I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie Borough

Navas: Call me Barbie

Richard Lord

Published: 1 Aug 2009

Chaguanas West MP, Jack Warner, has his hands full as he poses for a picture with Local Government Minister Hazel Manning, left, and Chaguanas Mayor, Natasha Navas, at the ministry’s Kent House office, Maraval, yesterday. PHOTO: SHIRLEY BAHADUR

Richard Lord
http://guardian.co.tt/news/general/2009/08/01/navas-call-me-barbie

New Chaguanas Mayor, Natasha Navas, says she wants to be the Barbie of Chaguanas. She said this in an impromptu interview with reporters following a courtesy call on Local Government Minister, Hazel Manning, at her Kent House, Maraval, office yesterday.

Navas was accompanied by Chaguanas West MP, Jack Warner. Asked how she felt about being called a Barbie doll by some people because of her physical beauty, Mayor Navas said, “I have to be popular because Barbies are popular all over the world. And that’s why I have decided to serve the people. I’ll be the Barbie of Chaguanas,” she said with a chuckle in her voice.

She later denied being just a pretty face. Navas said her life experiences have qualified her for the office. She admitted that some people may be concerned about her background but she insists that she comes from among the people to serve the people.

She said she has always been in leadership being the first-born in her family. “You don’t have to be born into politics or grow up in politics to understand it. I want to serve the people of Chaguanas and that alone should qualify me for the job,” Navas insisted. Navas said she had concerns about the impending retrenchment of hundreds of Local Government workers when the new system is implemented next year.

What d f*ck is dis I relly seeing here? She cyah be f*cking serious....na...I doh believe this. She expects anyone to take her seriously after this?

Manning gets private guards

So let me get this straight. Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj of the UNC-A hires private security for residents of Macaulay who have been hit by an upsurge of crime in recent times and statements coming out of the PNM call it vigilantism. If that is vigilantism then why the hell did Patrick Manning, the "great" leader of the PNM, hire private security for himself? Is he promoting vigilantism in this country? Or is it OK for him to have private security but not OK for poor people to have security?

From his action in hiring private security, Manning has showed us two things.

1. He has no faith in the protective services of Trinidad and Tobago, who are in charge of protecting the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.
2. He only cares about the safety of himself and his family and no one else.

When last was the Prime Minister, Patrick Manning, held up at gun-point? When last was their an attempted kidnapping on any one of his immediate family?
Another thing, why is it not called vigilantism when the rich people from places like West Moorings, Valsayn, Goodwood Park and Lange Park hire private security? Is it because they are rich that it's not vigilantism? So I guess this means that poor people shouldn't be given protection then, according to what's being spewed by the PNM.
I say it's high time we get rid of this nasty regime going by the name of the PNM. They don't care about poor people and they only business with filling their pockets.
When you read the article below you will also notice that sources could not even state whether there was a tendering process or not. More corruption again!

Source: T&T Newsday

By NALINEE SEELAL Thursday, January 17 2008

SEVENTY-FIVE specially trained, armed guards who were previously assigned to the Office of the Attorney General, Legal Affairs and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), have been posted to provide security at the Prime Minister’s official residence, Diplomatic Centre, Whitehall and as personal security detail for Prime Minister Patrick Manning.

The security company which employs the guards is Executive Security Services Limited and the cost is borne by the Office of the Prime Minsiter.

The lowest ranking officer in this security company takes home a monthly salary of between $10,000 and $12,000, while the highest rank receives a salary of $25,000 monthly. (They shoulda hire me. Or wait, I forgot, I don't have a PNM party card and my hair is too straight.)

These highly paid officers, some of whom are retired policemen and former MTS guards, have virtually replaced Police Special Branch which previously carried out these duties. (Kickbacks to somebody friend or family who decided to open a security firm.)

The officers are under the direct control of former Special Branch Head, retired Assistant Commissioner of Police Mervyn Guiseppi, who previously headed a special security unit set up in 2002 to provide special security for the offices of the Attorney General, the Ministry of Legal Affairs and the DPP.

These guards are trained in policing, anti-terrorist activities and VIP security.

Sources told Newsday that shortly before Prime Minister Manning moved into the official residence at St Ann’s last December, the officers of the Executive Security Services Limited were told they were being reassigned, some to the Office of the Prime Minister, others to the official residence of the Prime Minister, another batch to the Diplomatic Centre and others to the personal security detail of the Prime Minister. By the time the Prime Minister moved into the official residence in late December, the officers were already on duty.

Newsday learned that a security firm from San Fernando East called Innovative Security Technologies Limited is now responsible for security at the office of the Attorney General, Legal Affairs and the Office of the DPP. (More kickbacks.)

Police sources said yesterday that the role of Special Branch in terms of providing security for the Prime Minister has been decreased and will decrease even further.

Disclosure of special private security around the Prime Minister, comes at a time when there has been criticism of the formation of crime watch community groups assisted by private armed guards. (Just what I was saying.)

Yesterday, Opposition Chief Whip Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj who has started using armed guards to patrol and fight crime in his Tabaquite constituency said: “The Prime Minister is concerned only about the personal security of himself and his family and is not concerned about the security of the people of Trinidad and Tobago to have police presence in their communities.

He said that the Government should let the people know about these new security measures. “The fact is that all previous Prime Ministers had the services of the police, army and Special Branch and all of these agencies and manpower were resourced by the State and the taxpayers and the people for greater accountability.”

Sources yesterday could not state whether a tendering process took place before Executive Security secured this contract and what is the value of this contract. (Like I was saying above, they can't even say if there was a tendering process or not. More PNM styled corruption!)

Ramesh: Protection good for rich and not the poor?

Source: Trinidad Express

Ria Taitt Political Editor

Tuesday, January 15th 2008


MAKING HIS POINT: Tabaquite MP Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj at a recent meeting at the Macaulay Community Centre, Claxton Bay. -Photo: TREVOR HACKETT

Tabaquite MP Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj yesterday described as "laughable and discriminatory", statements by Works Minister Colm Imbert that his plan to use private security to assist in the protection of communities was vigilantism.

Maharaj asked why Imbert did not make the same accusation against the "gated communities of PoS", who use the same private security guards. (Well it's obvious the PNM doesn't care about the poor people. Once yuh poor yuh have no rights under the PNM.)

"Is he saying that poor people cannot be treated in the same way as the rich and that they must be unprotected and defenceless against rapists and murderers?" Maharaj asked. (That is exactly what he is saying!)

Maharaj said the Government also used private security guards for its ministries, State corporations and to provide protection to public officers.

"As a fact, the Government retains a private security company - Amalgamated Security - for its prisons and prison vans."

He said private companies such as bpTT use "the same kind of guards" being utilised to protect the people in Macaulay.

"Diplomats, the banks, the Guardian, the Express... all use private security. So I do not understand why there should be a different interpretation and category when poor people in Macaulay, who cannot get police protection, are getting the same security guards who have precepts from the Commissioner of Police and who have the powers of arrest and who perform the same function that the guards perform for bpTT, the Government, the prisons...," he said. (I think the reason Colm Impsbert have a problem with this is because he knows the M.O. of the criminals/potential PNM voters. These PNMites will think twice before attacking the rich and mighty who live in the posh areas of West Trinidad. The PNMites will attack the middle class citizens who live in South and Central Trinidad so basically if they are now protected, it is taking away from the "livelihood" of these criminals and it also means that there is a higher chance of criminals, aka PNMites, being caught or killed. This would mean less votes for the PNM in the long run.)

Maharaj said the issue Imbert should be addressing was why Government could not provide security for the people who pay taxes. He said both the Government and the police (who are also against the proposal) were embarrassed.

Maharaj said the Supplemental Police Service Act provided for estate police and rural police, and under Section 14 of the act, the estate police had all the powers of the members of the police service.

Maharaj said Macaulay Fund was a pilot project, funded by Chaguanas MP Jack Warner, with "a little assistance" from him. But he stressed the UNC-A planned to establish a national fund to which nationals would be able to contribute, which would be used to fund a security service for any area of the country- PNM or UNC-A areas.

Now the police not doing their job, which includes protecting and serving the public, which I think is clearly defined in their motto. The police being paid a nice, fat salary every month to do this job and yet so many people are being killed, raped, kidnapped and robbed. What else is there left to do? If the Supplemental Police Service Act allows the estate police to have the same powers as members of the police service then what is the PNM making all this noise about? They should be glad that private citizens are helping them fight crime, but no, they are concerned for the safety of the criminals/potential PNM voters. What if a criminal got shot? What if a criminal got injured? What if a criminal got arrested? What if a criminal got killed with somebody's refrigerator stuffed down their drawers?

Panday: What did PNM voters expect?

Source: Trinidad Express
Ria Taitt Political Editor

Friday, January 4th 2008

Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday yesterday slammed Government on the issue of crime, saying that much of the gang-related violence was being fuelled by state-funded programmes and contracts.

In a telephone interview from London where he is still on vacation, Panday said: "I have been saying for the entire election that the Government's programme is geared towards creating criminality in the society. I have said that over and over. If the country doesn't want to listen, (then) don't listen. My job is to speak and their job is to ignore me if that is their wish. I have no sympathy for those who have been the victims of their own doing. They voted for the PNM, what did they expect? Honey and roses?"

On the issue of the declaration of a State of Emergency, Panday asked: "What would a State of Emergency permit the Government to do that it cannot do now?"

"If the answer is nothing, then of course this is a waste of time," he said, adding that it would be another attempt to hoodwink the population. On the issue of whether a State of Emergency would allow the police search people's homes and go after the guns, Panday asked: "Can't they search people's homes now?"

Panday said the population had imposed this yoke upon its own shoulder. "And unless they realise that, there would be no change. They would do the same thing all over again," he said.

Well all those people who said Panday was only preaching doom and gloom and he didn't know what he was talking about and then they went and vote for the PNM, they looked for what they are getting now. I don't blame Panday one bit for what he said. It's the truth and some people just can't handle the truth. The man has always been a visionary and as history has proven time and time again, most people like him are ignored or persecuted for what they say. If only the electorate were smarter maybe we wouldn't be in this mess we are in right now with the PNM. Now only time will tell. Will the PNM make another deal with the crime bosses in an attempt to "stop" crime? Will there actually be a decrease in murders? Only time will tell.