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Complicated?







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 required. Shut it down!
All the wrecks in the gulf are still there, in 2014 we had put in a budget for the removal of over 56 wrecks in the area, did not get the approval for the project, so all the half submerged vessels are still there creating a navigational hazard. One wonders what goes through the minds of the budget people at the Ministry of Finance, even after a detailed justification of the project.
The Coast Guard base at Staubles Bay was congested, meaning that very few vessels were actually out at sea patrolling our waters, maybe because it was Sunday. Friends tell me that they have been down the islands for the last however many days and not seen a single Coast Guard vessel on patrol. It could be they only patrol in the wee hours of the morning when the drug, people smugglers and gun dealers operate. I am not sure how many instances of stop and search operations have been carried out and have in fact stopped drugs, guns and people smuggling. From all recent reports the AK 47's are coming in barrels shipped to individuals, through normal shipping channels.
Saw the drill ships that are being cold stacked in the Gulf of Paria. There are now nine [9] drill ships moored there earning USD for the country. The problem is there is no policy for the cold stacking and there is no mechanism for the contractors of the 'cold stacking' to pay the fees to the government. By the way, the Gulf of Paria is a perfect place for cold stacking.

The murder of the Chinese couple in Marabella is very worrying, not because an international TV food critic might mention it, but it confirms the existence of organized crime on the rock. It also confirms that the TTPS is totally incapable, inept, has no intelligence whatsoever, does not have a clue as to what is going on, and should be disbanded. Why are we hoping against hope that someone in the TTPS will actually know how to fix this problem.  Shut the TTPS down and start over.

It's the same issue with the EFCL. How can a state enterprise not account to the taxpayer? What absolute dotishishness is this? You drag the Board or Management before the Ministry of Finance and deal with it. Not accounting to the taxpayer cannot be an option, how can this be a position?

Anyway, my sojourn down the islands brought me back to where I am and why I love where I live, it is a great country.

Tonight's viewing of the famous TV critic on T&T is not available on the local channel's for whatever reason, big deal. His one statement that 'T&T is complicated' is all so true.





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