Author Archives: The Pantomime

Acting With Integrity

Posted on by

 

kamla and jackThe Integrity in Public Life Act will turn 13 in November of this year. Most of us view the Act and the Integrity Commission as useless. The average citizen thinks the purpose of the IC is to find out the assets of persons functioning in public life and to publish an annual list of those public officials who have transgressed the law. Indeed, the Integrity Commission has done little to dispel that public perception of its duties.

The opening sentences of the Act states that the Commission’s purpose is to provide “for public disclosure, to regulate the conduct of persons exercising public functions; to preserve and promote the integrity of public officials and institutions…” What many of us don’t know is that the Integrity Commission has real teeth. Their duties don’t just stop at publishing a list of miscreants and submitting a report to the Senate every year. Their power reaches far beyond financial disclosure.

The folks over at the Integrity Commission can scrutinise any person in public life or exercising public functions. This includes the Prime Minister, the AG, Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament, members of state boards, and persons working in the Public Service, Judicial and Legal Service, Police Service, Teaching service, Statutory Authorities’ Service Commission, Diplomatic Service and Advisers to the Government.

If you re-read that list slowly and digest its importance you will realise that the Integrity Commission has oversight of the activities of so many sectors of our country that if the Commission was properly staffed and working efficiently it should, theoretically, be able to root out a lot of the corruption and inefficiency prevalent in our society.

Ken GordonFurther examination of the Act reveals that an investigation by the Integrity Commission could lead to more than just your name being published in the newspapers. There is a fine of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars attached to the offence of non-declaration of assets. As a person in public life, you also have to declare the assets and liabilities of your spouse and dependent children; and if you holding money or property in trust for another person you have to declare the trust, though not the specific details. Page 15 of the Integrity in Public Life Act has a long list of interests and must be declared. You have items such as contracts made with the state; companies or partnerships in which the person is an investor; beneficiary interest in any land; particulars relating to sources of income; and anything else that might cause conflict between private interests and public duties.

Are you wondering where I am going with this? Think Jack Warner, his spouse, their children, his assets and many affiliations that might be in conflict with his public life.

Mr Warner has been serving in public life since November 5th, 2007. His activities as a member of the Caribbean Football Union, Concacaf and FIFA are public knowledge. Since becoming a member of government in 2010 there have been allegations and speculations hovering over Warner. We have an Integrity Commission in Trinidad and Tobago that is at least a decade old. Why did it take a report from Concacaf to unearth information that Warner has been less than forthcoming about his business interests and financial transactions dating back from 2006?

Back in November 2012 there was a local newspaper report indicating Warner was the subject of a probe by the IC. Fixin TnT’s Kirk Waithe has been at the forefront of calls for Warner to be investigated based on discrepancies with public monies.  In his complaint to the IC, Waithe pointed out funds being transferred from the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation into private accounts, and the transfers were often in the range of millions of dollars.  Millions of dollars of public monies that we still await accountability on. And mind you, these discrepancies happened under a PNM regime; not UNC or PP. So we can’t even claim that it is Warner’s cronies who might be protecting him or smoothing the way.

When questioned about the nature of the probe, Martin Farrell, the Registrar of the IC, responded saying: “The Integrity Commission is not in a position to comment on your request. As you will appreciate, having regard to the nature of its mandate under the Integrity in Public Life Act, the Commission is required to treat with all matters with the utmost confidentiality.”

Fast forward now to April, 2013, in the aftermath of the report from Concacaf’s Integrity Committee and there is still a deafening silence from the various bodies and authorities here. The last we heard from the DPP on the matter of Warner, the police had been instructed to look into whether Warner had breached Customs and Excise laws. The probe by the AG into Warner seems to have stalled. And the Integrity Commission remains as enigmatic as ever. Saying little, but alluding to an ongoing probe that has thus far yielded little satisfaction to the public.

After reading the Concacaf Report you have to ask yourself what exactly is the problem with us here that we can have so many institutions and systems in place, and have them constantly fail us. Why is investigating Warner and making him answerable to the public so difficult? Why does an Integrity Commission, enacted with so much power on paper, often seem so weak? When exactly are these bodies responsible for public oversight actually going to start earning their keep? Or are we going to have to launch a probe not just into Warner, but into the integrity of our Commissions?

We spinning top in mud in this place….Full Dotish Mode!

About these ads

Of Tsunamis and Hurricanes

Posted on by

The only thing missing from Warner’s “Straight Talk” rally on Thursday night was the world’s smallest violin, wheezing away mournfully. That thousands of people showed up to support Warner and cheer at his comments is a testament to the calibre of our voting public. Even worse, representatives of a party, who three years ago, would vote out the PNM for allegations of fraud, corruption and squandermania, now resolutely ignore the allegations against Warner and instead praise him for building box drains in their community. Yes folks, box drains are now the official UNC gauge for progress in the country. Moonan doesn’t need to move a mountain, just build a drain.

Warner spent hours last night going through some thirty plus pages of notes and at the end of the evening, the impression I came away with from the speech wasn’t that he had cleared his name, but rather that he was subliminally telling the crowd, “Yes, I took money. but I share some of it with you.” The disconcerting thing is, I think the crowd at the Pierre Road Recreation Ground last night were quite happy with that message and could care less what it implies about Warner as a person, MP and politician. Now what does that tell you about some of the constituents of Chaguanas West?

In a classic Panday move last Thursday night, Warner set out to circle the wagons before he announced his resignation as MP. The stage was set nicely. A fete is thrown for the constituents, to remind everyone of Warner’s largesse. He then mounts a stage, twists some of the allegations of the Concacaf Report around adequately to confuse the audience in to thinking the allegations against him may be false. He subtly reminds the more savvy members of the audience that he is a financier and can influence other financiers of the party. Then he declares his love for the party and his loyalty to Persad-Bissessar, while at the same time revealing that there are at least three members of the Cabinet who are against him. Signaling to the electorate that he is a man beleaguered by enemies, he is under threat, the Prime Minister isn’t making up her own mind, it’s being made up for her.

After last night, Warner has made it explicitly clear the pressure he is going to put on the UNC government in light of what now appears to be a forced resignation. But bear in mind that a week has passed and we still don’t know the complete truth about his resignation. Warner insists that he resigned because a newspaper reported that the Prime Minister was stunned after reading the Concacaf Report. According to Warner, when he queried this report, the PM said she never said she was stunned. The PMs response to fraud and corruption allegations, not the allegations themselves, is what leads to him resigning?

Andre Jennings and Lasana Liburd have been saying for years, what the Express is only reporting this week. Liburd’s Wired868 online new site often has the most cutting edge stories on Warner, complete with documental evidence. Neither the PM nor her advisers have an excuse for being clueless about Warner’s activities. But it is typical behaviour of Persad- Bissessar to affect the attitude of clueless female, always the last to know; yet another act of feigned helplessness so that we will commiserate with her and think, “Poor lady, look how them fellas running rings around her.”
But the allegations against Warner aren’t anything new. We can go as far back as 1989, if not further, and ask into whose pockets did the money for the oversold tickets fall into.

And with the timeline created by the Concacaf Report, you now have to ask yourself questions about how exactly the UNC has been funded all these years. This is the third financier of that party to have such serious allegations over his head. And at every turn it appears that the money being sunk into the UNC has a questionable past. Ish and Steve have money laundering questions to answer in the US, while it appears that Warner has been systematically moving funds from the accounts of other entities into his. Is this the kind of funding that keeps the UNC afloat? Is this the kind of funding that brought them into power? The leadership of the party isn’t perturbed by this? The other members of the coalition think this kind of funding is new politics? Because let’s be real with ourselves, COP, MSJ and TOP were all quite contented to use Warner’s funding in 2010, and turn a blind eye to the allegations then. Indeed, Ramadhar was one of the first to congratulate Warner when he became Minister of National Security less than a year ago. Clearly then the shadows following Warner were not a problem. So why is it a problem now? What is it about that Concacaf report that has everyone so willing and ready to believe Warner should step down, when they were so clearly avoiding making such statements before?

In a matter of days we went from Communications Minister Jamal Mohammed publicly declaring full Cabinet support for Warner, to Ramadhar, less than 24 hours after Mohammed’s declaration soundly refuting collective support and writing a stern letter to the PM demanding Warner’s resignation. Who knew he had it in him?

And then there is the matter of Warner’s replacements. Both Emmanuel George and Khadija Ameen are close allies of Warner. Indeed, it seems once Warner gives up a ministry, former DJ Hurricane George is on hand to take it over. This is the same Emmanuel George whose name has been mentioned alongside Ganga Singh, Hafeez Karamath, Desalcott, Inncogen and the short pants man, not so? And I should trust him with security? As for Miss Ameen, there is little about her performance in office thus far to suggest she has what it takes to be an effective leader.

His resignation as security minister has allowed Kamla to put significant resources into the hands of Suruj Rambachan. Minister of Works AND Local Government? Might a certain political party be fearful of losing Local government elections? If you thought THA was squandermania, just wait.

With Warner’s resignation as MP for Chaguanas West in full effect, expect even more entertainment for your money than usual in the next three months. His seat can’t remain vacant. So essentially, the country will be gearing up for two election campaigns in the coming months. Watch the rum and roti flow folks. The tsunami ain’t coming, it reach.

Active Citizenship Discussion at UWI….

Posted on by

The folks in the Cultural Studies unit at UWI have started a series of discussion with activists and active citizens. From 1-4pm today you can come out and talk to afra Raymond, Hazel Brown and Michael Als at the Social Sciences Lounge…..it’s time to Participate in your Citizenship ACTIVELY!

Active Citizenship

Yes, Opposition Leader…

Posted on by

candidate_keith-rowley-lgAnother too good not to share posting from Wired868

Scene: Office of the Opposition Leader

PNM Senators Faris Al-Rawi and Fitzgerald Hinds walk in and stiffly shake hands with Opposition Leader Keith Rowley. Al-Rawi sits closest to the door, which is slightly ajar.

Rowley walks behind the two seated Senators and slams the door shut.

Keith Rowley: You two think you’re in a savannah?! You don’t respect this office?!

Faris Al-Rawi: My good sir, it was only my intention to permit the free exchange of oxygen through your esteemed bureau so as to deliver a metaphor as we provide life to a position of the highest prominence.

Fitzgerald Hinds: He still feels a little nervous about being in an enclosed setting with you, boss. I told him that he shouldn’t worry and you’re a great guy once he gets to know you better.

Rowley glares at both men.

Rowley: Well, what is it? I still don’t understand why it is taking two grown men to deliver one point. You think this is a URP job or what?

Hinds laughs loudly and slaps his knee.

Hinds: Good one, boss.

Rowley: I wasn’t joking.

You can read the rest here.

Clock Back and Roll

Posted on by

 

Power Outage 2It’s been a hectic 3 days….and it has nothing to do with Christ’s resurrection…

We are still to receive any answers from the folks at PowerGen, NGC or Phoenix Gas as to how the fuel levels dropped to so sharply Thursday evening to lead to the black out in the late hours of Thursday night into Friday morning…..

As you know, I’ve questioned the clock on the wall at Powergen Penal and the times on the wall and the times of the PM’s visit and what it says about best practice at PowerGen and what it might imply for the PMs visit to PowerGen.

So, I’m going to raise a few more questions again this evening.

You know that everytime a camera takes a picture it does a time stamp of the picture on the file. In older cameras you would actually see the time stamp on the image.

In more advanced cameras the time stamp….or meta data remains hidden to the human eye.

If you upload pictures to FB the date stamp is removed…but not all sites remove the time info from pics.

So let’s say you sent pictures to a site like TT Energy Update your time stamp remains.

If you click on those pictures and copy and paste their link into a website like Find Exif.com then you can see the date stamp on a picture….by that, I mean the time the picture was taken.

I got time stamps of 8:13 am.

Take a look at these screen shots and then try it yourself using the links i provided above.

Check out the time stamp on this...

Check out the time stamp on this…

timestamp3

Now the time stamp says 8:13….AM….the clock says 21:13:58…..factor in that these clocks are attached to satellite computers and so daylight savings time pushed the clock forward by an hour…then the PowerGen clock is 12 hrs off plus 1 hr for the daylight.

Even if you don’t accept that….I seriously doubt that the internal clock on the camera that took the PMs pictures changed its time to show 8:13 am….

Tell me what you think the timestamp data tells you.

In the meantime, you think PowerGen can send any senior technicians to explain what really happened last Thursday night?

Full Dotish and Full Dangerous!

Watching Stopped Clocks

Posted on by

Power Outage 1Apparently my little blog post about a malfunctioning clock in the PR pictures of the PM inspecting the power plant in Penal on Good Friday morning has raised a shit storm. But I will let the storm take care of itself, while I raise some more questions.

Kamla’s government is well known for its use of PR and image management, but not necessarily its efficient use wpid-IMG-20130328-WA0001.jpgof it. If the government was successfully managing its PR, the population wouldnt even notice it. They would be swept up in the hype, not questioning it at every turn.

In fact, the government’s use of hype is often so vulgar the only reaction it provokes is disgust.

But let’s get back into this clock.

I got up this morning and the first thing I did was pull the battery out of my phones. I waited about 10 minutes, popped the battery back in and switched the phones on. The phones booted up and switched to the correct time.

I then did the same thing with my microwave and electric stove. Pulled the plug and then plugged them back in. Both the stove and microwave went back to 00:00.

I then pulled out a Nokia phone that I keep stored safely away for the end of the world. This phone isn’t charged regularly, once every few months; and it is switched off. I switched it on after months of no use and it immediately had the correct time.

Why am I going into all of this? To show you how ridiculous the government’s response about the clock at Powergen having shut down and not re-started properly is.

All afternoon yesterday my blog and anyone on FB or Twitter who dared share my thoughts and questions on why the clock was telling the wrong time was ATTACKED by supporters of this government.

Some folks came along and offered their counter-scepticism, which is fine…but the vitrolic attacks is where I draw the line. When I can’t question my government in peace, on a private or public medium, I know that something is wrong.

The irony is that the blog post didn’t just question the PM’s visit, it also raised questions about the efficiency of operations at PowerGen. But Kamla’s Minions were deployed to attack…not think.

Nat Sec Minister.....

Nat Sec Minister…..

So we have a situation wherein a nation experiences a power outage. It is classified as a Level One National Security issue, but there were absolutely no signs of Jack Warner during or after the black out….a rare occurrence if you ask me. There was also no sign of the Minister of Public Utilities, Mr Nizam Baksh. Good governance and accountability in we pweffen.

The power outage happens and the PM whose ratings have plummeted sees this as the perfect way to curry favour with the population. It’s almost as if, in the aftermath of  WarnerGate, this blackout showed up as a gift.

poweroutage7According to most reports the black out happened around midnight. The Prime Minister shows up at around 5 am dressed as if she dropped everything and hustled out of the door….4 hours after the black out started. And she just happened to remember to bring along a photographer along to document the trip. And in the midst of working assiduously to bring power back on to the suffering citizens the engineers and technicians at PowerGen Syne Village Plant had time to pose for several group pics with the PM. I couldnt make this thing up if I tried.

But what I have just described is only mildly annoying. This, after all, is a government that holds ribbon-cutting opening ceremonies for refurbished swings in parks in Cocorite. This is a government whose Ministers and supporters mark and measure success in box drains.

If nothing else, that clock at PowerGen tells us that something very sloppy went down at the Plant. This is a plant responsible for providing electricity to an entire grid. That grid would comprise various villages.
Time in a control room at an industrial plant is a serious thing. When incidents happen or readings are taken, you have to register times.

The report that the PM and Minister of Energy has requested will require the measurement of times and time frames. If the clock….and members of Kamla’s PR team keep telling me it’s a satellite and GPS clock….if the clock in the control room isn’t telling the correct time. Then whose time are they going by? Is Penal operating out of time? In a separate time Zone? Are we to believe that PowerGen not operating up to international standards and not using Satellite Clocks that have a DC power back up in the case of power loss?

Today we read in the Trinidad Guardian that there have been 3 major black outs in 3 years. How often is THE CLOCK IN THE CONTROL ROOM not working or telling the correct time? And has the government realised that it’s under their tenure that PowerGen seems to be regularly malfunctioning? Why?

In an effort to further spin the issue of the malfunctioning clock, they then deployed some bigger guns.

Roger D Ramcharitar, who describes himself as a former adviser in the Ministry of Energy, posted a response to my blog post that insisted:

As a former Advisor at the Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs, I sought clarification from colleagues within the industry and I have been able to ascertain that the clock in the photograph was actually a satellite clock which displayed an INCORRECT TIME as a result of the power outage knocking it off temporarily.

You can check out how an Atomic/Satellite Clock works here or here. And then you will understand why that clock should never have stopped working.

You should also know that Roger Ramcharitar, worked as a communications adviser for the Ministry of Energy. In short, he was responsible for speeches and PR. He wasn’t a technical adviser or someone who understands the operations of a plant and why a clock is so important, so I will forgive his enthusiasm. But Roger you should know better and inform your supporters better.

But let’s say the clock did stop at the time of the outage…even though we know the plant had its own back up generators and should have been running anyway…

Let’s say the clock stopped at 00:37 or 00:45 which is the time most newspapers have given. When exactly did the power come back on at the Penal Plant for the time to be registered as 21:13:29?

You feeling me yet? The time on the clock, regardless of what argument, makes no sense.

It implies that who ever is responsible for maintenance at that plant is poohar! Sloppy at best…and heads should roll over the fact that the clock isn’t telling the correct time!

And for Roger Ramcharitar to insist that in the presence of Kamla no one remembered to re-set the clock tells me that the technicians and engineers at PowerGen don’t have their priorities straight and aren’t interested in best practice and high standards…not when it have a PM and a camera around.

The clock on the wall is actually a damning indictment of operational procedures at PowerGen Penal…..unless of course the clock telling the correct time and the Prime Minister was there at 9 pm instead of 5 am….which is a whole other can of worms.

We now have the PM grandcharging and calling for a full investigation and report. We know how that goes here.

Madam PM investigate that clock first….no report can be valid if the clock aint set right. Penal was clearly in a different time zone to the rest of the country.

I expect that the investigation is just another way to put money in the pocket of another government shill who will say nothing went wrong and the power outage was just a misstep.

NGC and Phoenix Park Processors needs to tell us why PowerGen experienced a gas shortage at midnight. What stopped the flow of fuel and why is no one from NGC speaking to us yet?

We also need to know why a problem that originated in Penal shut down the ENTIRE COUNTRY? Especially when the majority of the country is served by the Point Lisas and PoS Plants.

You need to tell us why every time anyone questions the actions of your government we are attacked an threatened?

And you also need to explain the absence of Minister of National Security, Jack Warner the night and morning of the outage since this was a National Security emergency as well, and we know how much Minister Warner cares about the country.

Leave the explanation about the clocks to the experts.

We Full Dotish AND Full Dangerous.

 

Clocks and Current

Posted on by

We had a power outage last night….even the Miami Herald hours later when barely half of the country had electricity again was reporting it….and for good reason. The excuse given by the authorities thus far is that our supply of natural gas to the power plant generators was cut off. And that led to the shutting down of not just one generator or plant…but all of Trinidad and eventually to most of Tobago…Apparently only Courland had electricity in the entire nation.

Interestingly, Tobago’s electrical plant runs on diesel…so I’m still unclear as to how their plant stopped working.

Power Outage 1Not surprisingly, the Prime Minister, who was too ill to attend Cabinet Meetings yesterday or address the nation on the latest gaffe surrounding National Security minister Jack Warner, because her majesty has the common cold, was out and about dealing with the emergency brought on by the power outage. So much so that her twitter account was active for most of the morning, she released a statement to the media by 7:44 am and has a full album up on FB showing behind the scenes activity to get the power back up.

Power Outage 2The curious thing is this….power went at 37 minutes after midnight…..but the clocks at this power plant shows the PM and engineers and Minister of Energy onsite at 21:13:29.

Power Outage 2 poweroutage3Now unless the efficient folks at this professionally run power plant keep the wrong time on their clocks….The PM and crew were at the plant since 9 pm last night working on an outage that still hadnt happened….what gives?

poweroutage4

Power Outage 1

Can anyone explain?

We outta timing? Innna Timing? Time Running out?

Are the conspiracy theorists who I was laughing at on to something?

Have we gone from Full Dotish to outright Dangerous Governance?

The Rogue Prime Minister

Posted on by
The PM at a press briefing. Photo courtesy Jyoti Communications website.

The PM at a press briefing. Photo courtesy Jyoti Communications website.

Trinidad and Tobago is no longer a banana republic…..as of last night with Reuters news service confirming that Warner’s son, and possibly Warner himself, are indeed under investigation, her vague press release in which she says she will wait on an official corroboration is just too hollow for words.

The Prime Minister spent last month in Haiti, right next to the US AG and even members of the FBI. Talk of Daryan Warner’s detention in the US had begun since December 2012 on the day he was caught at the airport with an alleged lump sum of money he had failed to declare at customs….allegedly. And yet in February, with the US AG sharing the same meeting space as you, not a question was asked?

kamla and jackThen you return to Trinidad and the Leader of the Opposition asks you to follow up on these allegations and still nothing?

You’d think that we don’t have diplomatic relations with the US….that they don’t have an Embassy here.
You’d also think that Kamla Persad-Bissessar is daft, or slow minded that she would still have someone with as much shadows over his head as Jack Warner still serving as a government Minister.

But, you see, we aren’t a banana republic anymore…we are THE BANANA REPUBLIC.

In future when films are being made where the setting or crime taking place in a banana republic, it is Trinidad and Tobago’s name that will be used. The film companies will spend their money and go somewhere safe, and name the location Trinitario…watch and see.

But the question we should be asking ourselves this morning isn’t so much will Kamla fire Jack, or will the Prime Minister act on this latest report.

Rather ask yourself why is the PM not acting?
Why is she continuing to keep Warner on as Minister of National Security?
Is she protecting him….or is she really protecting herself?

And then ask yourself this….if the Prime Minister is putting herself, or her minister, before the good of the entire country….what does that make her?

At the time of writing, Communications Minister, Jamal “Insignificant Muslim Coolie” Mohammed has announced that the Cabinet….complete with COP members like Prakash Ramadhar and Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan….stands firmly behind Warner.

 

We in Full Dotish Mode this Easter Weekend, folks…find ah bobolee and beat it!