We must act now or perish

THE EDITOR: With the prevailing crime situation in the country, a derivative development of which I was sore afraid, has begun to be reported in the press: emigration. I am a national and, although currently living abroad, it remains my intention to return home. This is where my heart truly lies and it is in and for my country, that I would like to make a difference in any way I can, more so than anywhere else in the world. However, on occasions when I mention to locals abroad or to friends at home that I wish to return, sometimes the responses I get are of amazement, incredulity or that I must be mad.

What is to be the fate of the country if the only apparent solution for many is to “jump ship” as it were? Are we condemned to follow the road of Jamaica, Haiti or Liberia? For my part, I am shameless in saying that, aside from my family and friends, that for which I hold the most love in this world is for my country. The current situation however is understandably making many people doubt if they do wish to remain here. David Rudder’s “Trini to de Bone” (and subsequently, when he more aptly added I think it was Bago to de Bone) was a sentiment that profoundly connected with a lot of nationals both at home and abroad. But feeling a connection is, nonetheless, not enough. We must act to make these our islands in the sun what we would like them to be. Within recent times I have seen several writers in the local press cite Edmund Burke, reminding us that the evil which has visited us will continue to thrive if we continue to do nothing. However, notwithstanding the dreaded crime situation, one reason why systems and services remain lacking and/or are allowed to deteriorate in our country is that we have become too politicised in our thinking.

As such, many of us have become, for the most part, like-minded with our selfish politicians who only seek to hang on to power. Thus, many of us similarly seek only to satisfy selfish needs and desires without due consideration for others or of wider impacts on the society. Our politicians too, although at times overtly denying it, tacitly like to encourage citizens to depend upon them so that this or that party can always claim credit for delivering “the goods” and so merit the votes for the all-important retaining of office and all its attendant benefits. It is this milieu of politicised thinking too which fertilises the growth and spread of corruption that permeates our society, and upon which crime and other evils thrive and alas which many of us think is necessary to get things done.

In our small country and with its many interlocking relationships, there remains an undercurrent code of silence given some people’s and organisations’ mutual knowledge of each other’s skeletons in their closets. This situation leaves us mainly treading around the fringes without getting at the core of many of our troubling issues. We suffer inertia, and wallow and remain in a constant flux of ‘dem say.’ Yet, given our small size too, I theorise that just as the multiplier effect of doing bad appears significant, similarly I believe so shall it be for doing good. We must become unequivocally serious, via action, about our commitment to our country. Religious groups, parents, NGOs, and community organisations etc must become more organised and active. The government surely must do its part but we can point and complain only so much. People must act in the good of the country whilst they also rightfully demand and await good governance. People of TT I beseech thee. Let us save our ship!

GEDDES DAVIS
Port-of-Spain