One Nation

The storms continue over the twin island state. Overnight we had the big news from the PMOTT of a Cabinet reshuffle that actually turned out to be nothing more than a 'rehashle', obviously my word. The continued failure of this government to settle and get down to the business of running a country, the business of government and governance is startling to say the least. All politicians vying for office commit to doing XYand Z within weeks and the early months of winning an election. The current political party has been in government for decades, there are a number of members of the ruling party who have many years of experience under their respective belts. Why has the PMOTT chosen the biggest bunch of incompetence that he could possible find? The mind boggles! Moving persons around that would constitute an actual demotion, and the persons accepting it is a total embarrassment. Appointing persons who once held the position of Minister, removed and now re-entering as a junior M...

Today Trinidad and Tobago was on fire. The discussions on the 'apology,' discussions on the status of the Parliament, everybody is now a certified meteorological expert reporting rainy season rain, people were out and about being very assertive about things that many of them did not really understand. Heat in the place! The statements being made, which caused the 'apology' to then be made, were being said, I think, without really understanding who we are as a people. This is 2017 and we still are having trouble in coming to grips with many social and historic issues that strangely enough are being discussed every day in many places and yet it is only a problem depending on who makes the statement. Let me say that the statement that was made was, even though to many factual, however it rubbed people the wrong way. This is where I have a problem. You read columns written by certain persons that under no circumstances will offend any sector of the society. That same posi...

It's a dark and stormy night here in the Maraval Valley. Hearing thunder in the distance, heavy drizzle, wind, cool temperature. The small 'Bajan' frogs are revving tonight creating a racket. I guess it's the rainy season and this is what you get. It is now one week since Tropical Storm Bret came over the island and for many people things have not yet gotten back to normal. Reading one of the weekly columnists today writing about his growing up in a flood prone area and basically the family taking it in their stride every rainy season. He commented on the fact that his father knew where they were living and never blamed the authorities or demanded from the authorities any compensation for the losses suffered as a result of the annual floods. It is different now and demands are made for every 'big toe bounce'  and it seems that no one takes responsibility for their lot in life. Not sure where this came from but there has to be a line as to how far a government c...

What a week it has been. Between a tropical storm coming over the island, a storm in a tea cup over a TV show, a family wedding, peoples lives thrown into chaos as a result of the tropical storm and the subsequent flooding, back to back public holidays and other non scheduled no work days. Then, add the political fallout from the handling and mishandling of the tropical storm right up to the LOTO walking out of the Parliament. And we want to criticize the producers and presenter of the foreign TV series 'Parts Unknown.' It's a good thing he was not in T&T filming his show on our country during the last week. The issue of flooding is man made and therefore man must be held accountable and man must do the responsible thing and fix it. One week after the devastating floods we are still to hear from those in authority what is being done to prevent this annual disruption of the lives of many of our citizens. We continue to believe that handing out bottles of water and matt...

Looking at the pictures, and hearing the people who have suffered once again from flooding as a result of the heavier than normal rainfall as a result of Tropical Storm Bret one wonders why? Why is it that every single solitary year citizens of this country have to suffer through this man made disaster. We live in a place that just happens to be a tropical island, we have historical records of rainfall, we have more than eight [8] months of rain every year as a norm. What happens is not anything unusual, sometimes heavier than normal but nothing that we cannot deal with. Unless of course one accepts  the 'Savanah Syndrome.' The theory behind this is that if one attempts to push more mas bands through the Savannah at carnival without making major changes to the route and scheduling you will suffer a five and six hour congestion period. Likewise, if one continues to allow land and building development, in many areas illegal and or unsupervised, and one does not make provision fo...

Well once again the talk about who is a Trini and who said what, and now, who did what with reference to the Tropical Storm Bret. The fact is that even though we are out of the established hurricane belt, I assume that this imaginary line is determined by insurance companies, we are still susceptible to adverse weather conditions. All over the world countries have to deal with weather and other natural disasters. Some countries are extremely good at dealing with these disasters and some countries are indeed hopeless. We even have some countries that are good but at times are in fact hopeless, it all comes down to managing the instance. Where does that put T&T? good, extremely good or hopeless? I think if one examines what constitutes a well managed natural disaster there are a number of areas that you would rate a country's readiness and preparedness for both during and then the hard part, the aftermath. A named storm crossed over the island with winds just down from 60kph a...

Sitting here in Maraval tonight its very windy with the electrical power dipping every now and again. From all reports the storm has gone to the north and the island of Trinidad is OK. Tobago however could be in for a rough patch. The Tropical Storm, now named Bret, is the second for the season and was formed very low in the Atlantic and threatened both Trinidad and Tobago. The last time a hurricane was named Bret was in August, 1999. It was a category 4 hurricane that thankfully did not prove to be that destructive with minimum fatalities and physical damage to property. Of course I marvel at the officialdom in T&T. Today, the party boats were out sailing to wherever. The island is under a storm watch and nobody thought it wise to restrict non-essential marine traffic. The Tobago ferries were restricted, the offshore oil and gas platforms were being evacuated and we were at the same time loading 'feters' to go on a party cruise. What exactly is the protocol? If a storm e...

We are on the last leg of a very long weekend, from Corpus Christie to Labor Day tomorrow, a 5 day weekend for most people. We went 'down the islands' for the day and, even though it rained, it was great being in a place of quiet, good friends and plenty ole talk. Of course I have to notice all kinds of things, take in the surroundings and comment, most of the time to myself, but at least comment. So what did I see other than the lush hills of the Diego Martin and Chaguaramas valleys. After the very heavy rainfall over the last few days there was debris in the water but not much litter, surprisingly. Lots of vegetation floating but no styrofoam, maybe something is happening. Passing the prison island of Carerra one wonders why is this institution still operational? A decision was taken sometime ago that determined the facility was no longer feasible and should be closed. There is no reason to keep this prison open, it is expensive to maintain, its purpose is no longer ...

We can be a strange people, sometimes. No one likes being ridiculed or laughed at even though we have this wonderful trait of being able to laugh at ourselves. We are masters at picong and extempo. We find humor in most things, even to the detriment of persons who may have been physically hurt. As we say, everything is a big joke! Well, that is if one is not from here then it becomes an issue. Recently we had the 'rodie' incident in Toronto and now a famous TV food critic not only talking about how great our food is but that we a higher murder rate per capita than the city of Chicago. How could these foreigners be so insensitive? who told them that they could actually make a negative comment about our beautiful country. Imagine that! There is joke then they have damn joke and that is where we draw the line. Of course not for one minute thinking that if this is how a visitor with a critical eye sees things then maybe that is exactly what it is. I guess when someone else says i...

Today, we in T&T celebrate Catholic feast of Corpus Christi, the 'Body of Christ.' The feast dates back to the 13th-century. It was removed from the General Roman Calendar in 1969 but is still observed as a holy day of obligation in some predominantly Roman Catholic countries, not all. As glad as many of us are for yet another public holiday is this really necessary? I fully support persons who wish to continue in their religious traditions but do we need to have a public holiday for this day, especially where the world recognition is not widespread. Just like the up coming Labor Day 19th June, where only some trade unions recognize but everybody celebrates. Recently the 1st May was also recognized as Labor Day in T&T. We may want to revisit our public holiday criteria, if there is one. The AG is proposing 'drugalysers.' My spell check tells me that this is not a word. In 2015 the then Administration brought a Bill to the Parliament that would have revolution...

The distance the Tobago ferries have to travel between the islands is approximately 80 miles. For safety reasons the First Bocas cannot be used so the ferries sail through the Second Bocas which adds time on to the sailing schedule. The water or wave pattern is different on the sailing to Tobago as the wave comes at an angle to the sailing direction of the ferry that does not provide the passengers with the most comfortable ride. At certain times of the year, November to March in particular, the seas can get extremely rough. There have been cancellations of the service because of adverse sea conditions. The current design of the passenger ferries being used, the Incat hull, have proven to be the best to date. They are fast, in excess of 35 knots, which should give a sailing time of just over two [2] hrs. Being a catamaran type design, with a wave piercing capability, it is probably one of the best vessels for the service. There are newer designs of the same basic hull that can take...

Today was an uneventful day in Trinidad and Tobago. Well sort of, the news of a well known Catholic priest being robbed was of course not what we want to hear. Actually we do not want to hear of anyone being a victim of any crime so I hope the PMOTT will find a way to comment, as he has done with this most recent crime, on the 'miscreants' who are at it full-time. Or better yet how about the PMOTT reading the riot act to all connected with law enforcement and let them know that he will be dealing with them so beware, your jobs will be jumping up if you do not fix this permanently. It seems all went well for the ruling party's family and sports day. Good weather and from all reports very well attended. The media had pics of the more important people like the AG looking very buffed, must take a fair amount of gym time to not only get the 'bod' in that condition but also to maintain the 'buffness.' The musical chair segment did not show many happy faces. I gu...

What a week it was! Action on both sides of the pond. Revelations of a Presidency gone wrong and elections that were supposed to produce a very different result somehow failed to do so. What does all of this mean to T&T you may ask? What it does is show how real countries go about the business of governance. In the USA you had the most senior intelligence officer highlighting a situation that arose between him and the POTUS that obviously bordered on interference with the justice system. What was remarkable was the fact that all of this can be aired in public. In the USA it is the peoples right to know what the hell is going on and even if it directly involves the POTUS, it is still the peoples business. In the UK the sitting Prime Minister [PM] calls an early election hoping to win a bigger mandate than what she already had but instead loses more parliamentary seats than she previously held. The PM is now being questioned by her own party, with calls for her to step down. It is ...

He knew he did not have a chance to negotiate any sort of coalition with the other fringe parties but she also knew that and hurried off to take tea with Her Majesty and ask that HM request that she form the next government of the once great coloniser. So the UK elections are over and done and once again an electorate has shown that they are not to be taken for granted, especially the younger voters. One commentator remarked that the Labour leader was quite a campaigner, so even though you might not have agreed with his manifesto, he was likable, whilst the Conservative leader was a bit stiff. Anyway it all comes down to the result at the close of the poll and that's that. Maybe another election in Britain within the next 12 months, poor people. The Minister of Health has said ' there is no guilt, there is no process to be fixed.. all protocols were followed and he received the best treatment'. A human being has died within the confines of one of the country's lar...

Years ago a friend gave me a joke about a watchman he had on a job site. The guy told him ' Mr. Barry, doh worry, deh cyar fool me, I have everyting in written writing!' Well today proved 'Watchie' right. If the recently fired USA FBI Director did not make notes to self and write everything down, keeping a file on his meetings with the POTUS then he might be in serious trouble. What I thought was very scary was the fact that he states that after his first meeting he realised that he could not trust him, the POTUS. Of course I have to bring everything back to home. Who can we trust in this beautiful country of ours? The President, the Chief Justice, the PMOTT, the Cabinet, the LOTO, the Members of Parliament, the heads of the various security agencies, customs, immigration, Permanent Secretaries, Chairmen and Directors of state owned companies, who? When asked about anything all seem to have a different story. Is that not something? We the electorate have zero idea...

The time has come where we maybe should stop stating the obvious and concentrate on fixing the problem. The confusing news every day gets me tired as it never ceases. The decisions and actions by both the government and the opposition are not taking us to a better place. The poor people of Tobago suffering as they are and in the hallowed halls of officialdom its business as usual. We see this lazy attitude towards governance in many other instances. The taxpayers seem to be in a state of flux. Peoples lives have been turned upside down and they seem to think that it was God or someone else, definitely not the persons responsible, who have them in the current situation. I cannot do this anymore. Writing about the most simple things that affect people and it's as though the expectations are too high. Example, the PMOTT says that the ferry never shutdown at sea, it just left 45 minutes late because of a mechanical problem. You see what I am talking about. So, let us start the ideas...

After an enjoyable time in Europe recently and then a couple days in England, looking at what happened in Manchester and then last night in London really tells you that we live in one crazy mixed up world. In Manila, in Kabul the carnage continues. Buses being blown up, stadiums under attack, crowded market places anywhere the most damage can be done. Even though the attacks continue, despite the intelligence and surveillance by the various agencies, the speed at which others are arrested and detained amazes me. Apparently it takes approximately 30 officers to keep track of one suspect. The resources required are substantial but the various governments understand that the protection and safety of the citizens is paramount. Our garbage can bomber has never been identified. The fun in the sun and rain continues, we wake up in the morning and spend the day happily going about our business assuming that all is well. I guess just like the unsuspecting persons in London last night. The ...

Today was rainy, slow, and I did not make the best decision by having my car washed, the story of my life. It was a chores day and I accomplished most of them. As usual met some great people just chatting about whatever. The word of the day: 'pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis' It was actually spelt and pronounced by the 12yr old winner of this years Scripps Spelling Bee. The word was not part of the competition but imagine being able at your age to do the same thing. I know at least one of my friends who would leggo a big steups. I guess Google has not yet replaced everything and there is an entire generation out there that is so willing to learn. Reading, school libraries all critical to the long term development of the child. Can you guess how many Primary schools have functional libraries? And so the Law Association has taken a vote of no confidence in the Chief Justice [CJ] and it passed with the majority of the members voting 'Yea.'This appare...

I did not think that he would have done it. I really thought that after taking so much licks in his first months in office he would have maybe tried to re-negotiate the Accord. America is now out of one of the worlds biggest agreements on Climate Change and the POTUS has put American self interest first. Oh well lets see how this pans out. Can you imagine if the world starts to put sanctions on the USA for failing to meet the agreed to Paris Accord Climate Change mandates. Banning US commercial flights, banning US made vehicles, shipping, US manufacturers if they do not meet the standards. The way the world is moving do not for one minute that cannot happen.  I guess Volkswagen must laughing and the coal companies in India, who had just lost on supplying coal to 12 new power plants, all because India is moving with a speed to renewable energy. Also laughing must be the fossil fuel power companies in California who cannot wait to power up the State that has nearly achieved 80% o...