No need for combat helicopter

THE EDITOR: Once again this Government is showing that it has no interest in spending the national wealth in the interest of the population. On the heels of the most recent lease of a 14-year-old advertising blimp at a reported cost of US$100,000.00 per month (without any security equipment) for security surveillance, the population is once again subjected to yet another ludicrous financial commitment by this government. It is now reported that the Cabinet has approved the purchase of combat helicopters from Israel under the guise again of promoting national security. The MND asks: What next, an aircraft carrier? This will be the heftiest financial commitment yet and will complement the hundreds of millions in spy equipment and blimps already under the control of the national security agencies all of which have failed in the fight against crime.

Checks reveal that combat helicopters start from anywhere around US$60 million (TT$369 million). It is reported that in September 2003, Greece ordered the AH-64D Apache Helicopter at a gross unit cost of US$56.25 million. The MND is a little miffed by the need for combat helicopters in the arsenal of the national security services. The AH-64D Apache Helicopter is a favourite with the Israeli Air Force which they used to attack and destroy dozens of Hezbollah outposts in Lebanon during he 1990s and during the al-Aqsa Intifada to target Hamas figures such as Ahmed Yasin and Adnan al-Ghoul with guided missiles. As far as the MND is aware, Trinidad and Tobago is not at war with anyone and unless this government is planning on taking us to war, we have no need for combat helicopters at this time. The MND wonders whether the purchase of three of these or similar helicopters at a cost in excess of TT$1 billion is the most efficient use of our national security resources at this time.

In fact we know that it is not. This government continues to spend at a rate of $100 million per day without any sustainable benefit to the citizens. The MND calls on the government to put an immediate stop to their wasteful spending sprees and calls upon the citizens to insist that they do so now before it is too late. It should be noted that this government is committing future generations to increased debt burdens via all levels of state enterprises even as we have the most resources available to us in our history. Under this government, the poor in Trinidad and Tobago continues to get poorer, vagrants are prosecuted for being homeless, the disabled are abused for seeking equal rights but the government spends $850 million on a tsunami relief centre, $620,000 per month on a 14-year-old advertising blimp and plans to spend in excess of $1 billion on combat helicopters. Trinidad and Tobago deserves better and clearly this PNM government is incapable of making things better for the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.

GARVIN EDWARD T NICHOLAS
MND Political leader
Port-of-Spain