Date: October 26th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, FFOS have served on the Trinidad and Tobago Extractive Industries Transparency initiative steering committee for almost a decade. This week the Amcham CEO is quoted as stating that Energy companies in Trinidad and Tobago are honest. This is far from the truth! On the contrary, it has been a long dishonest road for the […]
Date: October 26 th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, FFOS never intended to offend or confront the Honourable Minister of National Security but in our respectful view, it appears from his recent statements that he feels that fisher folk are blaming him for the Orange Valley mass murders at sea. We are not. Our mission is simple- to defend the voiceless, vulnerable […]
Date: October 24 th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Eight (8) weeks later (22nd October 2019), the Minister of National Security, Hon. Stuart Young has finally acknowledged receipt of our stakeholder’s correspondence dated August 26th, 2019, regarding the appointment of a multi-stakeholder committee to consider easy to implement recommendations for “security at sea”. Minister Young refers to our recommendations stating that ‘much […]
Date: October 22 nd, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, It has been revealed that the Government is currently negotiating another loan, this time to pay for the yearly 500MTTD purchase of potable water from DESALCOTT. At the Standing Finance Committee held on 21st October 2019, Dr. Keith Rowley stated that the result of an expanded contract with DESALCOTT “has bankrupted WASA permanently” […]
Date: October 19th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Plastic waste should not be the taxpayers burden whose money continues to be wasted while economic opportunities are lost. Underprivileged communities which have limited employment and which are strategically in position to earn from recycling are left out in the cold while our ecosystems and health are compromised, polluted and contaminated by plastic microfibers […]
Date: October 19th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, It appears that aluminium projects being pursued by the Rowley Government are in jeopardy. These projects are at various stages of negotiations, MOUs and contract signing. Sadly, secret governance denies stakeholders any knowledge or participation of the direction we are being steered, or of the resulting human health risks. Four years after this Government […]
Date: October 14th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, We are pleased to announce that the Honourable Minister of National Security Stuart Young has responded to our messages but has warned us that we are “on very dangerous ground” and that we “be very cautious about what “causes” we “take up and who” we “decide to declare a “fisherman””. The common statement being […]
Date: October 11th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Did the EMA approve a CEC for bulldozing which is now occurring? Why has the Minister of Planning not charged the culprits? This bulldozed area is more than 2 hectares, and EMA approvals have not been granted. There is isn’t even an application! There was no public consultation on this, the largest single land […]
Date: October 9 th, 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) once again continues its pilgrimage for social justice. Earlier this year FFOS filed for judicial review against the EMA to challenge to withhold full copies of EIA reports from members of the public. If we are successful in this matter, any member of the public could […]
Date: October 8th , 2019 Dear Editor/Newsroom, Three of our Icacos fishermen went to sea early this morning and are now kidnapped. An hour ago, a ransom of 10,000USD was called in. Their vessel has been found but the engine has been taken. Fisherman and captain Sneider, also known as “Carlo”, and two others are missing. Who will pay this […]