Is why Trini feel dey have to be in everyting so? Now it have de whole world watching we hard, hard, hard because de FBI jack up some fellas who say dat de did plan to blow up JFK.

I ent know how serious dem fellas was or if it was jes idle talk dat get dem hold. I now reading some reports dat saying dat de plan wasn't going to fly to begin wid because de pipes wha does carry de fuel does have all kinda automagic safety business dat does shut dong de whole system one time.

Ah mean is donkey years dat pipeline blowing up all over de world in Colombia, Nigeria, Iraq and it ent have to city get bah-be-que, so I does have to ask is what de FBI real trying to say and is who dat dey real trying to get at de end of de day.

Doh feel for one moment dat Patos looking forward to de day dat de Yankees tek all dem Piarco bachannal boys off he hands, and while dey doing dat he could fill de extradition plane wid Abu and de side ah fellas dat ent mek no jail after 1990.

But is not dat dat I did want to talk about dis week self. Fust to begin leh we tek a moment and try to close de book on all de tantana wid Camille and de credit cyard. She was wrong on all counts, no question about dat. De opposition does do what dey does do like dey do it all dese 45 years. Dey job is to mek de government look bad. But is how dat does help de country get better is all I aksing?

It had two ting dat I was tinking about this week. Dat is de words Service and Charge. Dem words does do some odd tings to we brain it does seem.

De Yankee court system does have a whole legion of fellas who does come and serve all de court paper on people, somehow dat doh seem like a service dat does be welcome to many people, and de JFK posse definetly ent feel like de Service Charge dat drop pon dem ent welcome.

We does go in restaurant and see on we bill a 10% service charge dat come like ah extra tax, and dat have me scratching my head. Donkey years we all saying dat it ent have no Service here in dis Trinidad and Tobago so is wha dat 10% really for?

I did aks some ah mih niece dat does wuk in some ah dem fancy restaurant about dis Service Charge. Yuh see I did long feel dat de Service Charge is what it name, a charge fuh de Service and I did feel dat de Dullahs does go to who provide de Service.

Well look at my crosses. Eeef yuh hear bachannal. It have some ah dem place where de boss man does tek de Service charge and give a small percentage to de waitress. It have some where it does share among all de staff; doh mind who serve de food. It have some where dey does split it 50/50 between de waitress and de kitchen. and den it have very few where de waitress does get it all.

So yuh has to aks again, eef de service charge ent going to de service why it dey? And eef yuh feel dat de Service ent no good why yuh have to pay?

Mih nephew from furrin tell me dat in America dey ent have dat, dey does have tip. Well de only tip I know is on a horse at Santa Rosa. But dem Yankee does drop ah extra 20% ah de bill as a tip. I want to know why it does cost more in tip fuh yuh to eat steak dan chicken?

Someting not right. Eider yuh pay yuh staff right or yuh gih dem all de service charge. But den if yuh really want to tek de cake pass een by some ah dem bigshot places. Dem does add dey 10% and den still looking for tip!

Yuh cyar have ting both ways....



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BACKCHAT: Issue 022: Vol 8


Nice backchat stripping the feedback of your readers….

A Bank issues Corporate Credit cards based on requests of the client, in this case the T&T Gov’t as the Gov’t thankfully cannot issue credit cards not being a bank. FCB would do that based on an application received.

FCB did not err.

The guidelines of the use of such a card are laid out by the Corporation/”Body” requesting such a card and those guidelines are made known to the recipient of the card.

There would have been an agreement held on file within the relative Gov’t office.

The guidelines for corporate use will vary from company/corporation to company/corporation depending on the type of expenses they will allow.

Therefore Ms. Camille would have only violated company policy as we would not like to think that such expenses are allowed.

So she broke the rule as she did not follow guidelines.

My stretch would have been a stretch to a non banker: a credit card is a “loan facility” while a deposit account is not.

Funds obtained through suspicious means like Bas’ account and deposited into an account where a declaration is required is just as easily a form of corruption as a misappropriation of funds that do not belong to you whether it is repaid or not.

Then Bas should have been allowed an addendum to his declaration, if your argument stands. I respect that you are not a Baliser waver and do remember that I am not pro Bas.

You and I cannot use any funds belonging to another as our personal petty cash……and if you really want to stretch did anyone explore that the merchants paid for the services are bonafide or shell operations to end up in an account that could appear to be a bribe?

A stretch for sure but not an impossibility although I am sure that the merchants on Camille’s claims are all legitimate, still she did not follow guidelines and broke the rules.

So please no semantics on my words, check the issue

And I may have lost your stretch on an eye to 3-Canal

So educate me, please.

Ms. Ex-NCBer who will still continue to read Tantie from here in Canada //Canada

Hi Tants,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to those of us who disagreed with your TantieTalk from Volume 8 Issue 021. I still don't agree with your spirited defence of Camille. And I wish you would admit that in your haste to defend you ended up trying to kill the messenger. But, you know what - it's okay if you don't because I think it is wonderful to simply be able to disagree and state your point of view.
We grow as a people only when we are prepared to accept that we are fallible and are open to discussions. That goes equally for both you and I. Personally, I feel Camille's information was an inside leak. Look at the Letter to the Editor by MP Harry Partap in the Newsday of May 29, saying basically the same thing. Also, I think she was wrong to use her official credit card as she did. As a Government Minister, she should know better. As an employed woman of means, she had other options. All in all, my argument would be for us all to play by the same rules. And in that respect, I eagerly anticipate your comments (even if it were just a paragraph) on the issue of Kamla's sojourn in France and Rowley's inference, that the stolen money may not have been stolen. Now tell me, what was the purpose of that whole expose. Please, in this case, you have my permission to kill the messenger.

But keep writing Tants! I look forward to your colums and am convinced you are making a valuable contribution to nation-building!
/Trinidad & Tobago