It was scheduled to depart from Scarborough at 6.45 am but at the time of writing (11.15 am) it had not yet left the port.

If even it left by noon it would have arrived at 4 pm, which is totally unacceptable and it may not have been able to make the return voyage yesterday.

I was informed the delay was caused by a failure to get the vessel’s engine started.

This delay frustrated many nationals who were in Tobago for the Great Race weekend and resulted in the stranding of many who had to make alternative arrangements.

In addition to this delay, the situation was compounded by a backlog at the ANR Robinson International Airport.

People in Trinidad were also in a quandary as the Port Authority was in no position to advise them on when next a sailing was scheduled out of Port of Spain.

Tobago is now essentially cut off from Trinidad because of the continued incompetence and ineptitude.

This latest failure comes on the heels of the Prime Minister’s meeting in Tobago to treat with the collapsed sea bridge that was a result of the failures in procurement of the Ocean Flower 2.

The T&T Express, along with the Cabo Star and water taxi, are the only vessels in operation on the sea bridge. The water taxi is not designed for the Tobago crossings and the Cabo Star is already plagued with a number of issues.

This administration — headed by a Tobago-born Prime Minister — that campaigned on a ticket of good governance and transparency has continued to bungle and botch the Tobago sea and air bridge connections without taking responsibility.

The Prime Minister continues to protect the line minister who has only distinguished himself in making excuses and passing the blame.

DEVANT MAHARAJ via email

The difficulty is however that there are so few instances where the findings or recommendations of a commission of enquiry have resulted in policy or structural change or, for that matter, the arrest and prosecution of individuals. What would it take then to ensure that commissions are worth the large outlay of time, effort and money? What really is the point? There is consensus that in the most general sense a commission of enquiry is a government-sanctioned body, a mechanism of the Executive branch of government, used to investigate and report on controversial issues of great public concern. Commissions, when properly constituted, possess statutory power, which enables investigations to be carried out in accordance with their mandate.

It is typical for commissions to provide the government with a report, which makes recommendations, which are in keeping with the findings from its investigation, and the broader underlying issues. This is critical as it is one of the most important bases for assessing a commission’s value. This statement forms the introduction to a report produced by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute on “Commissions of enquiry and the potential for policy change.” The report assessed the value added of a particular commission of enquiry, the Tivoli Commission, in the context of Jamaica. However, the analysis and recommendations have broad application, in particular given the current Trinidad and Tobago context, on the approach used and the follow-up required to commissions of enquiry in general.

In layman’s terms, the question is whether costly public enquiries better serve political expediency or the public good? Also, are they designed to be restorative or simply expose the truth? While the Tivoli Commission investigated links between politics and crime in Jamaica, commissions that investigate so-called white-collar corruption should operate with the same imperatives: to outline the truth, to be restorative by addressing the public’s outrage that an injustice has been committed, to seek redress for that injustice, to restore the legitimacy of public institutions by insisting on accountability, and providing the necessary recommendations to ensure there is no reoccurrence of that which is being investigated.

It is generally recommended that there should be no less than three members, in order to ensure the objectivity of the investigation.

Members should be appointed on the basis of their recognised impartiality, independence, competence and integrity. They should not be closely associated with any individual, government, political party, or any party implicated in the enquiry.

Every commission has a different mandate, but essentially for an enquiry to have value, these are the broad elements of a constructive approach. Furthermore, among the key guidelines for an effective commission of enquiry is that the terms of reference should not be confined to looking at incidents in isolation.

It should look into the facts of individual cases and specific incidents, seeking to identify any systematic patterns, and analysing underlying reasons and contributory factors to the events, which are the subject of the enquiry.

What is outlined here is a wish list of how to go about the overused and often abused mechanism of a commission to respond to events that affect public confidence in political processes. Unrealistic perhaps from a political point of view given the tangled web of corruption that has dogged procurement procedures for so long, but the public deserves complete transparency and quick action on clear recommendations.

Current issues in this country suggest the need for commissions of enquiry into all manner of policy and structural misadventure, but the unsatisfactory history of their performance demands reforms to the very structure of the commissions themselves.

Those calling for their removal, barring the politics of trying to further embarrass President Donald Trump for his stance on the recent violence, are doing so on the basis of their perception of the Confederate cause in the American Civil War as an endorsement of slavery.

Those objecting to the removal of statues, such as that of Robert E Lee, et al, are essentially racist, including the President. But does it necessarily imply sympathy for the Confederate cause which undoubtedly favoured the retention of slavery in the American south? It may be seen as such considering how sensitive the subject is, but can it also be a call to avoid destroying important mementos of total American history, whether good, bad or ugly? One recalls the horror of the destruction of the ancient statues of Buddha in Afghanistan by the Islamic State because of religious ideology.

The question to ask is whether a people’s history should not be retained in all its aspects, more so as the First Amendment of the American Constitution allows for freedom of speech, freedom of thought with the understanding that distasteful as such freedom of thought and expression may seem to others with opposing views, that tolerance is the expected reaction? Again, would the elimination of statues which bring back extremely unpleasant memories somehow eliminate those memories? It may help to mitigate the effects, but can that action eliminate the deep-rooted negative psychology of slavery as Frantz Fanon has described in Black Skin White Masks? Won’t it be more rational and productive, difficult as this may seem, just to try to come to terms with this horrendous experience, learn from it, and be the better for it? For if this precedent is set of removing the symbols which remind us of an atrocious past, where does that leave the case of the American Indian whose glorious culture and way of life would have been virtually decimated by pioneers who are recorded as heroes in the annals of American history? The American Indians continue to experience discrimination as is inevitable with subcultures in mainstream culture, but their approach is to try and assimilate as far as is possible, taking the good with the bad.

What of the “hero” Columbus who discovered the New World but paved the way for Pizarro and Cortez and their decimation of the First Peoples and the Incas and the Aztecs? Yet life goes on in Peru and Mexico, despite the horrors of conquest.

Tucker Carlson in Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News made a telling point recently that the history of the world is a history of conquest and enslavement, beginning with Genghis Khan in Asia and continuing with Sulieman and the Ottoman Empire, and further with the Roman Empire and Hitler’s Germany, the Spanish Empire in the New World, not forgetting the British Empire in the New World and in India.

But what Tucker suggests is that you can’t eliminate the march of history even with its atrocities.

There is no other choice but to accept its inevitability and grow from it.

DR ERROL BENJAMIN docbenj742@outlook.com

MP Couva South Rudranath Indarsingh made the comments yesterday when he called on Hosein to “do his home-work” instead of sensationalising and attempting to broad brush the tenure of the People’s Partnership coalition.

“Do not attempt to demoralise hard-working officers such as those in the DMU (Disaster Management Unit) and so on by making broad brush allegations of corruption. You must do this when you visit corporations under the control of the PNM,” Indarsingh suggested.

Indarsingh was speaking at the launch of an awareness initiative about hurricane straps at a house at Windsor Park, California.

It is a collaboration between the Couva/ Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation (CTTRC), the Couva/ Point Lisas Chamber of Industry and Commerce and Sagicor General Insurance Inc.

Indarsingh said the corporation has very diligent, committed and hardworking and resourceful employees.

He commended Chairman Henry Awong and other council members for filling a void “in terms of leadership and innovativeness” by partnering in the initiative.

However, Indarsingh blasted the line ministry saying since Tropical Storm Brett, there has been no leadership in terms of resources trickling down from the ministry so that it could be of benefit to the CTTRC and its burgesses.

“Rather than attempting to attack the integrity of the employees of CTTRC, the Minister must engage in a process of motivating employees so that they could continue to strive in improving the quality of life of all citizens of T&T from a local government fraternity point of view,” Indarsingh added.

But responding to Indarsingh’s comments, Hosein told Newsday that he never went after the CTTRC.

“I never went against anybody as a matter of fact. Tell me, which UNC corporation I attacked? I never attack the CTTRC. All we ask for is an audit to be done at the Princes Town Corporation because there were some irregularities as it relates to overtime,” Hosein said.

Hosein added that all 14 corporations are service-oriented.

Hosein said, “I just want people to do their job and so on. Three cheques were stolen from the Arima Corporation and it’s under investigations right now by the Fraud Squad. When you attack anybody, you cannot get anything do.”

No official schedule of events for Pan Month has been issued as was done in the past. The events that have come off thus far are pan exhibitions in Port of Spain and San Fernando, a church service at Trinity Cathedral and a visit to the Foundation Stone at the back of the St Paul Complex.

Among the upcoming events are the east leg of the pan exhibition at the Arima Tennis Court, on August 25 and the Play One for Patrick Manning at Skinner Park, San Fernando, on August 30.

However, shows cancelled owing to lack of funding are Pan in de Countryside, the Northern Region Pan Lime and the Northern Region Republic Day Show that was carded for next month.

Contacted yesterday and asked if his office was closed due to non-activity, Gerard Mendez, head of the Northern Region office of Pan Trinbago, responded: “No, I am in the office now. The office is not closed. The Northern Region Office, despite the acute financial circumstances under which we exist, continues to operate open.

“It is common knowledge that salaries have not been paid for the month of July. Nevertheless, the staff continues to operate.” However, calls to the office trunk lines went unanswered as did calls to the Eastern Region office.

David Balbosa, head of the San Fernando Region, said: “We have been making out because we understand what is happening.” He added that his office had been operating normally. But asked when staff were last paid, he answered: “I think you have to direct that to the treasurer in Port of Spain.” Later in the day, Newsday caught up with Pan Trinbago president Keith Diaz who, when asked about the running of the regional offices, said: “I’m not responding to that. Because the last time I respond to that it went on a big thing… Because we’re facing a scenario that was made public already and people went and do all kinda thing against Pan Trinbago.

“We are trying to see if we could address our matters internally and then I will respond.”

Accepting there will be many entities that will be competing for funding for fiscal 2018 and the current economic circumstances, Garcia said Udecott would be grateful for whatever allocation it receives in the Budget. He identified the construction of new police stations in Roxborough and Old Grange in Tobago as well as new stations in Carenage and Matelot as some key national security projects Udecott has placed priority on for fiscal 2018.

He said Udecott wants to complete the Penal Fire Station and start construcion on a fire station in Arouca. Upgrade works at the Remand Yard in Golden Grove, Arouca is also high on Udecott’s list in fiscal 2018.

Last Thursday, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon announced Cabinet approved a sum of approximately $56 million to undertake those works.

Garcia said Udecott wants to “continue and finish” new hospitals in Point Fortin and Arima.

In response to a question put to him at a news conference at the Magdalena Grand Hotel in Tobago, Rowley said, “As a matter of fact, when I get up from this table, I am asking my staff to ask the labour movement to meet with me on Wednesday afternoon.” The venue for the meeting could be the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in St Clair, where labour representatives delivered a letter to Rowley last Friday, asking for a meeting.

The prime minister said, “I have been meeting with labour for the longest while. I have met with the labour movement on many occasions.” Rowley said he met with labour representatives two weeks ago.

“There is no problem with me meeting with

Ramdass and the 36-year-old woman were arrested on Thursday last by members of the Fraud Squad led by Senior Superintendent Totaram Dookhie. The woman was arrested at the couple’s Princes Town home while Ramdass was arrested at the Piarco International Airport where he was based.

It is alleged that during a search of the home, police found millions of dollars worth of jewellry and other valuables.

The charges were laid by Sgt Cornelius Samuel assisted by ASP Ghisiyawan, Sgt Thomas, Cpl Bassarath and PC Adams after Assistant DPP Joan Honore-Paul gave directions.

When Ramdass, who was granted station bail on Sunday, appeared before Senior Magistrate Nanette Forde-John yesterday, hearing of the matter was delayed because his wife was not yet taken to the court.

Newsday was told police were still processing the charges at the Maraval Police Station. The matter was subsequently adjourned.

This biennial competition is open to females aged between 15-18 and males between 14-17 years of age, and will feature over 600 swimmers from 93 countries over six days of competition, starting today.

Thompson will be the first to face the starter at 9.30 am as he lines up for the 100-metre breaststroke.

Both Yorke and Thompson will be in action tomorrow as they compete in the 100m butterfly and 200m freestyle respectively.

No TT swimmer featured at the 2015 Championships in Singapore.

However, TT earned its first World Juniors medal in 2013, where Dylan Carter got silver in the 50m butterfly.

Chambers, an electrician who was staying in Kelly Village, Caroni, was last seen at his house at about 2.15 pm last Wednesday.

He was reported missing by a friend on Friday.

Chambers is of African descent, five feet, seven inches tall, with a slim build and a dark complexion. He was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, a pair of three-quarter jeans and a pair of slippers.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts are advised to contact the police at 999, 555, 911 or any police station or call 800- TIPS.