Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Greenify your life!

August 2009

Why the smelter makes no sense

Posted Mon, 24/08/2009 - 08:09 by Monique

Letter of the Day
Monday, August 24th 2009

Do those entrusted to steer an even path in our development have the capacity to make sound judgements? If someone was the beneficiary of an unearned fortune, would it be wise to put it in the hands of someone who knows nothing of finance or who has had no experience in earning an income or even working in a parlour?

Some of us may recall the lavish expenditure with borrowed money in the 70s which led to the IMF intervention. When we borrow money on speculative future earnings we are repeating our history.

Littering problem a lack of discipline

Posted Mon, 24/08/2009 - 08:07 by Monique

Published: 24 Aug 2009

When one views littering throughout the country, it is easy to conclude that it has become an uncontrollable disease that affects all residents. We watch thousands of bottles, food containers and cups strewn along the roads. Let’s not forget old tyres, washing machines, stoves and refrigerators that clog the waterways. You will need thousands of litter wardens stationed 24/7 for 365 days to attempt to contain the situation.

Climate change workshop at Trincity

Posted Sun, 23/08/2009 - 08:00 by Monique

Rickey Singh
Sunday, August 23rd 2009

Some 30 regional scientists are in Trinidad and Tobago to train in use of tools to better prepare the Caribbean for droughts, hurricanes and flooding associated with intense rainfall and rising sea levels associated with climate change.

The two-week workshop, organised by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre and CARDI opened last Monday and continues until August 26 at the Bureau of Standard Building (Premier Quality Services Ltd Maracas Conference Room), Trincity, Trinidad.

SCHOOLS MUST SAVE ENERGY TO SAVE COSTS

Posted Thu, 20/08/2009 - 10:08 by Monique

By Venus Honore-Gopie Thursday, August 20 2009

THE Regulated Industries Commission (RIC) yesterday said it cannot alter the electricity rates for denominational schools and advised they should conserve electricity to keep their light bills down.

The Association of Denominational Boards is presently waiting word from the Ministry of Education and the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (TTEC) on recommendations on ways to cover their bills, which include not to charge schools at commercial or industrial rates.

The true meaning of anti-industrialisation

Posted Thu, 20/08/2009 - 06:11 by Monique

Published: 20 Aug 2009

I absolutely do not disapprove of T&T’s industrialisation drive. Indeed, I have not read or viewed any of my fellow “cohorts” who have espoused a view that was negative to industrialisation, per se.

According to logic, a la Anthony Wilson: the people who are against the specific activity of aluminium smelting and do so based upon a plethora of rational, well-supported arguments under the following headings:

COP’s Ramadhar calls for national clean-up

Posted Thu, 20/08/2009 - 06:10 by Monique

Published: 20 Aug 2009
Dixie Ann Dickson

The Congress of the People (COP) is appealing to citizens to join in a National Clean Up Campaign to help address the flooding issues. The party’s deputy political leader Prakash Ramadhar made the call yesterday during a media conference at the Normandie Hotel in Cascade.

Ramadhar said the party was tired of Government making the same excuses every year regarding flooding issues. He said the weather patterns had been changing and will continue to change. He said the Government needed to put proper measures in place. The party’s education officer Lincoln Douglas said the country was in a leadership crisis as the Government was not addressing the root of the problem.

The Gas Guntalk

Posted Tue, 18/08/2009 - 06:27 by Wayne Kublalsingh

There is always the boast, by officials of the National Gas Company, the National Energy Corporation and other state entities that Trinidad and Tobago is a model for gas monetization. We are among the planet’s best, they boast, when it comes to getting gas out of the ground and converting it to products of value. This is just ordinary Trini showboating and guntalk. The fact is that we are a third-rate monetizer of our prodigious oil and gas resources. Third rate and third world. The following seven reasons explain how this is so.

Books highlighting environment, poverty

Posted Tue, 18/08/2009 - 06:25 by Monique

Published: 18 Aug 2009

Some people dream and never have them realised. But others, like first time author Arlene Peterson, press on until they make their dreams come true. The mother of two recently self-published two books—Village by the Sea, and Danny and the Quest for the Ocelot’s Nose—both of which she said started as a dream. Peterson said: “The books are based on personal experiences and those of friends. Little by little the fictional characters developed and, after two years of writing bit by bit, I completed Village by the Sea. Danny, my baby, took three months to complete.”

Chag litter wardens work as volunteers

Posted Tue, 18/08/2009 - 06:24 by Monique

Adrian Boodan
Published: 18 Aug 2009

Litter Wardens who were once employed with the Chaguanas Borough Corporation are now working on a voluntary basis. The announcement was made yesterday by Chaguanas Mayor Natasha Navas during a tour of Chaguanas Market when she stopped to meet and commend litter warden Debiecharan Persad for his efforts.

Persad, 37, said he was one of the 54 contract workers who were retrenched earlier this month by the borough when funds ran out.
Persad said he was committed to the development of T&T and the growth of Chaguanas and decided to “go on the beat” voluntarily to protect the borough from litterbugs. Persad, a father of two daughters, said he was still surviving on his last paycheck of $5000 and was hoping that the $309,000 which Chaguanas MP Jack Warner gave to the borough to rehire the affected workers, would be approved by the Ministry of Local Government.

Finding the right balance in industrialisation

Posted Thu, 13/08/2009 - 06:10 by Monique

Published: 13 Aug 2009

I write in response to your call for “environmentalists” to respond to your articles over the last three weeks about the benefits of gas industrialisation and a contribution on this from Yacoub Taleb. I sympathise with and admire the selfless efforts made by the likes of Wayne Kublalsingh and Peter Vine in their mission to save the country from the seemingly ruthless industrialisation policies of the present government and, almost certainly, what would be the UNC’s policies, given the chance.