizam Mohammed expose the UNC or upset it? Nizam's submission to Parliament on ethnic proportionality was not accidental. It was grounded in the work of the AG, developed as a newspaper columnist, blogger and lawyer. The public must pay careful attention to see if this work is dead or if it will continue in anonymity and silence, advancing the so-called cause of Indians in a less obvious way. Or is it meant to advance a personal political agenda?

The Five L's of Success in Today World- November 2006

This is a summary published in Prezmen International- based on a speech I gave at the University of the West Indies graduation activities November 2006

Lennox Grant considers Alfred Aguiton challenge- Jan 2011

"To have been there at the start of what eventually became AMPLE, the advertising agency, is to be reminded of the slipperiness of the standing of those who practise, and who identify by the profession of, journalism. Brief words by Alfred Aguiton, surviving half of AMPLE's founding team, in rare print exposure last week, exemplified a facility for witty expression that could credibly be claimed as "journalistic".
Mr Aguiton's cameo on earlier references to him by Clarence Rambharat deftly aimed to cut in half the credentials of the Express columnist self-identified as "university lecturer and lawyer." The columnist, Mr Aguiton suggested, could amount to only half of each: "I kindly believe that from those to whom not much is given, not much is expected." Lest his words could be taken outside the spirit of free-range picong from a man who has what's called a way with words, he ended his letter to the editor: "As a co-Trinidadian, what I am indeed conscripted to do is to enjoy good humour."
Mr Aguiton inhabits language from the inside. To him the credentials of journalism attach as the defining character of a way with words, if not equally a way of life, and vocation."

Alfred Aguiton challenges a point in my column- January 2011

"I have often enjoyed Clarence Rambharat's column in the Express, and do look forward to his witty writing (if not always perspicacious politics).However, I'm thinking…I may be perhaps only half-sure of that now.
Of the four comments related to me in his January 18 piece, he got only two right."

Blogger Phillip Alexander analyzes my column- September 2010

In trying to get better at this writing thing, I practice by taking other peoples writing apart to get a better feel for the flow. It has become a signature move, this 'deconstruction' and commenting, one that others are more than willing to assist with after the fact. Some writers, given more space, could have said so much more.

Here is a good example; Clarence Rambharat, University lecturer and lawyer took Government Ministers Jack Warner and Anil Roberts to task for the most degrading and disgusting behaviors aimed at an ethnic group to which they are a part. Couched in a self deprecating style, the two of them, seemingly high on their achievements and sure of their lofty positions have literally 'put God out of their thoughts' and reduced the lot of my African brothers and sisters (in the Parliament no less), showing clearly why fools should be left out of serious discussion if we ever hope to rise as one people.

Praise for my column- Guardian- March 2011

Public scrutiny of governmental affairs and compelling public interest issues have heightened given the national and international exposure of manifest examples of improper professional advice and extremely poor decision making, in the Reshmi Ramnarine intelligence security scandal and the Government’s decision to cancel the offshore patrol vessels (OPVs).  Such decisions without careful consideration of the adverse implications on our national and international interests appear to be devoid of intelligence, bereft of reason, irrational and impaired judgment. At best, constructive criticisms should redound to the Government’s benefits and not looked upon as attacking the Government.  Clarence Rambharat’s articles in the Express and Theo Feruson, writing in the Trinidad Guardian are good examples of critical thinking for improved governance.

Is the Attorney General acting independently?

This so-called death penalty debate is mainly about the Attorney General's political survival and not crime-fighting. But since anything remotely connected to crime-fighting turns into a UNC/PNM all-fours competition, the scoreboard is out and the battle is on for political chalks. What follows is that a misdeal by the AG or reneging by the PNM will deny the country the use of potential trump in The Constitution (Amendment) (Capital Offences) Bill, 2011. In any interregnum, criminals are the ones to continue shouting bullseye and if you thought it could get no worse, well two pathologists will prove you wrong.

Greens seek compensation for Tobago chopping- My Express column-January 2011

It is alleged that on August 1, 2009 Clint Alexis chopped Tobago residents Peter and Murium Green. The Greens remain blameless so far and required major restorative surgery. Peter remained in a coma for a while and the couple is, understandably, deeply regretful of their semi-permanent move from the UK to Tobago more than five years before. Now as the story of their brutal attack resurfaces and details of their claim for compensation are exposed, three possibilities are evident but only one outcome seems likely.

A bend in the river - Hindustan Times

A bend in the river - Hindustan Times

The World Is What It Is- The Authorized Biography of V.S Naipaul- First Chapter

The islands of the Caribbean dot and dash their way through the sea, linking different worlds. Central America joins the southern and northern hemispheres, taking you up through Colombia, Panama and Nicaragua by the land route until you reach Mexico, or down through the shallows of the Atlantic from Florida to the Bahamas, skirting Cuba and Jamaica, passing Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, until you find yourself in the sprayed arc of islands known as the Lesser Antilles, some no more than a few miles across: Anguilla, Sint Maarten, Guadeloupe, Saint Lucia, Martinique, Grenada. At the tip of the chain lies a larger island which, beneath the sea or geologically, is part of the South American mainland. Almost square, with a low promontory at its south-western corner pointing to Venezuela, this is Trinidad.