The state of affairs in T&T is simply not good these days. They have not been for some time. I need not repeat the crime statistics. The murder rate is exceptionally high though the politicians in Government are still trying to manipulate statistics and talking about the decrease in the increase in crime. It is pathetic.
For God’s sake do something to help decent minded, law abiding citizens. The question which must be going through everyone’s mind is whether the Government even cares or are they simply incompetent. Is it a case of misplaced priorities where they are focusing energy and resources on the wrong things?
It is a known phenomenon, that when the PNM takes the reins of power after an election, they immediately set about telling the people that the treasury is empty. The treasury is apparently a room where all the country’s monies are kept under a mattress. Minister of Finance, Colm Imbert claims he found none under the mattress. After almost three years, the Government cannot point to a single fiscal measure which it implemented and has benefited the country.
The unemployment level is probably at the highest we have ever had despite the price of oil and gas bouncing back (since 2015) in recent times. Why then are we still seeing headlines such as “CNC shutdown, 400 workers jobless?”
Like Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, Minister of Labour Jennifer Baptiste had the biggest and loudest voice when in Opposition. Now they have become meek, spewing only excuses and hiding from the public.
Where is the Minister of Labour by the way? When did she last update the country about unemployment? Is it a case of the individuals not knowing what to do, or they don’t care to do anything, or is it a case of misguided priorities?
In the local satirical/comedy clip (See Guardian 25/01/18), “The Rundown Weekly,” headlines stated that public servants were to receive January salaries as fete tickets. This is indeed funny, but what is the tragic side is that it is the truth about how the Government and our people are presently operating.
Our priorities are totally out of sync with what is important as we are about to expend hundreds of millions of dollars in Carnival to dance, prance and we then crowd the maternity wards at hospitals nine months later. We litter our capital city whilst degenerating the very moral fabric of our society which we should be protecting. “We are jammin still!”
The present projects which the Government has undertaken are a mystery to the rest of the population. The analysis of the simple man on the street is why is the Government rushing ahead with a highway to Manzanilla at this time if we have no money. Is the Government building this highway so that all the unemployed persons can become street vendors on the sides of this new thoroughfare?
This newly commenced highway is the subject of court proceedings. The activist group, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea have had to seek inter alia injunctive relief to halt the highway. This litigation is no doubt costing the State hundreds of thousands, maybe millions in legal fees.
Legal teams retained by the Government in unnecessary litigation matters like the infamous “interpretation proceedings” which are before the court are undoubtedly costing taxpayers millions of dollars. The irony of these issues is glaring. Imagine bringing proceedings before the judiciary to determine a question of law (or so the lawyers say) which the judiciary itself has authored and is itself responsible for.
The conundrum was apparently created by the Chief Justice who is the Head of the Judiciary and the Judicial and Legal Service Commission. The judge/s required to now find a resolution would have been selected by the said CJ and JLSC.
No doubt lawyers will take apart my article with finely tuned arguments but for the man on the street this is the reality. So, whilst we have built the “Great Wall of China” around the Judiciary, Government is still paying to clean up its mess! Priorities?
