Kamla Persad-Bissessar Thread.

[Jah Gol]

Newly installed U.S ambassador to Port of Spain, Beatrice Welters says the visa process at the embassy is done according to the letter of the law.

Ms. Welters says the embassy takes the letter of the law very seriously and all processes are according to U.S legal norms, especially those in the Immigration and Naturalisation Act of 1952.

Mrs. Welters’ explanation follows criticisms from Sport and Youth Affairs Minister Anil Roberts who says the visa selection process has not been a fair one.

She says U.S visa processes seem to be of great interest to many in the Caribbean.

According to Mrs. Welters, as a sovereign country the U.S.A is committed to balancing border security needs with welcoming and encouraging travel to the United States.

She says thus far, the embassy has processed over 20 thousand visa applications, approving 71 percent for visa issuance.
The U.S diplomat says she has personally seen consular officers at work interviewing applicants and can affirm that they are courteous and effective in dealing with the public.

Minister Roberts believes that the embassy should explain to applicants the reasons for their rejection.

His position was responded to by a spokesman for the embassy Matthew Cassetas, triggering a public dispute.

http://www.i955fm.com/News.aspx?id=8967


5th August 2010.

[Jah Gol]

Saying the people of Trinidad and Tobago had nothing to gain by "insulting" the people who conducted American business in Trinidad and Tobago, Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley suggested yesterday Sport Minister Anil Roberts's criticisms of a US Embassy official should not be encouraged.
"One has to bear in mind that where there are actions, there are consequences and those consequences may not be for the minister. They are for the people of Trinidad and Tobago, and we have nothing to gain by insulting the people who conduct American business in Trinidad and Tobago.
"If there are issues here, there is a proper way to treat with them as we have treated with them for decades," Rowley said. He added: "What we are seeing here is a kind of governance which is reckless. And the Prime Minister should talk to her minister and tell him that is not how it should be done".
Rowley said foreign affairs was a very sensitive matter, and a minister of Government in Trinidad and Tobago ought not to be taking that position in that way.
"If there are issues with the United States government and its embassy's actions here, those issues are required to be dealt with by the portfolio that has that responsibility—the Ministry for Foreign Affairs," he said, adding the ministry would know how to handle it so as not to create offence.
On the situation of the flooding situation, Rowley was asked to respond to the contention the flooding was partly the result of People's National Movement (PNM) neglect.
Rowley said: "We accept no responsibility for acts of God, and when politicians talk foolishness, after a while, people would understand that there is sense and nonsense."
"We had an unusually heavy downpour for a number of hours; the watercourses have a certain carrying capacity, and whenever every once in a while you get excessively heavy rain, not only in Trinidad and Tobago but anywhere else in the world, you get watercourse problems, whether there are small drains or large rivers, " he said.
"The Government is still campaigning. Somebody should tell the Government that the elections are over. They should get on with running the country, and talking foolishness about the last government when you have matters of this nature is just an excuse to make news and to have photo opportunities and to not assume responsibility for the country's challenges.
"We all know that a lot of our population live within or close to watercourses. Insofar as is engineeringly possible, you can, in some way, modify those watercourses and that would usually take care of most of the situation. But every so often, there is excessively heavy rainfall or you may have blockage of streams, and that would create some challenges.
"So for the Government to get up every time they are called upon to discharge their responsibility, to be referring to the previous government, then we should have left the country with the previous government," he said.
"The rainfall had nothing to do with the PNM," he added.
Rowley said he was surprised to hear a UNC (United National Congress minister (Jack Warner) talking about creating a drainage entity. "These are policies being made on the hoof," he said, adding the Government had a lot of say when the PNM came up with the idea of a Revenue Authority, another special-purpose entity created under statute to do a particular job.
He said such statements do not come out of any Cabinet position.
"There are ministers shooting their mouths all over the place," he said, adding the country was still awaiting coherent policy from the Government.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/100095454.html

Aug 6, 2010

[Brownsugar]

Allyuh should take a look at the OIG report they going on about in the press... very informative.  It shows the difference between a progressive country and... TnT.  they are about the business of trying to correct past errors.

I read it Bakes and it was very informative indeed.

[dinho]

Rowley talking some sense dey..

[ribbit]

Rowley talking some sense dey..

which part?

"The rainfall had nothing to do with the PNM," he added.

yes. correck.

[Controversial]

the rainfall has nothing to do with the pnm but the poor drainage does.

[weary1969]

the rainfall has nothing to do with the pnm but the poor drainage does.

Y D drains eh fix 95-01? When we go strt blamin d people who bbuild dey house at d river bank/who throwin rubbish in d drains etc. Is only poor drainage?

[Dutty]

Allyuh should take a look at the OIG report they going on about in the press... very informative.  It shows the difference between a progressive country and... TnT.  they are about the business of trying to correct past errors.

I read it Bakes and it was very informative indeed.

I fine dat ting read more like ah objective report on bacchanal...who fren up wit who,, who local is de confidant to de yankee, who waste money on party instead ah de wukk...low morale, poor wukkin conditions...local and yankee fightin in de office is "endemic and systemic"
de report even take time to waste dong P.O.S.


Trinibago culture infeck de yankee psyche ......WE REACH!!!

[Trini _2026]

Rowley said he was surprised to hear a UNC (United National Congress minister (Jack Warner) talking about creating a drainage entity. "These are policies being made on the hoof," he said, adding the Government had a lot of say when the PNM came up with the idea of a Revenue Authority, another special-purpose entity created under statute to do a particular job.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/100095454.html

Aug 6, 2010

 

[Bakes]

Trinibago culture infeck de yankee psyche ......WE REACH!!!

Austin is ah Vincy... dat was de first mistake.

[truetrini]

transformation of licensing, drainage entity/..ALL PNM Iniatives....signed sealed and delivered...PNM

[just cool]

Rowley talking some sense dey..

Rowley is ah phat c@nt!! and ah sour grapes one @ dat! since dat man take the reins i eh hear one encouraging complimentary thing about the new government! all of ah sudden now he noticing all these things wrong wid the country.

and for the record, anil is right tuh say what he said! and tuh add insult, if that was in the days when the doc was runnin TNT, the U.S. woulda never pull dat dog treatment of trinis! standin in the HOT sun for ah stamp in dey book, pleaseee!! that shyte doh go on in countries dat have clout, suadi, france, england, germany, not even bahamas and bermuda,

so allyuh doh jump on anil, the man was asked ah question in ah public forum and he answered according to how he felt, is the yanks who makin ah big deal of it! it's not like the man went tuh dem and complain, the media asked and he showed his dissatisfaction.   simple.

[weary1969]

Rowley talking some sense dey..

Rowley is ah phat c@nt!! and ah sour grapes one @ dat! since dat man take the reins i eh hear one encouraging complimentary thing about the new government! all of ah sudden now he noticing all these things wrong wid the country.

and for the record, anil is right tuh say what he said! and tuh add insult, if that was in the days when the doc was runnin TNT, the U.S. woulda never pull dat dog treatment of trinis! standin in the HOT sun for ah stamp in dey book, pleaseee!! that shyte doh go on in countries dat have clout, suadi, france, england, germany, not even bahamas and bermuda,

so allyuh doh jump on anil, the man was asked ah question in ah public forum and he answered according to how he felt, is the yanks who makin ah big deal of it! it's not like the man went tuh dem and complain, the media asked and he showed his dissatisfaction.   simple.

So if d fella was not a clown he would have known dat he no longer d drunk on 102 but d drunk in Parliament. All d joker had to say I will refer your concerns to Suruj as he is d Min of Foriegn Affairs dat 2 difficult. But then again he mentor stoppping hanging and he is d Min of Works so I understand y he open he trap.

[Bakes]

Rowley talking some sense dey..

Rowley is ah phat c@nt!! and ah sour grapes one @ dat! since dat man take the reins i eh hear one encouraging complimentary thing about the new government! all of ah sudden now he noticing all these things wrong wid the country.

and for the record, anil is right tuh say what he said! and tuh add insult, if that was in the days when the doc was runnin TNT, the U.S. woulda never pull dat dog treatment of trinis! standin in the HOT sun for ah stamp in dey book, pleaseee!! that shyte doh go on in countries dat have clout, suadi, france, england, germany, not even bahamas and bermuda,

so allyuh doh jump on anil, the man was asked ah question in ah public forum and he answered according to how he felt, is the yanks who makin ah big deal of it! it's not like the man went tuh dem and complain, the media asked and he showed his dissatisfaction.   simple.

You talking ah emotional pack ah ass.

[Deeks]

Rowley talking some sense dey..

Rowley is ah phat c@nt!! and ah sour grapes one @ dat! since dat man take the reins i eh hear one encouraging complimentary thing about the new government! all of ah sudden now he noticing all these things wrong wid the country.

and for the record, anil is right tuh say what he said! and tuh add insult, if that was in the days when the doc was runnin TNT, the U.S. woulda never pull dat dog treatment of trinis! standin in the HOT sun for ah stamp in dey book, pleaseee!! that shyte doh go on in countries dat have clout, suadi, france, england, germany, not even bahamas and bermuda,

so allyuh doh jump on anil, the man was asked ah question in ah public forum and he answered according to how he felt, is the yanks who makin ah big deal of it! it's not like the man went tuh dem and complain, the media asked and he showed his dissatisfaction.   simple.

Cool,
       I differ with you there bro. The complaints are legit. I have heard about those conditions for years. The previous gov't should have voiced their complaints about the shitty conditions. But The ministry of foreign affars should be dealing with that

[Brownsugar]

transformation of licensing, drainage entity/..ALL PNM Iniatives....signed sealed and delivered...PNM

Which is why ah was pissed with Patrick et al.  Instead of annoying the hell out of the citizens every Monday morning, just get the damn job done!!  The Hobbit was complaining last week that some thing Jack say he going to do was his idea.....steups!!! So why the arse after 7 - 8 years yuh eh do it??!!

I know all these plans are the PNM's but why after so long in Government these things didn't come to fruition I'll never know steups!!

[Conquering Lion]

Rowley talking some sense dey..

Rowley is ah phat c@nt!! and ah sour grapes one @ dat! since dat man take the reins i eh hear one encouraging complimentary thing about the new government! all of ah sudden now he noticing all these things wrong wid the country.

and for the record, anil is right tuh say what he said! and tuh add insult, if that was in the days when the doc was runnin TNT, the U.S. woulda never pull dat dog treatment of trinis! standin in the HOT sun for ah stamp in dey book, pleaseee!! that shyte doh go on in countries dat have clout, suadi, france, england, germany, not even bahamas and bermuda,

so allyuh doh jump on anil, the man was asked ah question in ah public forum and he answered according to how he felt, is the yanks who makin ah big deal of it! it's not like the man went tuh dem and complain, the media asked and he showed his dissatisfaction.   simple.

So if d fella was not a clown he would have known dat he no longer d drunk on 102 but d drunk in Parliament. All d joker had to say I "am dissatisfied with the lack of accountability regarding the visa denials process and I"will refer your concerns to Suruj as he is d Min of Foriegn Affairs dat 2 difficult. But then again he mentor stoppping hanging and he is d Min of Works so I understand y he open he trap.

Look ah correk it for yuh.............................

[weary1969]

Rowley talking some sense dey..

Rowley is ah phat c@nt!! and ah sour grapes one @ dat! since dat man take the reins i eh hear one encouraging complimentary thing about the new government! all of ah sudden now he noticing all these things wrong wid the country.

and for the record, anil is right tuh say what he said! and tuh add insult, if that was in the days when the doc was runnin TNT, the U.S. woulda never pull dat dog treatment of trinis! standin in the HOT sun for ah stamp in dey book, pleaseee!! that shyte doh go on in countries dat have clout, suadi, france, england, germany, not even bahamas and bermuda,

so allyuh doh jump on anil, the man was asked ah question in ah public forum and he answered according to how he felt, is the yanks who makin ah big deal of it! it's not like the man went tuh dem and complain, the media asked and he showed his dissatisfaction.   simple.

So if d fella was not a clown he would have known dat he no longer d drunk on 102 but d drunk in Parliament. All d joker had to say I "am dissatisfied with the lack of accountability regarding the visa denials process and I"will refer your concerns to Suruj as he is d Min of Foriegn Affairs dat 2 difficult. But then again he mentor stoppping hanging and he is d Min of Works so I understand y he open he trap.

Look ah correk it for yuh.............................

Thanks eh 

[weary1969]

transformation of licensing, drainage entity/..ALL PNM Iniatives....signed sealed and delivered...PNM

Which is why ah was pissed with Patrick et al.  Instead of annoying the hell out of the citizens every Monday morning, just get the damn job done!!  The Hobbit was complaining last week that some thing Jack say he going to do was his idea.....steups!!! So why the arse after 7 - 8 years yuh eh do it??!!

I know all these plans are the PNM's but why after so long in Government these things didn't come to fruition I'll never know steups!!

Brown govt doh implement d Public Service does. So unless dey put some measures in place 2 deal wit d non performers in d PS nutten happening. Dat is d biggest poblem in TNT dem dead weight serpents at all levels. So let me c d plan implemented then I will b extatic.

[Brownsugar]

transformation of licensing, drainage entity/..ALL PNM Iniatives....signed sealed and delivered...PNM

Which is why ah was pissed with Patrick et al.  Instead of annoying the hell out of the citizens every Monday morning, just get the damn job done!!  The Hobbit was complaining last week that some thing Jack say he going to do was his idea.....steups!!! So why the arse after 7 - 8 years yuh eh do it??!!

I know all these plans are the PNM's but why after so long in Government these things didn't come to fruition I'll never know steups!!

Brown govt doh implement d Public Service does. So unless dey put some measures in place 2 deal wit d non performers in d PS nutten happening. Dat is d biggest poblem in TNT dem dead weight serpents at all levels. So let me c d plan implemented then I will b extatic.

Gotcha.....

[weary1969]

transformation of licensing, drainage entity/..ALL PNM Iniatives....signed sealed and delivered...PNM

Which is why ah was pissed with Patrick et al.  Instead of annoying the hell out of the citizens every Monday morning, just get the damn job done!!  The Hobbit was complaining last week that some thing Jack say he going to do was his idea.....steups!!! So why the arse after 7 - 8 years yuh eh do it??!!

I know all these plans are the PNM's but why after so long in Government these things didn't come to fruition I'll never know steups!!

Brown govt doh implement d Public Service does. So unless dey put some measures in place 2 deal wit d non performers in d PS nutten happening. Dat is d biggest poblem in TNT dem dead weight serpents at all levels. So let me c d plan implemented then I will b extatic.

Gotcha.....

Girl I does sit in some meetings and I does wander what d HELL goin on. D answer in some cases NUTTEN and in other cases not much.

[STEUPS!!]

btw, with all dis flooding in d country, where is our beloved minister of works? is he in the country?

[weary1969]

btw, with all dis flooding in d country, where is our beloved minister of works? is he in the country?

Hope he gone 2 d bank in Switzerland 2 get the players money.

[Babalawo]

btw, with all dis flooding in d country, where is our beloved minister of works? is he in the country?

rowley saying "i tell allyuh so, a minister is one and fulltime job"

[truetrini]

For the record, people NO LONGER stand in the hot sun like they did in the Doc days to get a visa!  They have appointments now!

Just for JC's edification.

[STEUPS!!]

For the record, people NO LONGER stand in the hot sun like they did in the Doc days to get a visa!  They have appointments now!

Just for JC's edification.

when i went for mine last year (AND WAS DENIED WITH THE EXPLANATION " I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TIES TO T&T  ) we may not have had to stand up outside but we had to stand inside with a couple hundred people, no aircondition and a couple ceiling fans. it was a SWEATBOX!! hot and uncomfortable.


dem damn people in d embassy have dey own ideas as to who should be granted an who should not.

i had NO INTENTION of goin to america any time soon. imagine my job was sendin me for training in d states for two weeks. gone by d embassy, d clerk ask me three question an tell me i denied. no details as to why.

sometime i wonder if is because i livin morvant and have locks that i was denied, because d clerk didnt ask any question to determine if i 'have ties' to d country or not.

dem americans feel i go leave my family and frens, job an school down here to go up dey do what? wash wares in a restaurant? mind some rich people child?

in some ways i agree wid anil. he may have gone about it wrong but he wasnt lying.

[Bakes]

...in some ways i agree wid anil. he may have gone about it wrong but he wasnt lying.

While I agree that some kinda explanation would be nice the fact is the US doh owe nobody no explanation on who to allow into dey country.  Anil is a backside to be trying to tell dem what to do with their own policies and the State Department official was right to slap him back down.  Imagine if Hilda Solis went to the press tuh criticize TnT saying something like "The government of Trinidad and Tobago should lower the prices they are charging Americans for Natural Gas".  The first thing people go say is who de fack is Hilda Solis... and better yet, why she opening she mouth to be meddling in how TnT running they affairs... and is not even she portfolio".


Aside from that... all that talk about the air conditioning was addressed in the OIG report, they say is years now the Embassy trying to get money to upgrade the facilities but they never could get money in the budget for it.  Is not like they say "fack dem, dem used tuh de heat anyways."

[Jah Gol]

...in some ways i agree wid anil. he may have gone about it wrong but he wasnt lying.

While I agree that some kinda explanation would be nice the fact is the US doh owe nobody no explanation on who to allow into dey country.  Anil is a backside to be trying to tell dem what to do with their own policies and the State Department official was right to slap him back down.  Imagine if Hilda Solis went to the press tuh criticize TnT saying something like "The government of Trinidad and Tobago should lower the prices they are charging Americans for Natural Gas".  The first thing people go say is who de fack is Hilda Solis... and better yet, why she opening she mouth to be meddling in how TnT running they affairs... and is not even she portfolio".


Aside from that... all that talk about the air conditioning was addressed in the OIG report, they say is years now the Embassy trying to get money to upgrade the facilities but they never could get money in the budget for it.  Is not like they say "fack dem, dem used tuh de heat anyways."

That is the problem here. Nobody is taking issue with the substance of Roberts' statement. Almost all Trinis will agree with it. The problem is the Minister of Sport has no business making statements that concern his government and the government of another country without any Cabinet decision on it all. He must understand that he is a Minister of Government and not just the man from Spalk !

[Bourbon]

...in some ways i agree wid anil. he may have gone about it wrong but he wasnt lying.

While I agree that some kinda explanation would be nice the fact is the US doh owe nobody no explanation on who to allow into dey country.  Anil is a backside to be trying to tell dem what to do with their own policies and the State Department official was right to slap him back down.  Imagine if Hilda Solis went to the press tuh criticize TnT saying something like "The government of Trinidad and Tobago should lower the prices they are charging Americans for Natural Gas".  The first thing people go say is who de fack is Hilda Solis... and better yet, why she opening she mouth to be meddling in how TnT running they affairs... and is not even she portfolio".


Aside from that... all that talk about the air conditioning was addressed in the OIG report, they say is years now the Embassy trying to get money to upgrade the facilities but they never could get money in the budget for it.  Is not like they say "fack dem, dem used tuh de heat anyways."

That is the problem here. Nobody is taking issue with the substance of Roberts' statement. Almost all Trinis will agree with it. The problem is the Minister of Sport has no business making statements that concern his government and the government of another country without any Cabinet decision on it all. He must understand that he is Minister of Government and just the man from Spalk !

And add to that the manner it was done in. Dat just poor. Ah mean....even de first salvo was a candid opinion...it woulda be cool. Buh de subsequent "farse and outta place"? Come on...

[Brownsugar]

when i went for mine last year (AND WAS DENIED WITH THE EXPLANATION " I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TIES TO T&T  )

I95.5 fm did a series on the Student VISA issue last year but aspects of the tourist VISA came up as well.  The Embassy stated that most of the people who overstay on their Student VISA were from Trinidad and Tobago hence the reason it appears as though we (T&T) were being treated more harshly than other Caribbean countries.  They also stated that a lot of extensive behind the scenes checks go into a VISA application so that when you appear for your interview they already know who will get the VISA and who wont.  Dais what the TT$800 is for and that's why its non-refundable. 

They said for example, that if you go on vacation but stay 3 - 6 months then it appears as though you can easily stay in the US and don't have significant ties to the country.  Other times it could be that another family member went and never returned and when you apply for your VISA, well Peter pay for Paul.  I got the impression from the series that they don't just turn down an application vykie vie.  They just choose not to go into a detailed explanation to the applicant.  The OIG report however did indcate that there were times when the applicant that got turned down should not have been for the reasons given.  For the most part though it appears to be a thorough process....just mih 2 cents....