Accountability31 March 20269 min
Budget 2026 at the Halfway Mark: What Was Promised, What Was Delivered
The Finance Minister used the word 'will' 296 times in the budget. Six months later, we check the receipts.
Read the analysisAll Articles
38 articles across accountability, patterns, and perspective.
Perspective31 March 202612 min
Dragon Gas: 40 Years of Waiting, and the Alignment May Finally Be Holding
Shell signed new agreements in Caracas in March 2026 with US officials watching. But the Dragon gas project has survived this moment before - only to collapse. What makes this time different, and what does Trinidad and Tobago actually control?
Read the analysisPatterns31 March 20269 min
The Road That Ate $8 Billion
The Solomon Hochoy Highway Extension to Point Fortin was contracted at $5.2 billion in 2011. The cost has since exceeded $8 billion. The Mosquito Creek section collapsed in 2022 and had a March 2026 rebuild deadline. That deadline has passed with no public confirmation of completion.
Read the analysisPerspective31 March 202611 min
The Middle East War Should Be Making Trinidad and Tobago Rich. It Isn't.
Brent crude past US$119. LNG benchmarks up 70%. Ammonia, urea, and methanol at multi-year highs. But gas production is falling, a major plant is shut, Atlantic LNG trains are offline, and the windfall is arriving in an economy structurally unable to absorb it.
Read the analysisPerspective31 March 202611 min
29,276 Registered. Cards Expire in Nine Months. There Is No Plan for What Comes Next.
Trinidad and Tobago's expanded Migrant Registration Framework closed with nearly 30,000 applications - more than 16,000 of them children. The $700-per-person exercise produced a database, not a policy. And the cards expire on December 31.
Read the analysisAccountability31 March 20268 min
The POSGH Central Block: $1.3 Billion, Nine Years, and a Broken Pipe
The March deadline has passed. The Health Minister says UDeCOTT's 90% claim doesn't match what he saw. The question nobody is asking: who will staff 540 new beds?
Read the analysisAccountability30 March 202610 min
The Guaracara Refinery's US$50 Million Question
An Italian engineering firm announced a US$50 million refinery study before any government did. The company paying for it is brand new. Nobody will say who is financing it.
Read the analysisPatterns29 March 202611 min
The SoE Gap: What Happened in the 30 Days Trinidad and Tobago Was Not Under Emergency Powers
Between February 1 and March 2, the country had a brief window without a State of Emergency. The crime data from that month tells a story the government does not want to discuss.
Read the analysisAccountability28 March 20269 min
108 Marines, One Radar, and Four Different Explanations
US troops are gone. The radar is dismantled. The road was never finished. And the government's story changed four times.
Read the analysisAccountability27 March 20267 min
TSTT Spent $436,000 on a Three-Day Retreat While Reporting $82 Million in Losses
Eleven executives. Three days in Tobago. A King Suite at $1,961 a night. A boat tour to No Man's Land. And workers still on 2013 salaries.
Read the analysisAccountability26 March 202612 min
The SoE's Quiet Threat to Your Group Chat
The Emergency Powers Regulations never mention social media. That is precisely what makes them dangerous.
Read the analysisPatterns25 March 202610 min
1,868 Nurse Vacancies, 2013 Salaries, and an Emergency Room With No Staff
The Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex had 30 patients in A&E and zero nurses on duty. This is not a one-night staffing glitch. It is a system in collapse - and the government is about to open 540 new hospital beds with no plan to staff them.
Read the analysisPatterns24 March 202611 min
What Trinidad and Tobago Actually Signed at Doral
The PM received Trump's signing pen. Trinidad and Tobago joined a 17-nation military coalition committed to 'lethal force' against cartels. What does that mean for a small Caribbean state?
Read the analysisAccountability23 March 20269 min
NGC Cut Off Nutrien's Gas. Now 500 Workers and the Country's CO2 Supply Are in Limbo.
A dispute over $28 million in port fees and gas pricing has shut down one of Point Lisas's largest plants. The ripple effects hit hospitals, food production, and the forex pipeline.
Read the analysisAccountability22 March 20268 min
CAL's Numbers Still Don't Add Up
Caribbean Airlines has not published audited financial statements in over eight years. The 2026 budget tripled its loan allocation. The new board says change is coming. We have heard this before.
Read the analysisPatterns21 March 202611 min
The Forex Crisis Behind the Ratings Downgrade
Liquid reserves fell 24% in a year. The IMF says devalue. Banks are cutting US dollar card limits to $500. And the $1 billion bond that 'stabilised' reserves just bought time.
Read the analysisPerspective20 March 202611 min
Newsday Is Gone. Here Is What That Means.
Trinidad and Tobago lost one of three daily newspapers. The same month, Guyana lost one too. The Caribbean media landscape is shrinking at the worst possible time.
Read the analysisAccountability19 March 20269 min
The Minister Who Keeps Saying 'I Didn't Know'
Three times the HDC chairman announced a policy. Three times the Housing Minister said he was not aware. At some point, someone has to be in charge.
Read the analysisAccountability17 March 20268 min
Every PNM Corporation Got Less. Every UNC Corporation Got More.
Port of Spain's development funding was cut 79%. Chaguanas got a 116% increase. The PM told opposition areas to stop complaining.
Read the analysisAccountability15 March 20268 min
Hilton Is Leaving Trinidad. The Government Spent Three Years Doing Nothing About It.
The brand withdrawal was preventable. UDeCOTT issued an RFP in 2023 and then did nothing. The budget allocated $163 million, then quietly slashed it to $3.6 million.
Read the analysisPerspective13 March 202610 min
Trinidad and Tobago vs CARICOM: A Founding Member Threatens to Walk
The PM says CARICOM has been failing for 52 years. The country is applying for Mercosur membership. Nobody in Trinidad and Tobago is debating what either move means.
Read the analysisPerspective11 March 202610 min
The ZOSO Defeat and the Constitutional Question Nobody Asked
The Senate rejected ZOSO because it lacked safeguards. Five weeks later, the government declared a State of Emergency with even broader powers. If the SoE exceeds what ZOSO offered, what was the bill for?
Read the analysisAccountability9 March 20268 min
1,000 Body Cameras Bought. 180 Work. Nobody Knows Why.
The police halted the licensing contract that makes the cameras function. The PCA has never received footage in eight years. And the Senate made cameras a condition of supporting ZOSO.
Read the analysisPatterns7 March 202612 min
Everything Is Pinned on 2027. What If It Slips?
Gas production is at 2.5 bcf/d, down from a peak of 4.3. An LNG train is being permanently scrapped. Every major upstream project points to 2027. Trinidad and Tobago is running on fumes in the meantime.
Read the analysisAccountability5 March 20268 min
110,000 Applied for 20,000 Jobs. How Many Were Hired?
The government eliminated CEPEP and URP, promised 20,000 permanent positions, and received 110,000 applications. In Port of Spain, 500 workers became 12.
Read the analysisPatterns3 March 202611 min
School Policing Reduced Violence Outside. It Moved Inside.
SOPU reduced fights outside schools. Classroom incidents rose from 401 to 544. Over 21,000 students were suspended in three years. And 22 children attempted or died by suicide.
Read the analysisPatterns1 March 202610 min
The 60% of Murders the State of Emergency Cannot Touch
44% of women in relationships have experienced violence. 1,227 cases were reported in eight months. Five people were charged. The SoE is not designed for this.
Read the analysisPatterns27 February 202611 min
Sabotaged Wells, Missing Water, and the Billion-Dollar Pipe Dream
Attackers cut power cables to four WASA wells in Tobago over Easter - with no CCTV cameras in sight. Meanwhile, 53 percent of the country's treated water never reaches a tap, and WASA burns through $2.2 billion a year while collecting $700 million.
Read the analysisAccountability23 February 20267 min
The Bus Route Pass 'Reset' That Changed Nothing
A year after the PM condemned the pass system and ordered a recall, the Guardian found the distribution patterns largely unchanged. Only 360 of 650 passes were returned.
Read the analysisPerspective15 February 202610 min
Tobago's 15-0 Sweep and the Autonomy Bill That Keeps Stalling
The Tobago People's Party won every seat. Chief Secretary Augustine made autonomy his first priority. A narrow amendment passed 38-0. The constitutional bill failed. Now the real question is whether Port of Spain will ever let Tobago govern itself.
Read the analysisPerspective13 February 202611 min
Before the Applause Fades: What Trinidad and Tobago's Decline Should Teach Guyana
A former T&T Energy Ministry director wrote to Guyana's press warning them to learn from Trinidad and Tobago's mistakes. No T&T outlet covered it.
Read the analysisPatterns11 February 202610 min
Same Areas, Same Flooding, Same Promises, Same Budget Lines
From January's flash floods to June's riverine disasters, the same communities drown under the same inadequate infrastructure while the budget allocates the same money year after year.
Read the analysisPerspective9 February 202610 min
$137 Million for Carnival. Where Is the Audit?
The NCC has produced just eight audited reports since 1991. Carnival 2025 left $178 million in unpaid stakeholder debts. Now $137 million more has been spent - and the public still has no line-item accounting of where the money goes.
Read the analysisPerspective7 February 202612 min
Caught Between the US Navy and Venezuelan Pirates
At least 163 people have been killed in US boat strikes since September 2025. Two of them were Trinbagonian fishermen heading home to Las Cuevas. Their families are suing in federal court - but nobody's strategy includes keeping the people who fish these waters safe.
Read the analysisPerspective5 February 202610 min
What Years on the EU Blacklist Actually Cost Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago was removed from the EU's non-cooperative tax list in February 2026 - after eight years. The delisting was a genuine win. But the damage from years on the list - eroded banking relationships, higher transaction costs, lost investment - does not reverse overnight. And the reforms that got the country off could have happened years earlier.
Read the analysisAccountability3 February 20269 min
17 Years, Zero Accountability: The CL Financial Case Is Over
The AG called the 17-year investigation 'a joke.' The bailout cost taxpayers up to $32 billion. Duprey died at 89 without facing a courtroom. And CLICO is now profitable.
Read the analysisPatterns1 February 202611 min
Millions Tax-Free While the Watersheds Burn
Only nine companies hold full quarrying licences. At least 90 sites operate without them. One illegal operation in Guanapo earned over a million dollars a week. The sector owes the government an estimated $800 million in unpaid taxes - and it is fuelling gang violence.
Read the analysisAccountability30 January 20266 min
The Auditor General Published a Report. Nobody Read It.
A disclaimer of opinion for the second consecutive year. $1.75 billion in loans missing from the debt figure. A ministry that blocked auditors entirely. And the media covered none of it.
Read the analysis