RE: my entry for an essay competition on the topic of corruption ,

“Trinidad and Tobago would have been a model state with well-managed, efficient services; effective infrastructure and broad-based prosperity were it not for corruption.” Discuss.

            The cost of corruption in Trinbagonian society can only be measured by the torrents of innocent blood that our nation’s soil has drunk till it can bear no more. Our founding father Eric Williams envisioned Port of Spain as being the Athens of the Caribbean and it would have been his desire that we become a model state. However it can be argued that we are far from being a model state due to the culture of corruption that plagues our society.             
            The abundance of drug money flowing through the criminal underworld like the mythical river Styx has led to gang wars. Gang wars have led to the assassination of individuals whom are deemed a threat to the underworld such as the esteemed Dana Seetahal S.C.
            Corruption is defined by Transparency International as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain “and by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle”.  
            Corruption is arguably the root cause of much of the death and suffering in our society. Corruption entails practices such as Money Laundering, Drug Trafficking, bribery of public officials and other such immoral practices which enable the criminal underworld to thrive.
                        On the Global Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 Trinidad and Tobago ranks 83rd out of 177 nations, on par with Jamaica. By comparison our Caribbean neighbor Barbados ranks 15th which is a higher rank the United States at 19th.
            The GCP index reveals a clear correlation between a low corruption perception and a high level of human development and other factors associated with first world status. This corroborates the argument that corruption is a causal factor of poverty, crime and underdevelopment.
                        The GCP index also reveals that countries with major drug and crime problems are ranked lowest on the index, the example being Venezuela with a rank of 160th. This shows that corruption in society can lead to gang warfare and a high murder rate.
            Trinidad and Tobago ranks in the top 10 in the world for homicides per capita according to a UN Information Service report for 2013. According to the United States Department of State Overall Crime and Safety Report (OSAC) 2013 the murder rate in Trinidad and Tobago is driven primarily by gang and drug related activities.   
            The problem of narcotics and gang warfare in our nation is arguably the grimmest manifestation of corruption that our society has to battle. The narcotics trade helps to fund gangs and allows for the importation of guns and ammunition.
            The money brought in by the narcotics trade is the driving force behind most of the serious crime in our nation. Many corrupt acts are funded by drug monies including the assassination and intimidation of private citizens or the bribery of public officials. This in turn weakens the rule of law and by extension weakens our democracy and our nation as a whole.
            Also linked to the narcotics trade is the crime of money laundering. Money laundering is the process by which cash and funds obtained through criminal activity is transformed into seemingly legitimate assets. It tends to involve complicated schemes whereby illicit cash may be sent through many different bank accounts and given to third parties to purchase legitimate assets such as real estate or stocks and bonds.      
            With reference to the Financial Investigation Unit of Trinidad and Tobago’s Annual Report for 2013, 19% of all suspected specified offenses investigated by the FIU involved money laundering this represents the largest single category of offenses investigated by the FIU.
            In 2012 the total value of suspicious transaction reports submitted to the FIU totaled TT$ 638,844,310. In 2013 TT 1.12 billion attempted transactions were intercepted and reported to the FIU. These figures give an indication of the sheer amount of illicit funds are moving around in our economy, most of which come from the drug trade.
              The evidence showing the link between corruption and crime in our nation is so overwhelming that no sensible individual would attempt to counter argue this assertion.
            Corruption also has taken its toll on the infrastructural development of Trinidad and Tobago. Consider the fact that Port of Spain’s streets regularly become rivers during the rainy season. It can therefore be said that Trinidad and Tobago’s infrastructure is far from the standard of a model state.
            The shadow of corruption and mismanagement has always stalked our nation’s major building projects. The incomplete Brian Lara cricket stadium at Tarouba which has cost over 1.1 billion to date exemplifies the trend that major government building project seems to be affected by corruption.
            Corrupt government officials in our nation seem to be more interested in investing our limited resources in projects that line their pocket, than in truly building a better Trinidad and Tobago. To this day our nation lacks a modern mass transit system that would ease the traffic on the nation’s roads.
            However it can be argued that Trinidad and Tobago’s infrastructure is by no means archaic or underdeveloped.  According to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report 2013-14 Trinidad and Tobago scores high with regards to the reliability of the electricity supply (ranked 50^th) and other infrastructural indices.
            That being said there is still much improvement to be had before Trinidad and Tobago can call its infrastructure first world.
            Corruption is therefore the root cause of every major problem that plagues our society, whether it be crime or poor infrastructural development.
            It is therefore imperative that all efforts be made to combat corruption and change our culture from one of moral turpitude to one of righteousness and ethical conduct. The future of our nation and even the very lives of many of our people depend on winning the war against corruption.

Prepare for the Post American Era- Start building Trinbago’s future with BRICs.

Prepare for the Post American Era-  Start building Trinbago’s future with BRICs.


                The Chinese Dragon is set to fly past the US in economic growth in coming years, and the Russian Bear has awoken from its slumber and swallowed up Crimea whole.  Trinidad and Tobago must be proactive in facing the reality of a changing international climate. We must manage our diplomatic resources as efficiently as possible in order to see the maximum benefit for our society.
                Two pointless and failed wars in the Middle East have shown that the US military is not omnipotent. Global economic and military power is shifting towards the BRIC nations – Brazil Russia India and China and thus Trinbago must develop closer ties with these titans in order to thrive in the future. The Government needs to court BRIC nations as allies while maintaining our close ties to the USA.
                The impending decline of the US also necessitates that we push even harder to get assistance from them while they are able to give it. All developmental aid for our economy that the US is able to give ought to be requested as long as there are no strings attached.
                All assistance with law enforcement and military training that the US is willing to give must be requested now through our diplomatic channels. The day may soon come when the growing US national debt will preclude the US government from giving aid to Trinidad and Tobago, therefore we must get the assistance now while the US dollars are flowing.
                Forbes.com has listed Vladimir Putin as the most powerful man in the world for 2013, ahead of Barack Obama who held the title in 2012. Hu Jintao of China held the title of most powerful man on the Forbes list in 2010. One day the president of India may receive that title, and perhaps the leader of Brazil as well.
                The BRIC nations have put up $100 billion to set up a developmental bank and a currency reserve pool on Tuesday July 15^th 2014. This bank is set to rival the global financial order that has been centered on the IMF and World Bank when it begins lending money in 2016.
                We also cannot take for granted the present stability of the US economy. The present economic stability of the US  is only made possible by massive injections of money by the Federal Reserve in a process known as Quantitative Easing.
                The billionaire Donald Trump has warned that America is heading for ‘financial ruin’ due to its rising debt. In an article published Tuesday the 15^th 2014 he stated that if the US debt keeps increasing a downgrade is inevitable. He predicts unemployment as high as 21% in the future due to recession.
                It may even be time to consider unpegging our currency from the US dollar and pegging it to another currency that may be more stable in the future, like the Chinese Yuan. The difference between this coming economic crisis and previous US recessions is that the BRIC nations are now poised to take the lead as the major financial, economic and military powers of the world once the opportunity presents itself. We will see unprecedented changes in the international political, economic and financial order in coming years.
                Initiatives to teach Mandarin, Russian, Hindi and Portuguese should be spearheaded by the Ministry of Education in order to ensure that Trinbago society is ready for the future. Foreign investment from these nations should be courted by our private sector, and joint ventures between local companies and firms in BRIC nations should be encouraged wherever possible in order to bolster our economy.
               
                Let us be always forward thinking and proactive in our approach, lest we slide into irrelevancy while new titans rise to power.


Addendum : My latest research has shown that the US's military superiority is also fading fast. The latest Russian and Chinese radar can detect the US stealth fighters the F22 and F35:

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/04/29/360578/us-stealth-jet-cant-evade-russia-radars/

Plus the newest Russian and Chinese jets the PAK-FA and the J20 have similar features to the F22 and F35 and will likely challenge american superiority .
 
The F35 is said to be a flying turkey , slow and lacking in agility, once detected by a Russian SU 35 it will lose in a dogfight.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/07/15/brics-summit-bank-idINKBN0FK08620140715

http://www.moneynews.com/Outbrain/Trump-Aftershock-American-Economy/2012/11/06/id/462985/

Declare Peace not War on Laventille

Declare Peace not War on Laventille

                Instead of abusing the already oppressed residents of Laventille the focus should be on attacking the root cause of these gang wars.
                The only way to get every gun out of Laventille by force would be to implement counter-insurgency methods that we have seen used in the US-Iraq war. The resulting violence, bloodshed and breaches of human rights would make such a strategy unconscionable.
                Not only that, as we have seen in Iraq unless the supply of weapons and the culture of violence are eliminated we would need to fight such a battle every few years.  The result will be an even larger mess than we have now and mistrust for the police and the government.
                Thus instead of declaring ‘war’ on the residents of Laventille as said by inspector Roger Alexander and published in the guardian on Monday 23^rd June 2014 , peace should be declared. A cease-fire should be arranged with a gun amnesty , negotiations should be opened.
                The people of Laventille ought to be invited to express their side of the story in the media, for as long as they are oppressed they will put their trust in the gang leaders for protection and wealth creation and not the legitimate authority of the government.
                War must be declared on the Dons , the Principalities and the Powers who obviously do not live in Laventille, but reside in palatial abodes in other parts of the country or abroad.  The teenaged boys on the block who were brainwashed into becoming criminals are not the real enemy. They ought to be regarded with pity and empathy, not hatred and fear.
                The conflict in Laventille is a big distraction from the real issues: Systemic corruption and spiritual wickedness in high places. A war on Laventille will yield no lasting results. More blood will be shed, police time wasted and the drugs and guns will keep flowing into the country.


Published in the Trinidad Guardian : Tuesday, June 24, 2014

http://www.guardian.co.tt/letters/2014-06-24/declare-peace-not-war-laventille

Does our society love its women?

Two men holding public office are alleged to have perpetrated abominable acts of violence against women in the past few weeks. These incidents are symptomatic of a deep sickness that pervades Trinbagonian society at all levels.

A deep lack of love for our women and girls is manifested time and again, and little is being done to change it.

In 2012, there were 2,517 female victims of violent crimes in Trinidad and Tobago (rape, assault, etc). For the 2009/2010 law term, 12,106 new domestic violence applications were filed in the magistrate’s courts. These numbers are just the tip of the iceberg, due to the fact that most of these crimes are not reported.

As a society, we must work together to combat this problem and mitigate its effects. This requires both the Government and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) to implement strategies to combat this violence.

UNIFEM’s (United Nations Development Fund for Women) “National Accountability Framework to End Violence against Women” recommends a holistic approach, combining Government services, such as public health and law enforcement, with educational institutions and other actors such as trade unions and NGOs.

In effect, everyone has a part to play in ending violence against women. We must continue to develop a no-tolerance policy towards this problem. Violence against women must not only be condemned but punished at every opportunity. I urge everyone reading this to become your sister’s keeper; if you know of a woman who is abused, do not turn a blind eye but rather offer a helping hand.

Trinidad and Tobago, since 1996, has ratified the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women. Why is it that 18 years later, we are still struggling with this problem?

Article 8 (b) of the convention provides for the undertaking of programmes to modify the social and

cultural patterns of conduct to counteract prejudices which legitimise violence against women.

In truth, the very culture of Trinidad and Tobago needs to change. It seems to me that we have a full-blown culture of violence that must be transformed into a culture of peace and loving kindness.

Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies, and people ought to love their neighbours as themselves. Do we truly love our women as a society? Then we must protect them.


Published in the express on april 3rd 2014

Weaponize the Masses against Crime

All efforts from all sides of the political spectrum have failed to fix the crime situation. It is time to put the power back into the hands of the people to decide their own fate.
All crime plans and initiatives have failed – it is time to be our brother’s keeper and be responsible for our own security.

I’m calling upon the people to empower themselves, train in martial arts and self-defense techniques so that if danger ever comes knocking at your door you can beat it away with a big stick.

I’m also calling upon the government to allow the people to empower themselves- bring martial arts into high schools especially girls schools. I want to see teenage school girls ganging up against any would be assailant and ripping him to shreds.

Let us empower ourselves so that the criminals will be the ones living in constant fear.  Let the old ladies carry tasers and let the young women carry pepper spray.


Make it easier to put guns in the hands of business owners , anyone who wants a gun can get one anyway so it makes no sense denying law abiding citizens the right to defend themselves. Amend the laws to allow non lethal weapons to be carried by private citizens, and let women purchase these weapons tax free and be trained in their usage.

We as citizens have powers of arrest in certain circumstances. I’d quote from the learned Dana Seetahal’s Criminal Practice and Procedure but instead I encourage you to find the book yourselves and become empowered with knowledge.  The criminal element has taken Dana Seetahal SC, a national treasure. All that remains of her on this earth is her legacy which we must cherish.

I want to see citizens banding together in neighborhood watches and working together with the police.
Let us not have to call the police for every little thing, our men and women in uniform are burdened enough as it is. Let us become so powerful that we intercept the criminals ourselves where legally permissible and hand them over to the police.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Let us be burning and blinding lights that destroy the kingdom of darkness, for our own sakes and our children’s sakes.

Where is the sex offenders registry?

:

In an article in the T&T Guardian dated May 4, 2011, there was talk of launching an online sex offenders registry under the Children’s Authority within the Ministry of the People. My best attempts at research have revealed that no such registry has ever been implemented.

What is the hold up? A study done in the USA by JJ Prescott of the University of Michigan and Jonah Rockoff of Columbia University has shown that requiring sex offenders to register with police may reduce the chances that they will re-offend by as much as 13 per cent.

There is clearly a benefit to be had in implementing the sex offenders registry.

Section 15 of the Sexual Offences Act Chapter 11:28 says a person who indecently assaults another is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for five years for a first offence.

Thus we can draw the inference that several people who have been convicted of indecent assault and have served their five-year jail term are now freely roaming Trinbagonian society. What is to stop these individuals from committing more sexual offences in the future?

With all the billions that have been spent on national security and crime prevention why has this fairly simple and inexpensive measure not been implemented? Party politics aside, this is something that should have been done decades ago, before the present crime situation developed.

Is there room for 1700 more Attorneys In Trinidad and Tobago?

Is there room for 1700 more Attorneys?
            Let me preface this article by saying that I do not have a PhD in econometrics and I did not do extensive field research before writing this article. This article presents a hypothesis and is not conclusive. I do encourage the Council for Legal Education and the Law Association to conduct a study into the market for legal services to ensure that Hugh Wooding Law School is producing enough graduates to meet demand.
            However if my hypothesis is correct, Trinidad and Tobago’s market for legal services may have room for 1700 more attorneys before reaching its saturation point. 
            My Hypothesis is as follows: If the market for legal services in Trinbago grows at a similar pace to the Economy as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), then the growth rate of the market has exceeded the number of attorneys being admitted to the bar. This is an arguable hypothesis as Law directly plugs into every area of the economy and of life.
            Let us now look at the numbers provided generously by Mrs Jade Rodriguez, Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court and a tutor at our beloved Hugh Wooding Law School:
            The number of attorneys on the rolls in Trinidad and Tobago as of 2013: 3836 with 253 attorneys being admitted in 2013.
            In the year 2000 there were 1953 attorneys on the rolls with 73 being admitted to practice that year. There was an increase of 1883 attorneys on the rolls for the period 2000 to 2013 or a 96.41% increase.
            Now let us contrast this with the growth of the Economy as exhibited by GDP. GDP is defined as the monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specified time period, this includes all private consumption, government spending, spending on business capital and the nation’s exports.
            According to the World Bank Trinidad’s GDP for the year 2000 was $8.15 Billion US dollars. For 2012 the GDP was measured at $23.32 Billion US dollars. There was growth of $15.17 Billion US dollars or a 186.1 % increase over the period 2000 to 2012. (Statistics for 2013 not yet available)
            We can see that the growth rate of the Economy as measured by GDP was vastly greater than the growth rate of attorneys on the rolls.
            Now let us indulge in some speculation:
Assuming that in the year 2000 the demand for legal services was equal to or greater than the supply of legal services (as roughly measured by number attorneys), and assuming the demand for legal services has grown at a similar pace to the GDP growth rate, how many attorneys would the market be able to accept today?
            Based on a growth rate of 186.1 % for the demand in the legal services market, Trinidad and Tobago should be able to accommodate at least 5587.5 attorneys on the rolls today. That is 1751.5 more than the number admitted to practice at the moment.
            So despite all the naysayers who say the field of law is saturated, there should be space for Seventeen Hundred and Fifty One more attorneys to join the profession. There may even be space for someone to be Point Five of a full attorney. Whether that half an attorney practice law only half the time, or practice law that is only half as good as everyone else will be his choice to make.
            So what about the horror stories of new attorneys not getting jobs in the big firms and having to work as office clerks?  If there is more space how these things could be happening?  Unfortunately even though there is more space for new attorneys at law to provide their services, there seems to be a lack of space in the traditional law firms. New attorneys will have to become entrepreneurs and start their own practices in order to exploit the demand in the market.
            That being said, this article is more speculation than anything else. The limitations of these calculations are as follows:
1. I have not used the GDP figures for 2013 as these do not seem to be available. Reports are that the economy grew by around 1.6% for 2013.
2. These calculations use the number of attorneys on the rolls for 2013; some of these attorneys may not be practicing law at all as they may be retired or out of the jurisdiction. An in depth study is required to get more accurate figures.
3. The assumption that the market for legal services grows at the same rate as the economy is a big limitation on the study. There is no telling whether growth is faster or slower than what was used in these calculations.
           
            Speculation aside, one is for certain, the growth of the Trinbago Economy has slowed significantly to around 1.6%, down from the heady years of 12.6% growth back in 2006. The number of attorneys on the rolls is growing at about 7% a year (253 being admitted in 2013) which exceeds the growth of the economy.
            Care must be taken for the future to ensure that supply does not exceed demand, which may result in a drop in the price of legal services .This in turn could make studying law fruitless investment for those seeking to join the profession. The onus is on the Council for Legal Education and the Law association to steward the legal profession in Trinidad and Tobago towards a bright future.