Feeding vagrants not the solution

THE EDITOR: I write with regard to the state of Tamarind Square. This park is a landmark. In the early days of the PNM, Dr Eric Williams spoke to the people there from the balcony upstairs Chee Mooke Bakery opposite the Square. It was once a place in which children were able to run and play. My grandmother used to stroll with us right there, my father in his day used to play football there, my siblings and I used to play catch there. And not such a long time ago! I have spent a lot of time at Chee Mooke Bakery and so have had the misfortune to see the denigration of this park. When I began writing this, it was to be a brief note highlighting mainly the pollution in the Tamarind Square environs caused by the vagrants, but it developed into much more. All those dear weeping souls, who support vagrancy, you unfortunately give credence to many lawless acts; squatting, defacing public and private property, loitering, littering, indecent exposure, public nuisance, prostitution, rape and buggery, and illegal drug use. Good citizens are inadvertently ‘supporting’ vagrancy over a ‘normal positive and productive way of life by regular daily hand-outs — cash, meals, beverages and clothing. At what cost?

On Sundays, it only gets worse! Intermittently, during any given Sunday, between 6 and 15 cars pull alongside the square to feed some 50 vagrants! By evening time, the drains along the Tamarind Square and immediate environs are strewn with assorted food containers and soft drink bottles. Has any consideration been given to the quantity of refuse that is left after all that food and drink is consumed? And what of the human waste — of so many people? Well it goes right there in what’s left of the grass and in the drains and on the pavement — mucus, spittle, vomit, urine, faeces and even menstrual waste. May I suggest, before you consider, for your next ‘thanksgiving’ the distribution of food tot he vagrants, stop and look south down the East Dry River from Independence Square, pass down by the Lighthouse at Sea Lots — some of that is yours! You have a part in this mess! Unfortunately, I cannot see your ‘thanksgiving’ as a real solution. Try rehabilitation to encourage constructive lifestyles, medical help for those several vagrants who have serious health problems or drug counselling for those so afflicted! I admire the effort of you kind people, but surely contributions would go further if invested in our children! The many nurseries, pre-schools and other schools especially the orphanages and children’s homes could do so much better with such generosity. The Ministry of Health is opposite the Tamarind Square, that is to say the Minister of Health (UNC and now PNM) come here every day! (And we even have — imagine, SWMCOL on the next block and the PNM PoS South Constituency office on the south side too!). Yet nothing has been done! None of them has ever had to come and wash down the pavement like I have had to ...

Are we going to allow the same sad thing to occur at Adam Smith or Victoria Square, the ‘Hollows’, the Botanic Gardens, the Queen’s Park Savannah or any of our public spaces? The vagrants are only a part of the picture of Trinidad and Tobago — they threaten our sense of security in the streets, they affect people’s livelihoods, they affect our ecology and environment. And no one is bigger than the environment. When the cruise ships venture into our port and the few hardy tourists venture into Port-of-Spain, some actually come all the way down to the East End of Independence Square. Can you see how Tamarind Square concerns TIDCO, DOMA, and FFOS too? What does the Tamarind Square say about Trinbagonians as a people? When I look at the vagrants, and I do every day, I see sad reminders of our society’s continuing inability to tackle and solve problems. I cannot believe that vagrancy could be considered a condition to be encouraged. Yet the vagrant population continues to grow because they are really comfortable. Productivity and discipline seem to have been slowly washed down the East Dry River and got mixed up with a lot of debris. And tolerance? We seem to have become so accustomed to tolerating nonsense we take it for granted! I continue to agonise on whether we really want solutions to any of our country’s problems. And whether we will become a fully developed nation by 2020!

NATHALIE PHILLIPS
Port-of-Spain