Port-of-Spain – Political scientist Selwyn Ryan has indicated he is still awaiting results as the slow “Fabian approach” to governing of the PNM continues. September 7 marks the government’s two-year anniversary in office.
Speaking to the media last week, Ryan recalled endorsing Prime Minister Keith Rowley and the PNM following its general election victory in 2015.
“I was frankly open in my endorsement of Dr Rowley, and expressed my confidence that great things would be forthcoming from him,” Ryan recalled. However, he said he was “still waiting” for this to take place.
Ryan noted then Rowley issued the call for pan tribalism, urging parties, pressure groups and the community at large to adopt a non-confrontational and “Fabian approach”.
Said Ryan: “The PNM felt that if they were radical in their anti-corruption drive they might be accused of using the State to cleanse the Augean stables, as is now being done.”
However, Ryan noted he was disappointed pan tribalism “persists in all its vigour and raw vulgarity”.
Said Ryan: “UNC voters and supporters, fearful of what might happen down the road, sought to retain that which they had won over the past five years of UNC rule. They felt it was urgent to consolidate the gains they had won, and sought to defend their turf. There was little thought for the state of the economy which has virtually crashed and in which scarcity prevails.”

He added: “The race is, therefore, not for the swiftest. It has in fact just begun. One is being asked to adopt the slower march of the Roman Consul like Quintus Fabian who in 233 BC indicated that he preferred the slow din of battle rather than a rapid-firing dictatorship. We will wait and see who will prevail. The issues are currently on the crowded judicial agenda, but we have to respect the authority of the High Court. The future is not optimistic.”
On the other hand, political analyst Dr Winford James gave the government a five out of ten grade for its performance over the past two years, saying it has performed well in some areas, but fallen short in other places, such as with crime.
He gave the government a thumbs-up for its handling of the country’s economic woes, noting it had to contend with fewer resources and less revenue.
“In terms of maintaining a level of economic stability, the government seems to have done very, very well,” James noted.
Additionally, “The government has to be given kudos for managing social dislocation as a result of the more than 50 percent decline in the price of energy.”
However, James felt enough had not been done to move the country away from dependency on oil and gas.
“For economic development, the government has not done very well on diversification of the economy. The government has been timid or unadventurous in that regard. Diversification seems to be the way to go if we are going to renovate the economy in a way that would create more jobs and give people the kinds of standards of living that they were accustomed to before the calamitous and precipitous fall of energy prices,” James declared.
James noted the PNM had promised to reduce the rate of crime, but this did not happen.
“We don't seem to have had the kind of success that the PNM government allowed us to think would be available to us. They haven’t done very well on crime,” he said.
He also noted despite cutbacks, most notably on its Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses programme, the government has managed the area of education effectively.
“The government has had to scale back its contributions to tertiary and post-secondary education because of the abuse and wastage of the system. But it has been scaling back by putting in management systems that would cut out the waste. It is not going to be done as willy-nilly as it was in the past,” he said.
Asked whether he felt the previous administration had performed better in its first two years than the current government, James said it would not be a fair comparison.
“The PNM inherited a state of affairs... whereas the (former) People’s Partnership, for most of its term, had fantastic conditions where oil and gas prices were concerned. So we cannot compare that time with what is happening now,” he said.

Port-of-Spain – Following his appearance in court last week, former People's Partnership Attorney General Anand Ramlogan has said he is optimistic “justice will prevail” and he will emerge victorious. Ramlogan has been charged with misbehaviour in public office and obstruction of justice.
"We anxiously await the day in court when the people who have made these scurrilous allegations will enter the witness box and subject themselves to the cross examination that will prevail," he added.
Ramlogan, 45, appeared before Magistrate Nanette Forde-John in the Port-of-Spain Magistrate's Court on the two charges days after a large police party descended on his home in Palmiste, south Trinidad on August 29. He was detained on "reasonable suspicion" following allegations made against him in 2015 by Police Complaints Authority head David West.
After 12 hours of grilling on 189 questions from police and Ramlogan's own 40-page package of responses, he was charged 36 hours after his detention. He is now out on (TT) $750,000 bail.
Ramlogan was cool and calm in court last week accompanied by his attorney Pamela Elder, his wife Nalini and aides, with attorney Gerald Ramdeen alongside. He spoke with the media following the hearing.
"I have waited a very long time to have my day in court and remain confident that the truth shall set me free. I have no doubt that justice will prevail in this matter and I will emerge victorious," he said.
Ramlogan added: "It has been a very harrowing and distressing experience to be subjected to the execution of a search warrant with such a large contingent of police officers at my home. My primary concern now is for my young children and my family and I intend to protect them and ensure that this trial does not affect them. Other than that, I intend to continue what I've always done, which is to fight for the downtrodden and underprivileged in Trinidad and Tobago…"
He did not respond to questions about whether he felt politically persecuted.
Throughout the hearing, a middle-aged woman occupied an area outside the court shouting encouragement to Ramlogan while berating the PNM leadership.
"All will be well with the AG (Ramlogan)! God large and in charge. The AG will be alright!" she declared.
Ramlogan was also taunted by a middle aged female PNM activist, and another woman, both who shouted at him. "God don’t sleep, boy!" was one of the taunts shouted to Ramlogan.
Other UNC supporters were also present at the proceedings. UNC chairman David Lee later denied a claim by a radio station the party had directed supporters to gather at the court.
"If anyone came out they did so of their own volition," he said.

Port-of-Spain – Retired head of the public service Reginald Dumas last week said the faux pas which led to the revocation of Robert Le Hunte’s appointment as Public Utilities Minister after he was believed to be a citizen of Ghana is yet another example of the declining quality of governance in Trinidad and Tobago.
“We are achieving that decline in governance at our peril,” Dumas said.
“We are allowing our institutions to be damaged and if we are not careful, eventually, they will be destroyed. If that happens we will not have a country worth the name,” he declared.
The first appointment of Le Hunte was revoked after it was brought to the attention of the Office of the Prime Minister the new minister was a citizen of Ghana.
The Opposition United National Congress criticised the development, describing it as sheer incompetence on the part of the PNM.
Dumas said he was not as interested in the Le Hunte issue as a separate matter as he is in the development as an example of the “inadequate governance we have been experiencing in recent times in the country”.
Said Dumas: “We have had a series of what are, to me, embarrassing happenings and episodes where no one has done anything to us. We have been doing it to ourselves.”
Dumas listed the controversies surrounding former Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar, supposed photos of Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi’s children at a shooting range at Camp Cumuto, the revocation of the appointment of Marlene McDonald as housing minister and the ongoing inter-island seabridge fiasco as examples of declining governance.
“Today, it is Le Hunte and tomorrow it will be something else. I am embarrassed as a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago that 55 years after the achievement of political independence, we should be doing this to ourselves. That is my concern – that we are looking foolish. That we cannot point a finger at anybody else. We have to point a finger at ourselves,” he said.
Additionally, “Look at ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves, ‘What is going wrong?’ Because, it is we who are doing it and damaging our institutions – the Judiciary, Defence Force, Parliament, Cabinet – all of these are major institutions in the country.”

Port-of-Spain – The government’s 2018 Budget is shaping up to involve continued "serious cutbacks" in ministries' allocations. It is expected to be delivered at the end of the month.
The signal came following meetings of ministries with the Ministry of Planning and other divisions regarding Budget aspects.
Following those meetings, government officials said the expected time line for delivery of the 2018 package is late September. The officials noted Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley returns from his US medical check-up on September 11, and is expected to meet trade unions right after that. The current second session of Parliament also prorogues September 21.
The Third Session of the Parliament will begin immediately after the proroguing, and announcement of the 2018 Budget date is expected at the opening of the new session, or immediately after.
A ten to 20 percent cut in expenditure is so far projected for most ministries, several of which are currently planning how to cope with the expected cuts.
According to reports, ministerial quarters have been monitoring whether the Budget may end up being less than the 2017 package of (TT) $53 billion.
Given this possibility, officials were looking at it positively, saying one perk out of a possible smaller Budget of around $48 billion to $49 billion is the deficit will be decreased. The 2017 deficit was around $6 billion to $7 billion.
Government sources said last week the biggest challenges are meeting recurrent expenditure and stimulating the economy, now acknowledged to be at a standstill.
Whether this will be done through more belt-tightening and subsidy cuts, continued staff attrition and non-renewal of contracts, or closure of more of the 78 state entities beyond six so far is yet to be worked out. The continuing shortfall in VAT collections also needs to be addressed.
The government's signature project, the planned Sandals resort in Tobago, is also yet to be finalised. Negotiations are still underway, and the government has not yet signed anything with the Sandals group. Until that is finalised, project officials noted the government cannot trigger its plan to seek private sector investment from the major conglomerates to develop the resort site. Estimates are that the project will have to break ground by year-end in order to be completed by 2010- 2021.
The administration said recently local conglomerates would have been invited to participate in the project development aspect via a public/private sector partnership. The Jamaican Sandals outfit was being wooed for operation of the resort aspect.

Port-of-Spain – Water, 100 percent fruit juices, low fat milk and blended vegetables or fruit drinks with no added sugars and/or artificial sweeteners are to be offered for sale at all government and government assisted schools.
This was revealed last week by the Ministry of Education’s chief executive officer Harrilal Seecharan.
He said the ministry recognises reasonable time should be afforded to enable concessionaires to abide by the decision of Cabinet, and as such, a phased approach is recommended whereby all cafeterias/canteens must be in compliance no later than September.
“School supervisors and principals are therefore requested to bring this to the attention of all personnel involved in the sale or serving of drinks to students in schools including operators of cafeterias/canteens. School supervisors and principals are also asked to note that they are required to monitor this policy to ensure compliance in all schools,” Seecharan said.
He added as part of the strategic framework to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases, and to address the epidemic of childhood obesity, the ministry in collaboration with the Ministry of Health will be introducing a number of measures.
President of the National Parents Teachers Association, Zena Ramatali said the group supports the Ministry of Health’s initiative, and have been reaching out to parents to engage their children in drinking more water and eating healthier foods.

Port-of-Spain – A "floating island" spotted off Icacos last week is actually a mat of floating vegetation likely expelled from one of the major rivers in Venezuela. Trinidad and Venezuela are about eight miles apart at the closest point.
Floating mats of aquatic plants are often seen in the Columbus Channel, the passage between Icacos Point on the south-western top of Trinidad and the marshlands of Venezuela.
However, this time the mass of vegetation is large enough to carry fully-grown trees and shrubs. Dozens of people have since taken fishing boats out to the "island" and were able to "land". Similar vegetation washes ashore along much of Trinidad's south coast and sometimes the east coast depending on the strength and direction of the currents.
Local fisherman Jamal Abdool said that "floating island" sightings are common to Cedros residents. These mats of vegetation usually occurs as a result of heavy rainfall, and given the water currents, the mats are pushed towards the Trinidad coastlines. He noted it can be quite dangerous to humans, saying wildlife such as snakes, crocodiles, agouti and various birds have been spotted from time to time on these "floating islands".
Abdool said water lilies provide the island with its buoyancy, hence it being able to float.