Unimpressed with second-wave oil wealth
THE EDITOR: It has happened again. This time it is a senior PNM person who has joined the "Concerned" choir of PNM faithfuls who have been singing that song — don’t dwell on crime. He is quoted as saying that if someone (the PNM) does nine out of ten things rights, people should not dwell on that one thing you don’t get just right. How ludicrous! If that one thing is the government’s poor or even non-existent handling of the country’s soaring crime problem, then how could anyone enjoy those other nine things that the government is doing so well? People must feel safe in their property before any other need (after food, water and air) can be enjoyed (check Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory). So all those things (the other nine he speaks about) will be for naught, if the citizens do not first feel safe. The present crime wave does not give the citizenry a feeling of safety and well-being, and as such, if the government does not arrest this runaway train and slow it down, they may well suffer serious defections from its most ardent supporters, as they too are feeling the pinch of crime. So, a word to the wise: do something about curtailing crime or suffer the consequences. Foreign assistance from the USA’s FBI and England’s New Scotland Yard are good first steps in this war but they cannot or should not be expected to come in and run our police service. It is TT, not England or America. Our laws and culture are entirely different. It will take the local police officers to be the vanguards of law and order to curb this incessant and illusive foe. I hope they are up to the challenge of this task. I hope the PNM will see and can understand why so many people are not overly impressed with the government’s $34B 2005-2006 budget. They are not impressed, not when they are worried about being killed, maybe as collateral damage or kidnapped for ransom, just because they have a few dollars. So until the government and opposition get their priorities up-ended (country first) and crime is brought down to more reasonably-controllable levels, the population will remain unimpressed with the burgeoning proposals for spending our second-wave oil wealth. KELVIN C JAMES, Sr Port-of-Spain
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"Unimpressed with second-wave oil wealth"