Should we panic or place truth in rumours

THE EDITOR: It is now 2.10 am, Sunday September 11 2005 and I request that you deem the following worthy of print in your daily newspaper.  The reason for putting my thoughts together at such an ungodly hour is that sleep is difficult to find at this time, as a rerun of the KFC outlet bombing of yesterday is still very vivid in my mind. For was it not on Friday night that an AC of police informed the citizenry of Port-of-Spain not to panic that all rumours of bomb scares would be a hoax? The news of 10 September 2005 informed us that the damage to the KFC outlet was minimal.

I can only assume that the goodly policeman who made that assessment, be him COP or AC or P or SRP (something resembling a policeman) saw the damage inflicted by this deadly device on a 7” TV set. I wonder if Mr G Roach gave any thought to the carnage that could have taken place if the employees of that establishment had not removed the said bin from the dining area when she did. The question begs to be asked. Where was the “Blimp” the “Eye in the Sky” and the security services?

It is quite apparent that those entrusted to protect and serve are not taking heed of what is being said and thought by members of the community. On page 7 of a daily paper of 10 September 2005, a banner headline screamed “We want guns.” This from the south business owners association. If Paul Roach and other policemen believe that the southern businessmen are the only ones eager to obtain a firearm, not to commit a robbery or to kidnap anyone, but simply to protect themselves, their businesses and families, they are sadly mistaken. If the gods that be have their ears close to the ground, they would be aware that there are thousands of other everyday citizens who would also like to arm themselves, through the legal channels, of course, for we are past the boiling point and if we are not being protected by the imbeciles paid to do so, and our request for a firearm is taking as long to be approved as it takes the police vehicle to arrive at the scene of a crime, then I am afraid that we may have to journey to the “Main” to attain these arms.

For those in high office who do not know the meaning of anarchy, the Oxford dictionary defines it as lack of a government in a state, confusion and lawlessness. Pay heed, those in power, you may be needed to deal with the reaction of a population now ready to take matters into their own hands. A population ready to explode.  Think of all those signatures and the thousands more eager to add their names to that list. Keep in mind that you are in power, once you believed and still do not think that the Jamaat would not rise in rebellion, you can be wrong.

E NOEL
Port-of-Spain