East better than Central Trinidad?

A few weeks ago the container hauliers sought to demonstrate their concern over the state of crime and kidnapping in the country, which is a threat to the workers who are required to operate at late hours of the night to remote areas of the country, by forming a convoy of trucks that travelled from South to Port-of-Spain with their headlights on and the honking of horns during daylight hours.

The trucks were promptly stopped by the Licensing Authority and directed into the yard of the Licensing Office in PoS, where the drivers were charged for various offences including the blowing of horns.

More recently in jubilation over the victory of the "Warriors" over Bahrain, thousands of motorists all over the country drove their vehicles with lights on and horns honking from 2 pm until late hours of the night, the drivers of many of which had one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding a beer bottle or glass, without so much as a peep out of a Licensing Officer or police on duty.

In a separate incident relating to the flooding in the eastern part of the country, the Minister of Sports, who is the Parliamentary Representative for that area visited the flood area in quick time to assess the extent of the damage and to see that relief was forthcoming as quickly as possible and to arrange for the airlifting of affected persons if necessary. A bridge that was partially washed away by the flood waters was also replaced by a temporary bridge within 48 hours.

In Central Trinidad however, where flooding is an ongoing problem affecting thousands of inhabitants, houses are inundated by several feet of water for days on end and millions of dollars in food crops and livestock are lost while household furniture and appliances are destroyed, there is no appearance by the relevant authorities, aid is either slow in coming or non-existent and compensation offered is more of an insult to the affected persons than anything else.

Seems like a positive case of different strokes? Or is it that the citizens who live in one constituency are treated differently to those of another?

Then again it might very well be that the citizens in Central Trinidad did not put their "X" in the right column at election time? Who knows?

MARTIN KAVANAGH

La Romaine