Waiting on response to hike of fees

THE EDITOR: Kindly print my follow up letter which relates to no response by either the Ministry of Local Government or the Elections and Boundaries Commission. It refers to the hiking of the nomination fees for the Local Elections 2003, from $200 to $2000.

Sir, the Local Elections are due any time now, and I wrote a letter condemning this astronomical rise, to the detriment of young, aspiring representatives. It is sad to see that none of our potential candidates have joined the campaign against this drastic decision, by writing letters in the press. If they don’t, then the authorities will just ignore the situation, and democracy will be left unchallenged. This does not auger well for the future of our nation’s political well being.

I now make a personal call to Mr Jarette Narine, Minister of Local Government, and the EBC to respond, and give substantial reasons why these fees have risen from $200 to $2000. It appears that no one in authority has the gumption to respond to such a simple but important request, which clearly demonstrates a lack of leadership qualities. Recently, the PM sanctioned a $70,000 per month salary to a CEO, saying that quality leadership does not come cheaply. Can this be interpreted to mean that his leadership qualities lack substance, because he commands a much, much smaller salary? When food prices rise by two percent, there is much furore raised by ostentatious charlatans, but a phenomenal rise by 900 percent, not a sound is heard, just a funeral note. To those who are in authority, (the UNC and NAR included) please respond, as this will be one of my issues for the upcoming Local Elections.

DOODNATH  MAHARAJ
Lawrence Park
Arima