http://nastylittletruths.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/a-celebration-of-nothing/

Advertised as the anniversary of ‘when change began’, it is ironic that in TnT politics nothing ever really does. If one can tell me the difference between the last corrupt and arrogant administration and this one – apart from the presence of the COP, leadership gender and the obvious racial difference – please let me know.

So while as a humanist my moment of sorrow did occur on hearing about Patrick’s health problems early this morning, I have to contrast that with the feeling of seeing my fellow citizens waving flags and screaming in another celebration of foisting another sets of bandits in charge of the bank…

I’ve been spreading an excellent article on the Guardian from a few weeks ago by Kito Johnson and it’s the perfect explanation of the orgy that is Rienzi… Lord help us…

http://www.guardian.co.tt/columnist/sunday-january-15-2012/let-them-eat-silk

For the New Year 2012, get a map of the world and stick it up in any wall of your house or office that you see regularly. Not a map of Trinidad, not one of the Caribbean, but one of the world at least 600mm high by 800mm wide - standard Mercator projection. And stick a coloured pin right where Trinidad is…

The first thing you notice is the size of that pin against the rest of the world and you realise how small and insignificant we all are in the scheme of things. (An old trick I picked up from a friend of mine who used it to teach his children to be proud that they are Trinis, but don’t let that stop you from going out into that big wide world that’s out there.

And while you contemplate on that image, please take these words to heart while you have an enjoyable Christmas holiday and look forward to all good things in the New Year 2012.

Let others lead small lives, but not you…

Let others argue over small things, but not you…

Let others cry over small hurts, but not you…

Let others leave their future in someone else’s hands, but not you…

The first one was about Prestige Holdings buying out the local franchise for Subway. Now I’ve always liked Joe Esau ever since he was at BWIA because he’s a bright guy – one of Trinidad’s best, but the company he runs is reputed to be the cheapest when it comes to paying dividends. Now if you can bet on one stock in Trinidad, it’s Prestige Holdings because KFC outlets are always booming. But in a pre-emptive strike to any shareholders who may be looking for some dividend payout, read some the language  – even though the parent company is making 7.5% on a ‘loan’ while the seller offered an interest free loan of TT$45m…

“As soon as it is practicable, PHL will review the Group’s combined capital structure, to determine the optimal debt to equity ratio, and take appropriate action on its capitalisation.” Prestige Holdings said that the acquisition is estimated to provide an increase in earnings per share on a standalone basis, and improving as the restaurant holding company “implements synergies and takes advantage of the Subway Brand’s continued growth and development in Trinidad & Tobago.” It is estimated that the transaction would add approximately $170 million to the sales of Prestige Holdings, in the company’s financial year 2012 while adding $12.7 million to its net after tax profit, before factoring in interest cost on the acquisition financing.

“ Meanwhile, Prestige Holdings chairman Joseph Esau issued another statement in which he said that the company was in discussions with three possible purchasers of its 50 per cent stake in a HFC joint venture in the Dominican Republic. “The carrying value of this investment is $29.5 million, and we expect a significant impairment of our investment; as a result the Board agreed that an appropriate provision will be made in PHL’s financial statements for the year ending 30 November 2011”

http://www.guardian.co.tt/business/2011/12/03/subway-sold-110-mill

After all is said and done, he’s saying that all is not nice and rosy. But that’s shareholders, not Victor E Mouttet Limited…

Second story is Jwala Rambarran exhorting views that the banking sector has not been contributing enough to local economic development as Richard Young of Scotiabank has admitted to telling the Minister of Labour in a recent meeting that, “the banking sector was not responsible for the development of micro businesses…” (Unfortunately this story is not on the online edition to link to).

This has been a sore point about bankers in Trinidad for many years because for all intent, they are nothing more than parasites feeding off the growing organisms that we call businesses. And just as parasites will flee from a corpse, so too they leave struggling companies to fend for themselves. As a private and non-business customer of banks here I have a wry laugh when I get my statement every month where I earn TT$0.12 in interest, but they charge me TT$36.oo in ‘service’ charges. You have to pay to have an account at any TnT bank.

So while I get fractions of a percent for my money that they use (and charge me for the ‘service’of doing so) their spread in rates has been a source of comment throughout this hemisphere. This is a fact. Trinidad banks have the widest spread between rates in the entire western hemisphere. The logic of service charges paying for my online transactions also doesn’t make sense because the banks are saving money by not paying people to do things I do myself. It’s all electronic and paid for itself by now, unlike an employee you pay for 40 years…

Third story was also taken from the same conference Jwala was speaking at, but this time the banks were boasting (Richard Young again) that while they are criticised for not taking risks, their customers feel comfortable placing their savings at his bank. Really? Comfortable? For fractions of a percent? While I agree that a balance must be found between risk and reward, the evidence is overwhelming when it comes to our banks. They have no interest in being there at the beginning of a venture that could sustainable and beneficial to our economy (unless is a ‘pardner’ they are lending to), will approach you if success comes to suck some of the profit for themselves and will declare millions for themselves every year.

The strikes in England this week was instructive and the words of one guy rang true: the workers did not cause the problems the economy is faced with today, but their government is making them pay for it. It was time to stand up and say enough is enough. Public companies and banks in Trinidad want to make all the money for themselves without paying a reasonable return on the capital that they employ and that is plain wrong, or outright robbery.

But then again, we like to wine and wave for politicians who are supposed to protect us from these legal bandits…

In what could be considered a ‘sensitive’ issue for both WASA’s CEO Ganga Singh and MoPU Emmanuel George, their comments regarding the main reason for the water shortfall was enlightening… It is common knowledge that the supply of water has been severely hampered by the inability of Desalcott to get their plant up and running again, yet both men claimed to “not know the actual details” of the problem.

Let me put it in perspective and you come to your own conclusions… Stung by persistent reports that they were both in collusion with Hafeez Karamath and the questionable deal of WASA and Desalcott, what they cannot state publicly is that they know Desalcott (through the cheapness of the deceased and roasting in hell Hafeez) has been lax in their maintenance of the plant over the last decade and more. I swear that they probably stuck some things with spit in there just to eke out what the plant can produce and give no thought about preserving the asset.

And this should raise some alarming questions… Most important one being, is this plant on a BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) contract with WASA and at the end of the term they are saddled with a piece of junk? WASA religiously pays Desalcott its fees every month in the millions but how much goes back into maintaining the plant is questionable.

In another revealing comment by the Minister (as was reported), he is not too interested in what is deemed to be a crippling water supply problem for the simple reason that if he had to do everything he may as well be WASA’s CEO. reinforces the point that Ganga is still running the show.

First post in about four weeks and what should really be my second to last… (I’ve always said that the day I leave Trinidad for good I will have nothing more to say, but that day has not arrived as yet…)

I grew up with the saying, “those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it”, and yet for many it holds no lesson. History is truly a great teacher because Man was supposed to evolve into better beings by building on lessons learnt – not doing the same thing over and over again.

This thinking enveloped me since yesterday on learning, and then seeing on all the news channels, the end of Moammar Gadhafi. I’ve tested high on emotional intelligence because of my feelings of empathy – I can’t help it, that’s the way I am – and no matter how bad the guy is, I still get that moment of sadness at their end.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, The Mahatma, had said, “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall – think of it, always”, and proven right again. Forty-two years Gadhafi ruled Libya and yes, I am sure he felt invincible for most of that time, but in the end hiding like a rat in a drain pipe. And when caught, beaten with shoes and then shot like a dog…

When I speak of Trinidad politicians to my external colleagues I say we have gods here, not ministers of government and MPs. They saw Patrick fall like deadwood from a rotting tree and yet they feel they will be there forever. And those who are smart enough to know that it is but for a time only ‘tief’ like there’s no tomorrow…

It seems like the only escape is death.

First off, we don’t know who has the authority right now in the PSA as I am not privy to their constitution. As far as I understand too, this issue is in the courts waiting on interpretation. And if there is ambiguity in authority, why were the accounts not frozen until it was sorted out? I really feel institutions change the rules based on who makes the most noise yes…

Second, why cash? Seriously… cash? In bags? If this was not a stage-managed affair, call me dunce and place me in the back of the class. Some commentators have already piped up that if cash is withdrawn and then deposited some could go missing (and that is true), but I don’t agree that it can’t be traced. There is a withdrawal slip somewhere in FCB and there will be an account opening balance at RBC which can be audited, so let’s discard the notion that it was to steal.

A manager’s cheque will be quite fine to close off an account, but then you won’t need the other actors and props such as plastic bags, would you? As a matter of fact, it’s a one man/woman operation… You close the account, get your cheque and walk across the road. (The other comments about wire transfer is irrelevant since there’s no account at a receiving bank to send it to).

So Watson – well played… The news houses lapped it up and no one asked you any questions at all – even the part where you said that this is “union members money that has been saved for them”. Really? You are saving dues that are payable to the union by members to what? Pay them back? Hogwash. The money belongs to the union to use in the interest of the members.

This whole scenario reeks of when small-minded men think that other people’s money is their own. Sounds familiar based on recently revealed events?

Michael Carballo was on a roll for the last two days exposing the innards of a greedy animal feeding hungrily at the trough – and it wasn’t pretty… I assume that Duprey, Monteil, Sakal and Leid will all have the opportunity to tell their side of the story, but somehow I think they won’t and prefer to sue for libel and slander instead. Small bet between friends?

Here’s the post I did two years and four months ago when Gita’s bounties first came up as part of an investigative report. (I still found it funny when I read it because US$35 or US$45k a month with a US$2m annual bonus still makes her a very attractive woman… :-) )

http://nastylittletruths.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/local-bailout-us-style-failure/

But this is a long-term problem that goes to the root of criminality in this country. The white-collar criminals have a field day and not brought to book so it makes the smaller guys envious. How many “businessmen” caught with questionable cargo on the port has been named in the news? How many monied men and women have had their cases dismissed or going on in perpetuity because of their million dollar lawyers? How many greedy men and women like Duprey et al have made jail? How many developers have made smaller homeowners life a living hell and hauled before the courts to correct their failings? How many times have you heard the “difficulty in prosecuting cases” when it comes to the big fish, but the small fry fill the jails?

Don’t try to fool the brazen ones with a gun in their hands. They know that they are petty crooks when it comes to the politicians and businessmen who steal millions and even if caught there are no laws to ensure a conviction. They know and they see, just like me, that one rule applies to them and another applies to the monied class. We are in serious trouble and yet still no one sees…

I looked at John Bansraj sleeping in a car given to him by a kind donor (I don’t know if the car runs) since his house has become uninhabitable and I wonder at the way people suffer in this country simply because no one cares. The painful part about this is through the sheer incompetence of a public utility in undertaking a simple pipe repair job. The pressure that broke the pipe rained pressure on John Bansraj by making the land where his house sat unstable resulting in the near collapse of the structure. Now just in case you didn’t know, a government appointed politician is the CEO of WASA who has money oozing out of his hands (provided by an IADB loan via a government guarantee), drives a million dollar vehicle and tours the world on ‘company’ business and here we have a man who lost his house and sleeps inside a donated car. Is this world fair or what?

To make matters worse, the current CEO has been suspected of having dirty hands since his days as a Minister of Public Utilities in the UNC administration, was investigated by Bob Lindquist (the full report made available to the public via an Express expose by Camini Marajh); was saved by the PNM as he was, as the accusation goes, selling insider information to Patrick Manning directly and still got appointed by our erstwhile PM… And John Bansraj family sleeps in a shed - some of them on the ground – because there’s no space for bed.

I would hazard a guess (yes, call it racial profiling) that John Bansraj would have probably voted this current administration and what did he get in return? Just like the tens of thousands of people who go to vote in an election, what do you get in return but more ketch arse? Not the Ganga Singhs of the world though… Their political acumen keeps them rolling in the money, in the circle of power and always landing on all fours like a cat.

Do you think someone from the RIC (Regulated Industries Commission) will call John Bansraj and see if they can help him? I am sure John Bansraj doesn’t know that if he had called the RIC WASA would have jumped faster, but this world is not fair and you see it every day in this island…

Both the CJ, a man I believe who has his heart in the right place, and the CBA should really accept the fact that not all that is written in paper is respected by the poh-leece. Dana Seetahal in three consecutive articles highlighted the tendency for even the senior ranks of the police to misinterpret the law, concoct their own versions that has no basis in existing law and advise people what they should and shouldn’t be doing during curfew hours.

In my past posts – way before this state of emergency – I’ve said that we have all the trappings of a police state. When the SoE was announced I immediately posted my heightened distrust of the police. It is irrelevant what the CJ is saying to me because I will get beaten by an exuberant policeman if I start talking about my ‘rights’.

A quote crossed my desk this week and it is a reminder of how easily we trust and how easily we lose:

“The only thing democracy has proved is that the best way to gain power over people is to assure them that they are ruling themselves. Once they believe that, they make wonderfully submissive slaves” - Joseph Sobran, US journalist.

Are we ‘wonderfully submissive slaves’? We weren’t… we were agitating in the streets and planning to ‘shut the country down’. Manifestations of a people truly ‘ruling themselves’… but the SoE and rampant ‘protective’ service changed that.

For Americans it was a strike against their pride. It was done on a scale that would terrify a nation and made them fearful up to this day, but it also brought to the fore what made them a great nation in the first place – heroism and patriotism. There is no denying that what happened on 9/11/01 bound a people even closer and will define a new generation the same way my cohort was defined by the JFK and MLK assassinations… Yes, two people versus thousands, but it felt the same way to us then. The key difference was the aftermath. There weren’t any wars to start, which continue to take lives, and a nation that built itself on the movement of goods and services became paranoid about any moving object or person…

I used to argue with my US colleagues and acquaintances that 9/11 had made them weak and fearful; that the terrorists had won, and they resented it. Now I don’t mean that they don’t need to be alert to the possibility of some group trying to do them harm, but the lengths they go to resembles paranoia more than caution.

It is my hope that after 10 years they will understand the world is still a dangerous place and in rooting out one enemy, there are others willing to take their place. The hot news today is that there is credible evidence of an ‘anniversay’ threat and it reinforces the point. The culprits are dead, the head of the organisation that planned 9/11 is dead and yet nothing has changed…