Tag: opinion

Holding parents accountable when children offend

The Government has signalled its intention to introduce legislation to hold parents legally accountable when their children are in conflict with the law, particularly in relation to bullying, violence and related misconduct affecting schools and communities.

In an emerging climate where youth violence and bullying carry human and social costs, a carefully designed “parental accountability” law can be a practical tool to reduce reoffending, strengthen early intervention, and ensure families engage with the systems meant to help children before harm escalates.

Currently, under the Children Act, parents have the option to bring their child before the court to deem them a Child In Need of Supervision (CHINS), thus allowing the court to have oversight of the child’s care and everyday well-being. However, a niche sector of children has found itself at the forefront of our headlines in terms of youth offenders and bullying in schools.

Why legislate?

A central weakness in youth offending responses is that the system frequently engages the child but struggles to secure consistent parental participation, especially where patterns of violence or repeated offending begin. A parental accountability framework is designed to close that gap by creating a legal lever to require attendance at interventions and compliance with reasonable behavioural plans, rather than relying solely on voluntary cooperation.

Properly drafted, the legislation can promote early intervention, triggering a court-ordered programme to offer early support, reduce reoffending, improve the home environment and supervision and importantly, strengthen school safety.

The government’s proposal can be framed as a public safety mechanism and child protection measure, not to be viewed as a criminalisation tool. When the objective is preventing future harm, the law can be calibrated to support families while still demanding accountability.

What other jurisdictions do

In England & Wales, there is the implementation of “Parenting Orders,” which focuses on behaviour change where courts may impose an order requiring a parent to attend counselling/guidance sessions and comply with additional requirements aimed at controlling or improving the child’s behaviour (for example, ensuring school attendance).

This model is somewhat implemented in TT, where the Children Court grants orders implementing counselling, curfews, and parenting classes. No legislation in Trinidad thus far imposes a fine or penalty.

Across the United States, many states have some form of parental responsibility laws, which can be civil in nature, where parents pay for damages caused by a child or criminal in nature, where parents face penalties for failure to supervise in specific circumstances. The US Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) describes these laws as aiming to involve parents by holding them liable in different ways for delinquent behaviour.

TT can borrow civil-style measures such as orders, mandated programmes, and limited penalties, where fines exist, and apply caps. As with every offence, exceptions can be considered to include a “reasonable steps” defence, so parents are not punished where they genuinely tried to supervise and seek help.

If TT is to legislate in this space, the design details will determine whether it reduces youth offending or simply adds controversy. A strong approach can include a “support first, sanctions last” approach, where it begins with mandatory parenting sessions, counselling, school attendance plans and case management. Sanctions (fines or community-based penalties) can be a last resort for persistent non-compliance.

The government is equipped to bring this type of legislation into place, having introduced the suite of children’s legislation during its last tenure. The intended law should not be activated for minor misbehaviour but should apply where a child can be and has been charged/convicted of specified offences, or there is repeated serious misconduct.

Parents should not be punished where they can show they took reasonable steps, such as seeking help, co-operating with school/authorities, attending programmes, and trying to supervise. This protects parents who sometimes have to deal with a child’s mental health needs.

Why implementation is justified

TT has an opportunity to craft a framework that reflects a simple truth: youth offending is often the end-stage of problems which began earlier (poor supervision, family stress, unmet mental health needs, and community violence exposure). A parental accountability law can give the state a mechanism to compel engagement before a child’s pathway hardens into repeated offending.

It is about structured responsibility and early intervention. When paired with real services and sensible safeguards, such a law can protect victims, support families, and improve outcomes for children who are at risk of cycling deeper into the justice system.

Denelle Singh is an attorney-at-law

Go after derelict vehicles on streets

THE EDITOR: If the government really wants to make money from delinquent vehicle owners it should go after those who park derelict vehicles on the streets.

It can start with that junk place on the northern side of Grand Bazaar, where derelict vehicles are parked on both the right and left sides of the road, and the median as well.

Some have no tyres, no windscreens, no windows, no engines and are not road-worthy.

A sweep can possibly earn over $50,000 in revenue from just one vehicle.

It is much better than locking down the Macoya market to target vendors.

Unfortunately, this is just wishful thinking on my part. That and a green donkey we will never see.

LINUS F DIDIER

Mt Hope

When sovereignty becomes a doormat

THE EDITOR: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has declared that the US has an unquestionable right to act in its own best interests – even where those actions harm other sovereign states – and that affected countries must simply “accept the consequences.” That may sound tough. It is not law. And for a small state, it is an astonishingly reckless position to endorse.

Let us start with basics. Sovereignty does not mean “do as you please.” It never has. Since 1945, sovereignty has existed within a legal order precisely designed to restrain the strong and protect the weak. Every state’s freedom ends where another’s begins. The International Court of Justice has repeated this principle so often it is almost trite – including in cases involving the US itself.

Economic coercion, extraterritorial punishment, and policy intimidation are not expressions of sovereignty. They are violations of it. If powerful states were free to impose their preferences on others simply because they could, there would be no international law worth naming, only hierarchy.

The issue here is not whether the US may regulate its own borders. Of course it may. The issue is whether it may penalise other countries for lawful domestic policies it dislikes – such as citizenship-by-investment programmes that breach no treaty, no convention, and no rule of international law. That is not border control. It is interference, dressed up as security.

Caricom’s response was orthodox, restrained, and legally sound. It recognised US sovereignty while asking for consultation, clarity, and respect for the rule of law. That is exactly how small states are supposed to behave in a rules-based system. To dismiss this as weakness is to misunderstand how small states survive at all.

What makes this episode genuinely alarming is that it comes from a prime minister who styles herself a Senior Counsel – a title she conferred upon herself while in office. That fact alone should demand a higher standard of reasoning, not a lower one.

Instead, the thinking on display is profoundly defective. Sovereignty is misdescribed as an unlimited licence; coercion is rebranded as consequence; and international law is treated as optional etiquette. This is not a respectable disagreement about doctrine. It is a failure to grasp first principles. Such confusion would not pass muster in a competent undergraduate essay. From a self-appointed holder of silk, it is indefensible.

The irony is brutal. If the Prime Minister’s doctrine were correct – that powerful states may freely step on the toes of smaller ones in pursuit of their interests – then TT would have no protection at all. Under that logic, sanctions, blacklists, trade restrictions, and financial pressure would all be legitimate tools against us whenever we became inconvenient. Small states rely on law because power does not favour them.

Caricom is imperfect. Regional institutions always are. But undermining collective diplomacy while applauding unilateral power is not realism. It is abdication.

Sovereignty is not a doormat. And TT should stop pretending that being trampled is a sign of strength.

MOHAN RAMCHARAN

via e-mail

Petrotrin must be upgraded

THE EDITOR: When the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery was fully operational, Petrotrin supplied TT, and much of the Caribbean, with a complete suite of refined petroleum products: LPG, unleaded gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, diesel, fuel oil, bitumen, sulphur, and base lubricants. We were self-sufficient. We were exporters. We were a regional powerhouse.

All of that ended with the 2018 shutdown.

But as the global energy landscape shifts, it is now glaringly obvious: a modernised refinery is not optional, it is a strategic necessity.

First, we have the scientific and industrial base to produce high-value derivatives from our own Pitch Lake. Lake Asphalt was already producing refined pitch and sealants for export. This is a niche, high-margin market that small countries would die to have. We have it, and we under-utilise it.

Second, any reopening of the refinery must be future-proof. That means ensuring the plant can process Guyana’s light sweet crude, now one of the hottest commodities in the hemisphere. If TT cannot refine Guyana’s crude, someone else will and profit from it.

Third, the refinery must be capable of refining Venezuelan heavy crude. Venezuelan oil is notoriously sludgy, but we sit right next door. The freight savings alone, the turnaround time for shipments, and the ability to blend or refine that crude for regional distribution would put TT back in a dominant logistical position in the Caribbean energy chain.

Instead of watching other countries seize the opportunity, we should be positioning the refinery as the Caribbean’s premier toll refiner, blending hub, and supplier of finished products.

We once supplied the entire region. We can do it again, but only if the refinery is upgraded for modern feedstock and aligned with the realities of hemispheric geopolitics.

TT has never lacked the talent, the resources, or the strategic location, only the political will.

GORDON LAUGHLIN

via e-mail

Remembering who we are

Dr Gabrielle Jamela Hosein

A PEOPLE’S aspirations can never be defeated. This is the lesson of our history.

I’ve written repeatedly about how divided we are in Trinidad and Tobago – by class, geography, race, and more. This did not start today, and it has not been helped by those in government – this, the last, or those before.

This division shows itself in a thousand ways: the abandonment of rural and south Trinidad from necessary infrastructure like access to pipe-borne water, paved roads, and completed schools, despite pleading and protest. It shows itself in statements thrown back and forth – from the racist “go back to Africa” from those believing they live in “UNC country” to those in the PNM who look at Indo-Trinidadian citizens and disparagingly “wonder if we’re living in Bangladesh or Delhi.”

We are separated by numerous systemic and historical superiorities and inequities, and everyone impatiently galleries with the little bit of power they have.

A major challenge is that what some read as racist is often not recognised or affirmed as so or is downplayed by others – though examples abound on all sides in how we debate on social media; in how we weaponise each other’s “government name;” in the eras during which we find our voices and speak out and the eras during which we don’t; and the issues we consider important or not and how we interpret them.

At times, we do not even properly understand what upsets our “other,” and we fail to focus on bridging the experiences, fears, and rhetoric that make us disagree.

Social media has made it worse because we do not have to “live good with each other” online – and typing comments is a terrible substitute for talking, but also because media and blogging culture thrives off clickbait, big reveals, echo chambers, and posts that amplify dismissiveness, disinformation, obfuscation, and a sense of threat, anger, and exclusion.

These are perilous times for public deliberation if we don’t see the urgency of crossing these divides by connecting our common ground.

Caribbean organising which crosses boundaries – bringing us together over shared concerns, whether in relation to women, artists, domestic workers, ecological destruction, agriculture, sports, or peace requires courageous engagement with those whom we consider different and, sometimes, denigrating.

It requires movements born out of the hard work of consensus-building. It requires understanding who we are such that we can see our strengths and common values and counter the modus operandi of those whose bread and butter is stoking what Professor Emerita Rhoda Reddock theorises as a politics of “competing victimhoods” and a world of vastly different and partial grasps of the same reality.

Indeed, who are we?

We are the thousands who sell in our markets each week, carrying what we have grown across the region by boat, and commonly believing that “everybody have to eat,” in putting a little extra, and in building social relationships out of economic transactions. The same people, excluded from banking, who found ways to save using sou sou hands; grounding a grassroots practice built on trust, mutuality, and shared betterment as a local ethos.

We are indigenous communities – from the Amerindians in Guyana to the Maroons of Suriname to the Garifuna of St Vincent, the Kalinago of Dominica, the Maya of Belize, and Trinidad’s First Peoples – who believe in collectivism, communal land, co-operatives, and models that counter individualism and disconnection.

We are people who believe in the arts as sites of collective and home-grown spirituality, skill, and transcendence – whether pan, tassa, dance, literature, theatre, oral traditions, and traditional forms of commemoration, masquerade and celebration that bring multi-ethnic histories to culture, sharing it so generously across our territories.

We are people who believe in care for others, as witnessed by the thousands of citizens who contribute to food, healthcare, homes, counselling and much more to those in need – whether locally amid floods or everyday poverty, or in Dominica, Cuba, Jamaica, or Haiti following disasters.

We aspire to peace. We aspire to treat each other with dignity. We aspire to regionality. We aspire to justice. In the face of political elites, multinational corporations, and Monroe Doctrine militarism, we aspire to self-determination.

We can fight each other or mediate a unity that exists around what we value and all to which we aspire. Even as no one can take these aspirations from us, no one will do the work for us, not governments, politicians, militaries, or foreign powers.

Take a breath. Find your best self. Understand well what we most must do.

Diary of a mothering worker

Entry 571

motheringworker@gmail.com

First step to ending domestic violence

‘We cannot wait until a relationship becomes toxic, until a threat is made, or until the news reports another murder-suicide to respond. By then the crisis has already taken root’

SUSAN SYLVESTER-BARKER

TT IS facing an emotional and psychological crisis that is robbing us of our citizens. How do we fix this? Can we fix this? And most importantly, where do we begin?

Our nation continues to be shaken by murder-suicide incidents involving intimate partners from every walk of life. These heartbreaking events are not isolated; they reflect a deeper, growing despair within our society. A quiet darkness is spreading, one where some individuals have come to believe that the only path to peace is to end their own lives, or, tragically, the lives of those they once claimed to love.

This is not simply a crime problem. This is a human problem. A psychological crisis. A breakdown in emotional resilience, healthy coping mechanisms, and understanding of self.

Advocates have been calling for stronger support for domestic violence victims, for open conversations from the ground up, real conversations that can shift mindsets and produce lasting change for both victims and perpetrators. But to create meaningful impact we must start at the root: the internal emotional and biological forces driving people toward hopelessness, rage, and destruction.

To understand how we reached this point, we must first understand ourselves. Human beings are emotional, biological, and psychological creatures. Our choices, reactions, and relationships are shaped not only by upbringing or circumstance, but by powerful internal systems that most people know very little about.

When a person experiences rejection, fear, abandonment, stress, or emotional overwhelm, the brain shifts into survival mode. Chemicals such as dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, cortisol, and hormones like testosterone and estrogen begin influencing how we perceive reality.

Without proper emotional awareness, these internal reactions can cause:

• distorted thinking

• irrational decisions

• intense attachment to the wrong people

• dependency disguised as love

• fear interpreted as betrayal

• hopelessness that feels inescapable

When these emotions go unmanaged and unaddressed, they can escalate into destructive behaviour – toward oneself or toward others. This is how conflict becomes violence, and how emotional collapse becomes tragedy.

We must no longer treat emotional health as optional. It is essential to our survival as a people.

Why our approach is not working

We cannot wait until a relationship becomes toxic, until a threat is made, or until the news reports another murder-suicide to respond. By then the crisis has already taken root.

Our society often focuses on punishment, blame, and shame. But we rarely focus on prevention, on education, on teaching people how the mind works, how to manage feelings, how to regulate the body under stress, or how to recognise the signs of emotional unravelling.

Victims frequently do not understand the warning signs. Perpetrators often do not understand their own triggers. Families see changes but don’t know how to intervene. Communities observe suffering but do not know where to send people for help.

This is not a failure of character. This is a failure of knowledge.

Understanding the root: Emotional and biological triggers

When individuals are emotionally wounded or carrying unprocessed trauma, they may interpret everyday events through the lens of fear, shame, or insecurity. A simple disagreement becomes a threat. A break-up becomes abandonment. A partner’s independence becomes disrespect.

For individuals with narcissistic behaviours or traits:

• control feels like safety

• dominance feels like stability

• validation feels like oxygen

• and losing a partner feels like psychological death

This is why some respond with rage, violence, or self-destruction when they lose control of the relationship. This is not an excuse; it is a warning of a deeper emotional imbalance that must be addressed earlier.

If we do not understand these dynamics, how can we ever intervene effectively?

So where do we begin?

We begin by acknowledging that this crisis cannot be solved through law enforcement alone. We must empower our citizens with knowledge, the kind of knowledge that can reshape lives.

We need:

1. Emotional literacy in schools and communities:
Teach children, teenagers, and adults how their brain works, how emotions influence choices, and how to regulate themselves.

2. Trauma-informed programmes for victims and perpetrators: Both sides need guidance, support, and skilled intervention.

3. Safe, accessible support systems: Confidential, affordable, stigma-free avenues where people can seek help before a crisis unfolds.

4. Conversations that break shame and silence: If people are not aware of or cannot talk about their emotional struggles, they cannot heal from them.

5. National campaigns that focus on prevention, not reaction: The real solution is not after the tragedy; it is in the education we provide long before. Educate the horse while in the stable, not when it leaves and is galloping wild trampling on everyone in it’s path.

A nation cannot heal if its people do not understand themselves

We are losing sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, and partners because our people do not know how to navigate their inner world. They are emotionally overwhelmed, biologically dysregulated, and psychologically unprepared for the pressures of modern life and relationships.

Until we address this, until we teach people why they feel what they feel, why they think what they think, and how to cope in healthy ways, the cycle will continue.

Until we teach them a different way to live, with purpose, peace and self-love, we will continue to be emotionally imprisoned, generation after generation.

It doesn’t have to be this way. This can change. And it begins with awareness. It begins with education. It begins with us.

Let’s have that conversation now, for the greater good of our people.

Susan Sylvester-Barker is a consultant on narcissistic abuse (ttnawh@gmail.com)

Friendship

THE EDITOR: In this world of increasing political, economic, and social turmoil, let us be thankful for our friends and reach out to others in friendship.

Following is my poem titled Friendship:

Friendship is a warm smile in the chaos of a busy day

Tenderness when things don’t seem to go our way

It’s welcomed rain to wilting flowers

Talks that are soothing, though they go on for hours

It’s silence in this increasingly noisy world

A connection we feel in our soul

It’s many thoughtful things:

Going out for coffee or tea

Discussing novels or poetry

Praying together

Being amazed by synchronicity

Sharing a meal

Walks in nature

Admiring trees

Looking for rainbows

Enjoying the salty ocean breeze

Friendship is sacred

It offers support, joy, and a beautiful sense of ease.

RENUKA RIA MARAJ

via e-mail

Reconstructing masculinity

HAZEL THOMPSON-AHYE

I WRITE THIS as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women comes to an end, but the violence against women continues. Perhaps the state of emergency (SoE) prevented us from staging our usual march to commemorate those women who live perpetually in their private SoE. How many more must die?

Today, my heart hurts for the family of Councillor Romona Teeneal Victor, the latest domestic violence victim and I remember my client, June Edwards, who, about 40 years ago, died in similar circumstances. My client’s husband, after stabbing her, had committed suicide by drinking poison.

I had thought that the injunction granted by the court, which ordered him to leave and not re-enter the matrimonial home, would have saved her, but the law was not enough. I was inconsolable at her funeral and through my veil of tears I could see the deadpan faces of her young children, all of primary school age.

The evening before her death, as she was leaving my office, she had apologised for keeping me out so late. I had told her, “Don’t worry about me. I am worried about you.” The next morning, as I entered the office, my colleague had greeted me, saying, “Your client dead. Her husband killed her. He drank poison. He dead too.”

Since then I have told my clients to leave the home, even if they have to leave everything behind. “Just leave. Save your life.” But the reality is that some have no place to go. Others are so immobilised by fear, they cannot take that “giant step for (wo)mankind.”

Men are not beyond redemption, but they need help. I have counselled my male clients, telling them, “If it is over, it is over. You can find love again.” After I had reprimanded one for stalking his wife, he told me that I reminded him of his primary school teacher. I confessed to him that I had been a primary school teacher.

Some months later, I saw him at an event at the stadium. He hailed me out and was looking very happy, with a new lady love in tow.

One of the best compliments I received was from a very troublesome male client, who told me he had changed plenty since meeting me. He had received enough buffs. His pastor had described him as “a work in progress.” Years later, he still sends me biblical tracts to encourage me to convert to his religion.

Lawyers need to be responsible in their interaction with their clients. Once, when we had not reminded the judge to continue the injunction, a lawyer told his client that nothing prevented him from re-entering his home. His client went home and fractured his wife’s skull with a hammer. Years later, I helped that lawyer up when his relative had knocked him down outside the chamber court after their family property dispute.

Girls need to be educated and trained to recognise the signs of an abuser. Boys, too, need that type of education and training, as they, too, can fall victim to domestic abuse. Boys need to be taught that men and women are equal but different. UWI Laboratory Pre-School taught boys and girls that important principle. That training should be replicated in all pre-schools in this country.

The Domestic Violence Act has been improved over the years, but the police still do not fully recognise that domestic violence is a crime to be investigated and treated as any other crime, regardless of the lack of co-operation from the victim. When will they learn?

In memory of domestic violence victims, I am submitting for publication my calypso, Ah Reconstructing Masculinity, which I wrote in honour of Prof Eudine Barriteau, principal of UWI, Cave Hill, Barbados, when I was awarded a British Council scholarship to pursue her course in gender and development studies. She had a calligrapher design the poem, then had it framed and placed on the wall of her office. She told me that when Prof Rex Nettleford visited her office and read it, he had said how much he loved it.

Ah Reconstructing Masculinity

Ah put mih husband hard hat on

Take up he tool kit from off the ground

Ah slip on he steel-tip shoe

He say, “Way you going in true?

Dress up in that funny gear

Like you eh have better clothes to wear.”

Ah take mih son by he hand

Ah say, “Ah going to make him a man.”

Chorus

Ah reconstructing masculinity

Building a man with gender sensitivity

A man who won’t beat, won’t kill, won’t hurl obscenity

But will be kind and gentle and have empathy.

Verse

“But why you put on mih hard hat

Ah really can’t see the reason for that.”

“Dat is to protect mih brain

From all the stupid things people going be saying.

Once you try to bring about change

People like to say that you going insane

Ah going to train mih son a new way

And ah sure ah won’t make him gay.”

Chorus

Ah reconstructing masculinity

Building a man with gender sensitivity

Ah confident man, who’ll clearly understand

Best man for a job is sometimes a woman.

Verse

“Tell mih why you put on mih heavy boot

You really look like de Puss in troot.”

“De heavy boot is to stamp out

All the foolish ideas dat going about

Dat a man must show power and dominate

He must decide every woman’s fate.

Ah real man doh beat up he wife and child

But stands loving and supportive at dey side.”

Chorus

Ah reconstructing masculinity

Building a man with gender sensitivity

Who know women’s place not always in the home

Can be in the House of Representatives giving tone.

Verse

“Tell me what you want wid mih tool kit

Please tell me what you gwine do with it.”

“It have screw driver and it got pliers

To cut out the tongues of all dem liars.

Who say women don’t appreciate

Men who could cook and could make good bake.

Ah want a man who could show that he care

In a million ways without any fear.”

Chorus

Ah reconstructed masculinity

Ah proud ah mih son with gender sensitivity

He show love to he wife and to de children too

“No outside woman,” he say, “Wifey, just me and you.”

Extra verse – 2025

Trinbago reconstructed masculinity

Look around in the republic and you will see

The President is a woman sweet and kind.

The Prime Minister will buss yuh head and beat your behind.

The Opposition Leader, a female waiting in the wings

To topple the PM, she must do many things.

Is time we get a woman as minister of finance

We manage money better, so give we a chance.

Reflections on the national budget

NIGEL GITTENS

With the budget debate in Parliament now concluded, it seems timely to assess both the strengths and weaknesses of the fiscal measures announced, and to evaluate whether this financial plan can realistically move the nation toward greater economic stability and growth.

Although initial reactions across society would have described this budget as fair to the ordinary citizen, many are now realizing it largely mirrors budgets of previous years.

Once again, revenue expectations depend on overly optimistic assumptions about oil and gas prices – our primary sources of income.

There is also the recurring complaint that while some concessions were offered, they are effectively offset by increased taxes on essential goods and services.

Outlined below are several of my

key areas of concern:

• Rising tax burdens – consumers will inevitably face higher costs from new or expanded taxes, including those on landlords, customs and excise duties, general sales, alcohol, and liquefied propane gas.

• Lack of a clear diversification strategy for the onshore economy, leaving the country still overly dependent on energy.

• Tax collection effectiveness – it remains uncertain whether the Inland Revenue Division can achieve its revenue goals given its internal restructuring challenges and the local culture of tax evasion and avoidance.

• National Insurance Scheme reforms – it is doubtful that the proposed adjustments will succeed in stabilizing the system amid an ageing population and declining workforce participation.

• Absence of strategic direction – the budget offers little insight into plans for critical sectors such as planning, housing, education, agriculture, trade and industry, energy, local government, health, social development, tourism, national security, sports, and culture.

To claim that confidence in this budget is low would be an understatement.

The new administration has missed a valuable opportunity to redefine the nation’s economic trajectory. Rather than introducing bold, structural reform, the approach remains one of minor adjustments and short-term fixes – essentially the same pattern characterised by past governments.

Ultimately, the financial burden will fall once again on the consumer, while escalating public debt will leave future generations to shoulder repayment obligations.

Readers familiar with my previous writings would know that I am a long-time advocate of site value taxation. Implementing such a system would bring numerous benefits. It would distribute the tax burden more fairly, promote transparency and accountability, and eliminate the ability to shift taxes onto consumers.

Because land is visible and its value easily assessed, evasion and avoidance would be nearly impossible.

The tax would be based on each site’s capacity to yield value, and the annual obligation would be predictable and equitable.

Crucially, site value taxation would apply to all types of land – commercial, industrial, residential, and agricultural – creating ripple effects across the economy. It would encourage new business formation, expand employment, increase real wages, and boost purchasing power.

Moreover, it would promote true diversification and stimulate the production of affordable goods and services, thereby generating broad-based prosperity.

Such reform would have positive implications across virtually every sector: housing, education, tourism, agriculture, national security, healthcare, law and order, sports, culture, and the arts.

In upcoming analyses, I intend to elaborate on these effects in greater detail, but for now, I invite readers to envision how such a transformation could unfold.

At present, TT is in the grip of a deep recession – not merely due to reduced oil and gas output, but because land values have become prohibitively high, making capital inaccessible to ordinary citizens.

Meanwhile, labour values remain depressed due to persistent unemployment, creating an unhealthy imbalance among the three essential factors of production: land, labour, and capital. The state continues to bear excessive responsibility for sustaining the economy. Introducing a site value tax – gradually phased in over two or three years – could correct these imbalances.

Although progress might be slow at first, by the third or fourth year of implementation, the country would begin to experience genuine transformation.

This would be a transformation rooted in fairness and inclusivity, where all citizens and sectors contribute proportionately, businesses flourish under equitable conditions, and employment reaches optimal levels.

Such a policy offers the most practical route toward a more stable, productive, and self-sustaining economy – an economy that truly serves the interests of every Trinidad and Tobago citizen.

When paintbrushes talk: How art can unlock literacy

WHAT if the key to unlocking literacy isn’t just in textbooks or worksheets, but also in paintbrushes, crayons and creative expression?

In TT, where vibrant Carnival costumes and pan rhythms pulse with storytelling, this idea feels especially alive.

At the heart of a growing educational movement, teachers and researchers are blending art with reading and writing to empower struggling students. Drawing, painting and craft aren’t just extras; they’re bridges that build confidence and spark a true love of words.

Art a language of its own

“Art is another language,” says a recent study inspiring this new approach.

From ancient cave paintings to the colourful murals decorating our Port of Spain streets, humans have long used visuals to share ideas, emotions and stories.

This timeless language crosses ages, backgrounds and abilities, giving students a safe way to express themselves when words feel intimidating. It transcends age, background and ability.

For many in our classrooms, who might find standard English lessons overwhelming amid the pressures of exams, the art room is a haven. Here, ideas flourish without the weight of spelling, grammar or perfect sentences. Creativity surges, and the sting of errors softens into playful discovery.

From visual expression to written words

The aim isn’t to swap reading and writing for art, but to guide a smooth shift from pictures to print. As students gain ease in sharing through images, they naturally crave adding words, labels, captions or stories to their creations.

Picture a student at a San Fernando primary school sketching a lively beach scene. They begin with bold strokes of the sea and sand, then add simple labels like “big wave,” or a short story of adventure. This step-by-step process reveals the secrets of literacy, making it feel personal and connected to their world.

Real-life impact: classroom stories

Akilah Mitchell, a passionate Trinidadian artist and educator, brings this to life in her workshops. “Art helps kids with literacy because it connects pictures with words, making it easier for them to understand stories and new vocabulary.

“It strengthens fine motor skills that are important for writing,” she says.

“Also, when children do art, they’re usually asked to describe and explain their ideas and what they just created. Well, I always ask them to explain why they created that piece in that particular way, which builds language.

“Art activities also teach sequencing, just like reading does (first, next, last).

“It also helps them be more creative in general in the way they think overall, which can help when creating stories.

“Most importantly, it makes learning fun and boosts their confidence in reading and writing.”

Mitchell’s words ring true in local classrooms: timid students, once hushed, now chatter about their vibrant pieces, weaving narratives with newfound flair.

Schools should embrace arts integration

Yet in TT’s resource-strapped system, the arts often play second fiddle to literacy and maths drills. Visuals get labelled “extra” amid Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) preparation.

But research flips this script: art and literacy aren’t rivals; they’re allies, boosting outcomes for all.

Rolling it out takes intention: teacher training for blended lessons, funds for paints and paper and carved-out creative slots.

The gains? Alert students, sharper reading skills and a richer cultural education are worth every effort.

A call to action

Parents, teachers and leaders in TT, let’s rally! Push for policies celebrating creative learning, like expanded arts in the national curriculum. Fund programmes blending calypso tales with drawing; link art and language pros for dynamic classes.

At home, nudge kids to doodle family stories or journal Carnival dreams. Teachers, try art-infused tasks and swap tips. Mitchell’s blueprint shows it works.

Looking ahead

As our education system adapts to every child’s spark, from rural villages to urban hubs, it’s prime time to erase the art/literacy split. Merging these voices lets students roar visually and verbally.

When paintbrushes talk, the result is more than just colourful pages; it’s a pathway to confidence, creativity and lifelong learning.

In true Trini spirit, let’s colour the future brighter.

Inspired by local educators and global studies from the US National Endowment for the Arts.

Mary Cuffy is an early childhood curriculum facilitator.

The angels are listening

ON Tuesday morning, before leaving home to go to Pennysavers grocery, I thought about not wanting to park far away and walk a long distance to get to the entrance. Physiotherapy exercises had my leg muscles sore. “Angels, secure a parking spot for me near to the grocery door,” I said aloud as I started the engine.

As a friend from the US had sent some animal-rescue-related funds via Western Union, I envisioned the ideal parking spot would be in front of that building, which is next to the grocery entrance.

At the Pennysavers carpark, there was a spot waiting for me in front of Western Union.

“The angels are listening,” I thought. As I pulled into the spot, a little girl was bending to tie her shoelaces. Emblazoned across her backpack, facing me, was the word “LOVE.”

Ahh, a message from the angels who had heard and swiftly attended to my parking request…“with love.” When I glanced to the left, some words from the advertisement on the window of the phone store caught my eye. Sometimes mundane commercial messages appear to carry inspiring or celestial meanings: “It’s okay, we can fix that.”

Indeed, anything can be fixed with the right assistance, I mused, acknowledging that the angels are busy.

It was one of those days when various slogans jumped out at me with deeper meanings: “Serving up smiles,” near to the coffee section, seemed apt, given the positive flow of events since I had left home.

How many times had I passed by but never seen the “We Care” name of a mini-mart on the main road? How fitting to notice it, then, en route to my destination – the Bacolet physio clinic, where, indeed, the energy is welcoming and caring.

After physio, the therapist suggested that I should ice the sore area at home.

“Ice it!” she repeated cheerily as I departed. As I reached my vehicle, guess what was lying in the grass next to my parking spot – a chewing-gum pack with its brand name staring up at me: “ICE.”

Call it coincidence or call me whimsical; I saw it as further confirmation of angelic attendance – listening, communicating.

“Make yourself familiar with the angels and behold them frequently in spirit; for without being seen, they are present with you.” (St Francis de Sales)

On September 20, 12-year-old Mariah Seenath was found dead in a bushy track in her home village of Friendship, Ste Madeleine.

Reports said barking dogs alerted a neighbour to the presence of Mariah’s bruised, lifeless body.

I was moved to tears on reading news of the autopsy results: Mariah had been beaten to death (severe head trauma).

According to her father, Mariah was “a nice, loving and caring girl.” Reports say she was a respectful child, well known, an exemplary student, dramatist, footballer, sportswoman of the year, about to be a prefect…and no doubt so much more.

No one can imagine the unthinkable terror that this innocent must have experienced on the track that she had often used, day and night, as a shortcut between her home and her grandmother’s.

What further moved me to tears were two simple details in newspaper reports. First: “…She had soaked her school uniform and taken a photo of her father sleeping in a hammock.”

Taking a photo of a sleeping loved one suggests, to me, a simple but profound act of endearment. It gave me an understanding of a potentially close connection with her 40-year-old single father.

The second: her father is reported as saying that Mariah’s dog had chased after the hearse that took her body away.

This poignant detail suggests that Mariah could have shared a special bond with her dog – and, possibly, also the dogs along the track. Perhaps she interacted often with them as she traversed that route. In the end, they spoke up for her, barking until her body was found.

Were they witnesses to the heinous crime?

As I write this article on Wednesday, September 24, no arrests have yet been made. Angels, you are listening and answering requests. Please bring swift justice in Mariah’s case, and ensure deep healing and resolution for her loved ones and all throughout the nation who grieve in the wake of senseless violence. Inspire the right solutions and systems, enabling us to deal, from the root, with the scourge of crime in TT.

(Add your own requests here.)

Do you comprehend?

AS people – and as a people – we don’t ask the right questions. That’s if we’re brave enough to ask any at all in the first place. How many media briefings have we all tuned in for (on health, crime, general world woes) and wondered at the peculiarity or randomness of the questions sometimes put to the speakers?

Questionable questions don’t only come from the media, it’s just that being the media puts them in the spotlight. The rest of us have the luxury of not getting it right in private.

Comprehension is the problem. Let’s start with this: for many, comprehension is nothing more than a subject taught in primary school. It forms some part of the English curriculum (and the dratted exams) as found in secondary schools.

Here is a passage you never saw before. Here, the unfathomable poem. And, in a few minutes, a child or other type of young person is meant to take this in and grasp their meaning well enough to answer a bunch of questions.

The thing that bothered me most about the comprehension sections from my earliest encounters with them was as simple as it should have been predictable: I usually had several competing opinions. All of them potentially right. Or wrong.

Then there’s the thing all of us with sound West Indian educations are aware of – there’s the answer you think is correct and the one you think the markers will think correct.

No, the dementia has not set in and left me in the thrall of early education. This is something I mildly obsess over. There are some people who are great at doing the understanding and figuring out of things. And there’s everyone else.

Comprehension is one of the most crucial life skills I can think of. Like crossing a street or swimming. If we teach it better – if we even started to appreciate the vastness of its importance – so many things would make more sense. The news, instructions and decisions from on high that affect us, why the ending of The Godfather is so satisfying no matter how many times you see it.

I’ve seen terrible things over my vast career in emergency English bootcamp for small relatives on the cusp of an exam. They all had in common the same thing I saw in my peers long, long past university: they really did not know how to get to the crux of the question.

Let’s say it’s something like, “What does Burt’s passion for bananas in this passage tell us?” Students will then proceed to write everything they can find about Burt, passion and bananas. There’s a problem with focusing on the arrangement of the words in the question and getting to the point.

Things go from bad to hell when these early exercises are replaced by essays and dissertations.

I never understood why anyone would need extra paper in an exam. What did they all know that I didn’t? What didn’t I get? Terrible, terrible, all is lost. I was always sure I’d fail every exam.

It would be some years before I realised that brevity was not a sin.

If we do better at pulling and stretching young minds (or old, never too late) so what they take from the comprehension exercises is a tool they can use in all subjects, the world would be a better place.

As my most extreme example, I tell people it will help with maths. It will. Because understanding the underlying concept of an equation must help in the sense-making. I know we’re not in the habit of explaining theory to the young and hapless. But we should be. There should be a way to break things down the way we’re able to with times tables.

We can’t understand everything the universe throws at us. We can be better prepared. We need to know we have it in us to take something apart and put it back together from different angles.

This is not a secret superpower I happened to be gifted with. I have two things that helped. I know when something does not make sense to me and I am not afraid to ask questions. I do fear misunderstanding and confusion.

Spitting out things you memorise is what school asks of us most of the time. The unschool world is different. People want to be able to leave you with some questions or tasks and not have to look over your shoulder. Little things like jobs and relationships. Aren’t they worth it?

Remember to talk to your doctor or therapist if you want to know more about what you read here. In many cases, there’s no single solution or diagnosis to a mental health concern. Many people suffer from more than one condition.

What if Maduro stays or falls?

THE EDITOR: TT’s open support of the US, reaffirmed by PM Persad-Bissessar, comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Caracas. There are some questions to be asked:

• If the US fails to remove Maduro, how will the government in Caracas view TT’s position? Could TT’s energy, security, and trade relations suffer under a Maduro-led administration emboldened by surviving a US-backed attempt to unseat him?

• If the US succeeds but pulls out too soon, leaving Venezuela unstable, are we prepared for the fallout? We’ve seen what happens when military victories aren’t followed by nation-building with Iraq and Afghanistan being cautionary tales.

Chaos, mass migration, criminal networks, and regional destabilisation could directly impact our borders and economy.

• Are we balancing strategic diplomacy with national security? By openly aligning with US military exercises, are we protecting TT’s interests or risking being pulled into a geopolitical storm not of our making and one we can’t control?

Our leaders, businesses and policymakers must carefully weigh short-term benefits against long-term consequences.

In an era where energy markets, security strategies and regional alliances are shifting rapidly, neutrality may no longer be an option but neither is blind alignment.

Thus, the real question is – Are we preparing for both scenarios, Maduro staying or Maduro falling; or are we betting everything on one outcome?

NIGEL TENIA

San Juan

Absence of corporate social responsibility in Trinidad and Tobago

DANIEL BERTIE

CORPORATE social responsibility (CSR) is not charity. It is a business’s commitment to operate ethically, contribute to economic development, and improve the quality of life of its workforce, local communities, and society at large.

In TT, this commitment is sorely lacking. While a handful of businesses make symbolic gestures during holidays or post-disaster moments, a sustained, strategic approach to CSR across key sectors – sports, health, infrastructure, social services, and charity – is grossly absent.

A landscape of missed opportunities

TT is no stranger to economic wealth. For decades, energy multinationals, conglomerates, and financial institutions have reaped billions in profits. Yet our youth play football on dust bowls, our health institutions suffer from chronic neglect, and too many of our citizens fall through the cracks of social dysfunction. Where are the companies that have benefited from tax breaks, industrial protection, and state contracts? Where are their long-term investments in the well-being of the society they profit from?

Sport: The neglected catalyst

Sport has always been a vehicle for youth development, discipline, and social cohesion. Yet, beyond one-off tournament sponsorships or branded giveaways, local corporate entities have shown little interest in developing sports as a national pillar. Community grounds are under-maintained, national athletes rely on crowdfunding for international representation, and school leagues are often underfunded.

Instead of investing in facilities, coaching programmes, or national academies, many businesses prefer to plaster their logos on banners for PR optics. CSR in sport must go beyond mere visibility; it should be about building systems of excellence and access.

Imagine if every large business “adopted” a community ground or partnered with schools to develop real athletic programmes. The long-term benefits for both sport and society would be immeasurable.

Health: A silent emergency

The state of the public healthcare system is a daily crisis. Overcrowded emergency rooms, limited medication, and long surgical wait times plague the system. While this is fundamentally a state responsibility, corporate TT could play a major role in supporting health outcomes through CSR.

Companies could sponsor mobile clinics in rural communities, invest in equipment for hospitals, or support awareness campaigns for mental health, cancer, or diabetes and ailments that are increasingly affecting our population. Very few do. Instead, the occasional donation of wheelchairs or face masks is treated as newsworthy, when what we need is meaningful, measurable engagement with the health needs of the nation.

Infrastructure and maintenance: A crumbling society

Driving around TT one is struck not just by potholes, but by the decay of public spaces: parks overgrown with bush, public benches broken, drains clogged. Again, these are areas where corporate partnerships with local government or NGOs could offer impactful solutions.

Adopt-a-highway and tree-planting exercises are good, but not nearly enough. Imagine a future where banks, insurance companies, and telecoms funded the upkeep of recreational spaces, implemented community clean-up programmes, or assisted schools in upgrading infrastructure.

In countries with strong CSR cultures, businesses take pride in beautifying the environments they operate in. Here, it is mostly left to NGOs, struggling on shoestring budgets.

Social services and charity: An afterthought

Too often, corporate support for social services comes only at Christmas hamper drives, toy donations, and soup kitchens. These are kind, commendable acts, but not CSR in its truest form. What is needed is structural support, long-term partnerships with homes for the elderly, shelters for battered women, halfway houses for former inmates, or food banks for the working poor.

In a society as fractured and economically unequal as ours, the private sector must see itself not as an observer of social issues, but as an active agent of change. CSR should include scholarships for underprivileged children, mentorship programmes, and funding for literacy and numeracy programmes. These are the types of investments that pay back in stability and national development.

The excuse of ‘it’s not our job’

Many companies defend their inaction with the argument: “That’s the government’s job.” But this view is outdated and self-defeating. When crime increases, when public trust deteriorates, when productivity declines because of poor health or education, businesses suffer too. CSR is not charity; it is risk mitigation, brand building, and community investment.

The irony is that strong CSR leads to strong brand loyalty. Customers want to know that the companies they support also support them in return. Employees are more engaged when they know their workplace is making a difference.

Toward new CSR ethic

It is time for a cultural shift in corporate TT. CSR must become a boardroom priority, integrated into business models and budgets. Companies must set CSR targets just as they set profit goals. Public disclosure of CSR contributions, benchmarking, and even tax incentives tied to meaningful social investments should be introduced by government to encourage this.

Let us redefine what it means to be a “successful” company, not merely one that maximises profit, but one that helps build the kind of society where profit is sustainable and shared.

Until then, the question must be asked: If corporations continue to benefit from TT without contributing meaningfully to its development, who exactly are they serving?

How was Vieira’s Teemal tribute offensive?

THE EDITOR: By what measure did UNC PRO Kirk Meighoo determine that the statement by Independent Senator Anthony Vieira, in his tribute to Deoroop Teemal, was offensive, tasteless and other adjectives?

I am at a loss to understand how Meighoo arrived at that conclusion. Vieira paid a wonderful tribute to Teemal and anyone reading it would agree. Of course, Meighoo took offence because Vieira said the unfair attacks levelled (by the UNC) against Independent senators (who either voted against or abstained from voting on the pension reform bill) took a toll on Teemal’s health, a fact Teemal himself told Vieira.

Meighoo either does not understand the written word or cannot differentiate between tasteful and tasteless. No one can do anything or say anything that does not agree with the UNC’s stance on anything under the sun. If they say the sun is emerald green and you disagree, they are aghast and speak reams about you in the media. Well, time will tell.

JM POUCHET

Port of Spain

Indian Arrival Day or Hindu Arrival Day?

THE EDITOR: Indian Arrival Day, celebrated annually on May 30, commemorates the arrival of the first Indian indentured labourers to TT aboard the Fatel Razack in 1845. It is a day that marks resilience, sacrifice, and cultural endurance – a tribute to the men, women, and children who crossed oceans to forge a future under often harsh and uncertain conditions.

Yet, as this significant historical observance has evolved, a growing concern has emerged as it is increasingly being portrayed or interpreted through a narrow religious lens as “Hindu Arrival Day.”

Between 1845 and 1917, nearly 144,000 Indian indentured labourers landed in TT. These migrants came from diverse regions of India and brought with them an equally diverse array of cultural, linguistic, and religious traditions. While a majority were Hindus, there were also significant numbers of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and adherents of other Indian spiritual traditions.

Despite this broad religious spectrum, the current observance of Indian Arrival Day predominantly highlights Hindu culture. They are central to many events. These practices – rich in heritage and deeply meaningful to the Hindu community – have shaped much of the Indo-Trinidadian cultural identity. However, this focus has unintentionally marginalised the Muslim, Christian, Sikh, and other religious communities within the Indian diaspora.

Indian Arrival Day was intended to honour the collective legacy of those who journeyed from India, regardless of their faith. All these groups endured the challenges of indentureship, adapted to colonial life, and made significant contributions to the development of TT. Yet, the increasingly Hindu-centric nature of the celebration has narrowed the historical lens, raising the critical question of inclusivity.

Muslim indentured labourers brought with them the traditions of Islam, contributing to the spiritual and cultural landscape through festivals like Eid and Ramadan, as well as the establishment of mosques.

Christian Indians, whether arriving as converts or converting in the Caribbean, played key roles in religious, social, and educational spheres.

Sikhs, though smaller in number, preserved their customs and established gurdwaras (Sikh places of worship). These groups, too, are woven into the fabric of Indo-Trinidadian heritage.

There should be a more inclusive approach to Indian Arrival Day – one that fully reflects the rich religious plurality of the Indian immigrant experience. Suggestions include incorporating multifaith ceremonies, hosting inter-religious cultural events, and organising educational initiatives that explore the diversity of Indian traditions in TT.

Such changes would not diminish the importance of Hindu customs, but rather elevate the national celebration to better reflect the pluralism that defines both the Indian diaspora and the nation as a whole. Recognising the full scope of Indian contributions – Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, and others – would reaffirm TT’s commitment to multiculturalism and unity in diversity.

Indian Arrival Day remains a vital opportunity to honour the endurance, faith, and cultural contributions of Indian indentured labourers. As the country continues to celebrate this significant milestone, it must do so in a way that respects all facets of its Indian heritage.

A more inclusive observance will not only preserve the integrity of the past, but also strengthen the social cohesion and cultural understanding that are essential for the nation’s future.

R KALIP

Rio Claro

Integrating deportees into society

THE EDITOR: The issue of returning deportees and their integration into TT society presents a significant challenge and an opportunity to exemplify national unity and inclusiveness.

Not all deportees have a criminal background; many have been unfairly deported due to minor infractions like traffic violations or immigration issues. Some have journeyed to conflict zones like Syria, often involuntarily, with women and children left vulnerable and displaced, relying on their homeland for safety in the aftermath of war.

All citizens, regardless of their recent history, possess inalienable birth rights, and it is the collective responsibility of the government and society to uphold these rights through fair and humane policies.

Developing comprehensive strategies that focus on social integration, access to services, and community acceptance will be crucial. Creating pathways for employment, education, and mental health support can help these individuals rebuild their lives and become contributing members of society.

This process will indeed test our national resolve and the true strength of our multicultural fabric. Embracing every creed and race and ensuring equal treatment and opportunities demonstrate our commitment to justice, compassion, and resilience.

By fostering a society that welcomes and rehabilitates, TT can turn this challenge into a testament of humane leadership and a united nation dedicated to equality and progress.

GORDON LAUGHLIN

via e-mail

Port of Spain commuters: State of emergency made no difference

THE day after the end of the state of emergency (SoE), which began December 30 and came to an end at midnight on April 13, Newsday took to the streets of Port of Spain seeking opinions from members of the public on the effectiveness of the measure which sought to address a rise in gang-related violence.

“Honestly, the effectiveness is at a point where I completely forgot we even had a SoE,” said Christopher Roxborough.

“I don’t see any kind of effect from it. I think the last thing we heard was that they got some guns a little while ago, but that’s pretty much the most I heard.”

While not opposed to the SoE as a crime-fighting measure, Roxborough said poor execution and lack of proper use of intelligence rendered it ineffective.

“People in the neighbourhood know who is doing what. It not that hard to get the information. Even the officers themselves know who is doing what because some of them are the ones doing the crime.

“So it shouldn’t be that hard if they actually decided to put the work in and do the proper investigation. If they were to actually do something, I think the SoE could actually help the country but they’re not doing anything with the information. It’s just a name at this point.”

On April 15, police announced that more than 4,000 people had been arrested with 1,600 of them being charged during the SoE.

In addition, 50 people were held under the Preventive Detention Order (PDO) provisions of the SoE. Of those, 11 were charged as the SoE ended on April 13 while the remaining 39 were released.

Police said those charged faced serious allegations including being gang members, gun possession, conspiracy to murder and attempted murder.

They have been identified as Thomas Ali, Akim Purcelle, Karrisa Rampaul, Naphtalie Bonnapart, Joshua Mone, Shaquille Pinder, Jarrel Baboolal, Joven Gomes, Shane Benito, Kema Mc Shine and Carlvin Lee.

On April 14, Roxborough added that while a change in leadership could help the crime situation, a greater societal change was also needed.

“People have to look at themselves. Even the citizens have some form of corruption that they may do. For example, you know you’re not supposed to park in a particular spot but you park there anyway because you know you might get away with it.

“Those little things we take for granted. We do it daily and don’t realise that it’s part of this mindset that we have. We boil it down to, ‘That’s how it is, we is trinis.’

“But we need to stop thinking like that and we need to hold ourselves accountable.”

Also speaking to Newsday on April 14, Sean Balfour said he never thought the SoE made any sense in the first place.

“The SoE did nothing. It’s a waste of time, nothing never stop. Killings keep on going the same way, robberies going the same way.”

He called for a change in governance to bring a solution but expressed little hope in the existing or prospective leaders contesting the 2025 general election.

“Everybody just doing the same thing over and over, we don’t need it like that any more. We need somebody sound to really run the country the way it’s supposed to be.

“All my life, all I know is the PNM, but it’s a waste of time. If you have a dog home and it bite you and you love that dog, you know, you’ll forgive it, but I don’t want to see them again, the vision for them is totally gone.”

He expressed some confidence in the UNC as he considered “giving them a try” as well as Patriotic Front leader Mickela Panday.

“She learned from the best, she learned from the Silver Fox (her father and former prime minister Basdeo Panday). So she might have a slight chance.”

However, 77-year-old Josephine said better parenting would be the best solution for solving crime, especially in light of rising youth involvement in gang violence.

“If you have a proper upbringing you would not find them kinda thing to do. You would have a base. You will know that you never see your mother, your father or your grandfather doing them thing. It will have the one or two who fall out of that order but that’s the base.

“But now it have children making children so that says it all.”

Josephine also lamented what she saw as a lack of results coming out of the SoE.

“They still have one set of killing all over the place. They still robbing you, they still breaking and entering your place, all kind of thing. It wasn’t effective at all.”

Newsday also posed the question of the SoE’s effectiveness to social media users who gave mixed opinions.

One user simply called the SoE “a pappy show” while another said it was, “Yet another unnecessary erosion of the legal rights of the population.”

Vall-Lories Lewis offered a different perspective, saying the SoE was somewhat effective in decreasing the murder rate. But as the general crime rate remained high, he said the SoE was not an effective crime-fighting solution.

Michael Gangoo Jr had similar views, saying, “Nothing the police nor the Ministry of National Security do will ever solve crime. It’s in the hearts of men to stop crime.”

Tired tariffs and sleepy sanctions

Jerome Teelucksingh

THE DECISION of the US to impose tariffs on imported goods entering that country is an old strategy. A similar foreign policy had been utilised as early as 432 BC by the Athenian Empire, which levied economic sanctions on Megara.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, one economic policy regularly employed was mercantilism. It was specially crafted to ensure a nation’s wealth increased through exports. France and Britain were among the European nations with mercantilist policies. However, mercantilism existed in theory but not in practice. The reason being there was illegal trade and the presence of pirates and privateers who ignored these protectionist policies.

The embargo was another mercantilist regulation that was based on exclusion.

Some would be familiar with the infamous embargo that the US imposed on Cuba. The embargo was enforced in March 1958 during the rule of Fulgencio Batista. And it continued when Fidel Castro became the leader of Cuba. Not surprisingly, Castro blamed the embargo, and not communism, for his country’s economic problems. The use of this embargo is an unjust form of punishment in which innocent citizens suffer.

Additionally, the US sanctions against Russia is similar to the earlier Continental System (also known as Continental Blockade) which France enforced against England from 1806 to 1814.

Armand Lefebvre contended that for Napoleon Bonaparte, the ruler of France, everything was dominated by the struggle against England. This was particularly accurate when the creation of the Continental System is considered.

Pieter Geyl in Napoleon: For and Against argued that the French foreign policy was “an exaggerated” and “untenable one.” Geyl is partly accurate because the Continental System had far-reaching goals.

Napoleon had created a “prison” in which he deliberately sought to block European nations from trading with Britain. He wanted to destroy the British economy and attempted to do so by ensuring British goods were restricted from entering Europe.

Napoleon’s efforts initially seemed successful. He was able to convince nations as Russia, Austria, and Prussia to co-operate and close their ports to British goods. However, curtailing part of the European trade did not cripple the British economy.

Amidst this turmoil, president Thomas Jefferson and the US Congress passed the Embargo Act in 1807 which stopped nearly all American exports to foreign countries and restricted imports from Britain. This act was an attempt to get Britain and France to recognise the neutrality of the US and to respect its maritime rights. Unfortunately, the act adversely affected the US economy.

One of the major reasons for the failure of the Continental System was because Britain had overseas colonies (in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia) and thus was not solely dependent on European trade.

Secondly, the arrogant Napoleon also failed to implement an alternative plan when Britain began contracting out its shipments to neutral vessels. Napoleon and his other European nations did not expect Britain to retaliate by creating a blockade of all European ships.

Donald Trump should be aware that the attempt by Napoleon to dictate the trading partners of European nations could not be sustained because in the 19th century Europe was part of a global interconnected trading network. Indeed, the British blockade severely handicapped internal European trading, which needed sea-shipping to operate at full capacity. Thus, any long-term boycott of trade with Britain would have hurt the European countries. This flaw in foreign policy badly damaged Napoleon’s leadership ability and his reputation of invincibility. Would this also be the fate of Trump?

In the 19th century, European nations were not prepared to take orders from a rapidly expanding France with Napoleon at the helm. The main reason for the failure of the Continental System was the desire of European countries to seek autonomy and be in control of their economies. This could also occur in 2025 in Europe and result in a backlash with the US tariffs.

European nations, during the failed blockade, realised that France and not Britain was the greater threat to Europe. Subsequently, Europe would unite against Napoleon.

Those who try to enforce any embargo, tariffs and sanctions seem like a tired economics teacher seeking to convince sleepy students that these are foolproof policies. Caribbean and Latin American countries must be more vocal in resisting the global economic order in which developed countries continue to dominate trade. These vulnerable, developing countries are given token roles, a voice but no power, and deceived into believing they will benefit.

For the Caribbean, there seems to be very few positive aspects of tariffs, sanctions, embargoes and globalisation.

Your opinions are welcomed

KANISA GEORGE

ADVANCING TO a new season in our lives requires us to be open-minded about the challenges that lie ahead and cognisant of the lessons that taint our past. For better or worse, most of what we do is judged, analysed and appraised by those with a front-row seat to our lives.

Like it or not, what we do and often the way we react is influenced by our target audience, and their opinions of us weigh far heavier than any of us wish they did. After all, no one likes to feel judged. All things considered, we learn from everything and everyone around us, and sometimes those lessons come in the form of critique.

If you’re a new mom, learning the ins and outs of the kitchen or trying your hand at a new skill, you’re bound to run into the opinions of others, especially regarding how well you’re getting on. It’s all fun and games when your audience sings your praises, and let’s not forget about the much-needed self-esteem boost that accompanies positive commentary.

Contention, on the far end, weasels its way into the narrative when unsavoury comments, suggestions, or remarks are hurled our way, without invitation. And we all know the impact that this can potentially have on not just our self-esteem, but our emotional state of mind.

While a negative response might not always be welcomed, our reaction to criticism, however revolting it might be, is a natural psychological response. It all has to do with the way our brain responds to the message received.

Naturally, our brain registers criticism as a threat and automatically sends out alarm signals similar to those of a physical attack. Psychologist Daniel Goleman sums this up as our “brains viewing criticism as a threat to our survival.”

Because our brains are protective of us, neuroscientists say they go out of their way to make sure we always feel like we’re in the right – even when we’re not. And when we receive criticism, our brain tries to protect us from the threat it perceives to our place in the social order of things. Goleman summarises that “threats to our standing in the eyes of others are remarkably potent biologically, almost as those to our very survival.”

It goes without saying that no one likes to receive negative feedback or have their flaws spotlighted, but there are times when the critique we receive only goes to support our growth and well-being. And I am not talking about feedback of a positive kind.

Negative feedback can be used as a source of power and growth if we can reasonably determine its utility. Of course, it won’t be hard to find people who are hell-bent on hurting us and use venom, crouched in the form of criticism, to throw us off course emotionally.

As they say, such unhelpful criticism should be taken with a pinch of salt because your critic isn’t always right. But don’t let this be your starting point. As in most things in life, having an open mind is the first thing we should endeavour to do when we receive feedback.

Ellen Hendricksen, a psychologist at Boston University’s Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, advises that you can always reject criticism that does not match what your core beliefs tell you is correct, for feedback in most cases is an opinion shaped by the giver’s context, values and place in life.

Ask yourself this question: what does this feedback say about my actions or approach?

We get so caught up in immediately assuming that we are being vilified that we listen to react instead of understand.

Not only should active listening be of paramount importance, but we should also listen to engage. Ask questions that will help you better understand how you can improve and how best to apply those changes. Use this opportunity to understand the message behind the feedback.

Be slow to respond!

When we receive negative feedback, most of us are quick to respond. And often our immediate response isn’t a positive one. Instead of a quick response, we should listen and consume before we say anything.

Charles Jacobs, author of Management Rewired: Why Feedback Doesn’t Work, espoused an exciting perspective on how we view criticism. Jacobs theorises that we often don’t remember criticism correctly. He adds that when we hear information that conflicts with our self-image, our instinct is to change the information first rather than ourselves.

What’s even more interesting about this finding is that while we are more likely to remember incorrectly, our negative bias doesn’t prevent us from forgetting it. We wear the feedback as negative trauma instead of a springboard to growth.

Feedback is needed to help our growth, and what we do with it can influence not only what we learn about our surroundings and others, but also about ourselves. Use criticism, no matter how negative, to your advantage instead of being a slave to its hold.