Why shuffle a satisfactory minister?

THE EDITOR: Mr Manning’s recent, long awaited Cabinet reshuffle bears further investigation.  I believe I am correct in saying that never in our nation’s history has there been such a large reshuffle;  the last comparable one being Mr Chambers’ similar shuffle attempt when he fought desperately to retain power in 1981. When a prime minister assumes office, he appoints persons whom he considers capable of fulfilling the functions demanded of them to ministries to deliver what is expected of them to the people and for the people (all people, not just some). Any failure to so do, naturally dictates their removal on “moral” grounds at least. If those selected are fulfilling their roles satisfactorily, what is the purpose, or excuse, for moving them when they supposedly have an efficient grip on matters under their purview to be replaced by someone who now has to “settle in” first of all and catch up on all ongoing as well as past matters?  Fitzgerald Hinds has written a very interesting dissertation on the reshuffle which basically echoes this question. High handed internal politicking is neither fair to the electorate, nor should it be tolerated.  Mr Manning’s shuffling act can only be seen as proof that his wisdom, at the very least, is not “Solomonic.” 

The strife and deterioration in the conditions in TT over the past two years would also seem to indicate that someone else’s “Solomonic” wisdom is open to question, but that is another story.  One ministry under siege by escalating violence which escaped unscathed in the reshuffle was the Ministry of Education manned by Mr Manning’s wife. However that is not to say that that Ministry had been unscathed by turmoil over the last two years. Less than two weeks after the reshuffle, “rationalised” (nice word!)  and ready to go, we are treated to further degeneration in the education sector, with increasingly open and vicious attacks on students and teachers both. After a lengthy silence, the Education Minister has come out to Solomonically pronounce that teacher absenteeism is largely to blame for the current situation. Having held her position for 23 months, has she just become aware of this fact?  If not, why has that stinging indictment not been addressed seriously long ere now? Her husband admits to not having a crystal ball but the rest of us know better than to expect improvement, whether praying for it or not.  Sending police with notices to teachers early in the game did nothing to lay the groundwork for respect for authority.  Respect lost is hard to regain and children are imitators — that is how they learn.  What are they seeing today? Comprehensive strategy and an honest appreciation of the problems are called for, not ad hoc interim plasters, if we are to entertain visions of any Vision.  Failure to do so can only result in an ever worsening nightmare.  Integrity is a heavy burden, but a prime necessity if stability is to be the end result, and a nation without “hope” is a desperate one.  It is very true that “you reap what you sow” and we have a long history, yet continuing, of scattering widely and not wisely.

VIRGINIA VERITY
Port-of-Spain