Let’s see what manner of insanity is in the local news today, shall we?

Public Servants Bicker as Our Roads Continue to Disintegrate

You know what it is to work in the private sector—where your boss could just catch a vaps and decide to cut your pay—only to watch public servants sit around point fingers while collecting your tax dollars? It eh easy.

Yesterday, it was the Secondary Road Rehabilitation and Improvement Company (SRRIC) CEO Antonio Ross and Works and Transport Ministry permanent secretary Sonia Francis-Yearwood at a Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) meeting:

Ross said yesterday SRRIC started off in one place and moved to another.

“I want to create an analogy and that analogy is this, if a family has a child and suddenly the husband brings the outside child into that family, will the outside child be treated the same way as the sibling who was always there?” he asked.

[…]

Ross said he knew the mandate for SRRIC.

“What I do know is that you took another company that has a specific mandate and put it next to, under the same umbrella, in the same household of one that is already fulfilling that mandate,” he said.

[…]

Finance manager Curlan Guiseppi said SRRIC made a request to the Ministry for additional funding but to date received nothing. “Besides the initial injection of $100 million, we are yet to receive any further funding,” he said.

PAAC chairman Bridgid Annisette-George asked if they engaged in any discussions with the Works Ministry and Finance Ministry with respect to this request.

Guiseppi said Central Audit would soon have more information as it had just reviewed all correspondence with respect to this.

Annisette-George asked the PS to explain the challenges to provide the funds.

Francis-Yearwood said when the Ministry received the request for $51.4 million from SRRIC last year, the Ministry informed the company that it can only provide $50 million as was stated in the budget and that more information is needed on the projects.

The Ministry asked for further information to be provided and this process has been going on, she said.

However, when asked by Annisette-George what is taking so long, Ross said all information had been provided.

“I am pausing because I am also being very particular about the words that I use. Notwithstanding the statement that was just made, we have provided all that was requested,” he said.

PS Francis-Yearwood said contrary to what Ross said, PURE was not established to do work for municipal corporations.

She also took umbrage over Ross’ analogy.

“The concept, the analogy, I’m really challenged by it because there is no need for statements about there’s this view of being some ‘outside’ or step child, it is challenging to understand where that has come from,” she said.

She said there was a process and she understands that a new company may not understand how certain things work.

The PS said as a public officer she has to follow the process as evidenced by the documentation.

Annisette-George asked what can be done to move forward.

The PS said in order for the funds to be given to the company, SRRIC needs to “comply”.

Ross said the impression being given is that SRRIC is not complying.

“That impression is false,” he said.

Ramdass, Anna. Secondary Road chief executive tells PAAC: Like an outside child. 13th June, 2024. Express

TL;DR, the SRRIC (Ross) feels like an outside child because the ministry’s first child—Programme for Upgrading Roads Efficiency Unit (PURE)—is getting better treatment. The ministry (Francis-Yearwood) says they can’t give the SRRIC money without the necessary information. The SRRIC says they already provided the info. The ministry furthermore doesn’t like the implication that it has a horner child. And the PAAC chairman is probably re-examining the life choices that brought her to this point.

MEANWHILE, no one is talking about the casual little revelation about corruption allegations that are already attached to this organisation, which is less than two years old:

Earlier this year, newspaper reports stated that SRRIC chairman Herbert George resigned and an audit was launched into the company amidst allegations of collusion, price fixing and bid-rigging.

Ramdass, Anna. Secondary Road chief executive tells PAAC: Like an outside child. 13th June, 2024. Express

So, I’mma talk about it. Allegedly, the SRRIC was busy issuing contracts despite being told not to and paying double market prices. It’s already spent $70 million out of the $100 million it received in 2022. Seems like maybe that’s why no one’s in a hurry to hand them another $100 million before the audit is complete.

It’s beyond me why these adults couldn’t simply say that, but while they’re busy bickering, nobody is fixing the craters on the road outside my gate. Lemme see if I can nudge them along by submitting a report on the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government’s new app, oui.

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Gov’t Powerless to Address its Own Allegations

Just yesterday, I was talking about how our Minister of Macaroni Pie—er, I mean Public Utilities accused the opposition of wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars without ever suggesting that he and his government might feel like doing something about that.

Today, I find our Minister of Finance doing the same thing:

Imbert also called Trinidad and Tobago a “unique” place, saying “only in Trinidad can someone who presided over the $400 million rape of the Treasury, where people were murdered and people had to flee the country, can be giving me ole talk in the Senate today”.

Imbert said those in the Government “don’t take tax money and give to criminals”.

Boodram, Kim. Imbert knocks ‘UNC activists at chambers’ Finance Bill passed. 13th June, 2024. Express.

Let’s just glide right over the way he invoked rape to speak about corruption and focus on how he’s here accusing the people on the other side of the room of stealing $400 million dollars, being associated with murder, and… I don’t know, I guess more stealing? With a side of criminal charity?

This is why I say we’re not serious about crime in this place. Because if the minister and his government believed that any of this is true, they’d be duty-bound to hold the perpetrators accountable, right? They’re not hard to find. They’re right there. If it’s not true, what are they even talking about?

Remember, these are the people who throw up their hands at all of the obstacles blocking them from addressing the spiralling crime situation and call on the public to give information so as to assist our beleaguered police force.

Right.

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Minister of Macaroni Pie Gets Sensitive

For people who speak to their constituents in the tones that they do, our leaders sure can be touchy when the constituents speak back.

IN anticipation of a planned protest which failed to materialise on June 12, the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) has responded with a list of measures to address critical water shortages in South and Central Trinidad.

The protest was reportedly planned for Chaguanas in the morning on June 12.

Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales condemned the move, one which he suspected might have been initiated by the Opposition United National Congress (UNC), as some of the areas it represents have been severely affected during the dry season.

Webb, Yvonne. WASA outlines ‘robust’ water relief measures. 11th June 2024. Newsday.

I’m not saying the UNC didn’t nudge their constituents towards a protest, I’m just saying that, when the matter at hand is the inadequate supply of a substance they require in order to live, I don’t think they had to nudge them too hard.

And that’s not to say that WASA didn’t put measures in place to mitigate the issue, just that it clearly didn’t work for everyone and it’s ok if they voice their dissatisfaction as a result. After all, it’s water, not Netflix. And the increasingly arid dry seasons aren’t news to anyone, especially not WASA. So maybe they want to step up those mitigation efforts.

Side note: I’m still waiting on an update on the National Rainwater Harvesting programme WASA signed an MOU for way back in 2022.

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UNC United in its Stand Against Accountability

It’s so nice to see the UNC’s warring factions come together to fight for the worthy cause of *checks notes* refusing to support whistleblower legislation.

I mean, if any of the allegations the govt’s been throwing around are true, I guess that tracks.

It’d be nice if they’d pick a struggle, though. Is it that the law unconstitutional or that they believe everyone’s too corrupt for it to be effective?

Sections of the Bill are inconsistent with Sections Four and Five of the Constitution and require a three-fifths majority for passage.

Government sources said the special majority requires 26 votes in support of the legislation. That means in addition to the PNM’s 22 MPs, the votes of four UNC MPs are needed for passage.

Moonilal, who spoke in the debate of the Bill in 2022, said: “The Opposition has very, very serious concerns about this Bill in the context of constitutional rights where fairness, justice and the right to confront accusers as well as other aspects are concerned.

“The PNM has no moral authority to speak about whistleblowers when they fire, hunt down and witchhunt people who bring information to the public on corruption and mismanagement. Prime Minister Keith Rowley is in his last political days. Whether this bill passes or not won’t change anything, they’ve proven incapable of dealing with everything from law and order to finance and the economy.”

UNC united in opposing Whistleblower Bill. 13th June 2024. Guardian.

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What if Our Electricity Rates DIDN’T Increase?

Listen, I don’t know JACK about the whole T&TEC, TGU, Powergen situation, but I like how this suggestion from Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) political leader David Abdulah sounds:

He said reintegrating power generation into T&TEC from the generation of electricity to transmission, output and distribution could save the power company millions.

Abdulah said if the power generators, in particular Trinidad Generation Unlimited (TGU) which is state-funded and Powergen which is 51 per cent owned by the state, are brought back into T&TEC, the company will save a quarter of a billion dollars a year. He said at present T&TEC has to pay for electricity that it doesn’t use and cannot sell.

?. Abdulah suggests alternative to TTEC rate hike. 13th June. 2024. Guardian.

Can an energy industry expert weigh in here and tell us if this man’s cooking?

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No More Trading Chits for Blood! 🙌🏾💉🩸

The culture shock was real when I returned to T&T as a young adult. I was indeed that annoying cousin constantly comparing the land of my birth to the one of my upbringing. In my defence, I was young and obnoxious. Now that I’m old and obnoxious, I’ve gotten used to most of our nation’s foibles (even if I’m obviously not ok with some of them).

One thing I’ve never quite been able to wrap my head around is the blood donation chit system. I first encountered it many years ago when a friend asked me to donate for a relative. I was confused at first because I thought they meant a direct donation and I didn’t even know my blood type to say whether I’d be compatible. When they explained that it was actually about replacing the quantity so there’d still be blood for others, I was like “ok, cool.” When they further explained that they needed a certain amount of pints to ensure that their relative would be given enough blood, I was floored. And then I was devastated to have to tell them that the bank turned me away because I was anemic.

To this day, I’m not sure what happened if someone didn’t get the necessary number of donations. Would they just be left to die? I never asked because I was afraid of the answer.

And now I’ll never have to find out because the Ministry of Health has finally decided that this probably isn’t the best way to encourage people to share their bodily fluids.

Although donors only provided 1,915 units of voluntary non-remunerated blood between 2022 and 2023, Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh says the Government is going ahead with plans to scrap the “chit for blood” system.

In written responses to questions from Independent Senator Deoroop Teemal on Tuesday, Deyalsingh said the traditional blood banking system is disadvantageous to patients without access to donors, especially those requiring regular transfusions, or in need of blood in emergencies. The current system gives preferential access to relatives of patients who donate blood when needed and those with the right to reclaim their donations for future use.

Deyalsingh said equitable blood collection and banking systems can be achieved through voluntary, non-remunerated donations that collect enough blood that is freely available for clinical needs.

“Therefore, the removal of the chit for blood system is a strategic objective of the Ministry of Health and this Government, since it views that system to be very daunting and unfair with the potential to compromise the safety of donors and persons awaiting blood transfusion,” he said.

The minister reiterated that the ministry’s objective is to collect at least 40,000 units of blood annually within the next three years using the non-remunerated blood donation model.

Health Ministry scrapping ‘chit for blood’ donation systeml. 12th June, 2024. Newsday.

This is one of those things where I want to praise our leadership for finally seeing the obvious but also give them a little tap while asking what took them so damned long.

So damned harden.

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Education Minister Calls for Assistance She Already Has

It’s no secret that I’m not the Education Minister’s biggest fan; just feel like the person in charge of the way we mold young minds should be a little quicker on the uptake.

There are people in this country who have spent their entire lives attempting to help the Ministry of Education move into the 21st century, and yet, here’s Nyan Gadsby-Dolly asking how we can transform the education system:

The Ministry of Education is seeking greater partnerships with schools and private-sector businesses. This was announced by Education Minister Nyan Gadsby-Dolly on Tuesday at the cook-off rounds of the I-EAT competition sponsored by the Ministry of Education and by Nutrien, at the Preysal High School. 

Gadsby-Dolly said young people are not taking full advantage of the opportunities available to them.

“The question is what do we do about it as a country because if we allow our young people to go astray then we are affecting the future of T&T and education is the biggest opportunity that is afforded to our young people but our education has to look different in 2024 from how it looked in 1960, 1965, because our children are different, our society is different.”  

Gadsby-Dolly said the Ministry of Education cannot transform the education system without the assistance of the community and corporate T&T.

“We need the help of corporate T&T, civil society, we need the help of everyone to deal with our problem that we are facing and in this regard the Adopt-a-School programme was conceptualised to formalise the collaboration and partnership with the Ministry with corporate T&T,” she said. 

Boodan, Shastri. Gadsby-Dolly wants to partner with private sector to “transform” education system. 12th June 2024. Guardian.

Clearly somebody needs JAVA lessons.

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Anyhoo, those were the news stories that raised my eyebrows today.

What’d you think of them? Did I miss any interesting ones? Let me know in the comments!