From the ground up

Why, if things are as good as Government tells us — increased investment, increased government revenues, increased salaries for parliamentarians — are neighbourhoods, communities and common-interest groups becoming so active? Because things are nowhere as good as Government claims! In this rich nation life gets more difficult for all but the very rich every single day. From the lack of personal security, through the failed health and education systems, through the congestion on all of our roads, the appalling incompetence of government at all levels, and now, massive water “shortages” at the peak of the dry season, people are coming together to save the country — from the ground up.

The failure of the government in every sphere but arrogance, coupled with the collapse of the UNC as a political entity, has forced people to begin the long hard task of managing their country — from the ground up. Existing CBO’s have had to increase their activities, and new groups have been created to address specific issues in certain communities. The groups become active in the face of no water supply, deteriorating roads, collapsing bridges, derelict and vermin infested schools and police stations, and more recently, in the face of government’s arrogance in seizing lands all over the country without concern for people who live on or near these lands. While there have been protests, more and more we see people organising to take over their lives, to find ways to by-pass the ineptitude of the government at all levels and to revitalise and rebuild their communities.

And the PNM is becoming increasingly aware of the dangers that these movements pose to the Party. The government knows how to deal with “protests.” Send in the militia, beat and tear gas the protestors, then send down a surveyor or two truck loads of gravel in order to fool the people that work might start. However, with the rise of groups, consisting of people who now do their research, articulate their concerns and present alternatives to the actions they protest, the PNM is running scared. They have begun to attack — not the UNC (no need anymore!) but the people who are uniting in groups all over the country and whose only cause is a better Trinidad and Tobago.

Soon-to-be-Ascended-into-Deity-Status - Patrick Manning has dismissed the protests about the Alutrint and Alcoa smelters as coming from people who are being “fuelled by selfish interests and ulterior agendas.”

Our Housing Minister — consistently marginalised by his PM — calls the new activism a feature of “professional objectors.” The objectors “don’t see roads, schools, office buildings owned by the State as investment”. What “roads” is he talking about, by the way? But, he says — his administration “will proceed in the face of malicious intent.” Malicious intent? Our right, and our duty, to speak out against the appalling incompetence, mismanagement and ridiculous priorities of this administration are going to be curtailed if we are not careful. We have already heard the PM threaten the faculty at UWI for expressing their opinions, and we can expect more repression of free speech as mounting criticism threatens to stymie the government’s misplaced notion of development. The ridiculous statements of Manning and Rowley, suggesting that new buildings demonstrate “development”, show just how out of touch these people are with reality. Look at the “big new buildings” that make up the Mount Hope Hospital complex — the monumental disgrace to our health services. The roads? It takes four hours to drive from Arima or San Fernando to get to these “new buildings” to conduct business in them.

“Development” — Messrs Manning and Rowley — refers to quality of life — not big, empty edifices which offer no effective services to a suffering population. Notwithstanding the construction of new schools, the quality of education is deteriorating and the percentage of illiterate “graduates” is increasing — and they boast of building schools! They simply don’t understand anything. There are moves afoot to unite the NGO’s and the CBO’s, to provide linkages and support.

Other initiatives are being developed — including programmes to bring most, if not all, of the NGO’s and the CBO’s, into one “stream” which will eventually wash clean the blights from our land.

Notwithstanding the government’s position that the organisations “have a political agenda”, they do not. People, who have varied interests and backgrounds, come together in common cause in the face of injustice. They become “politicised” because they have to deal with politicians.

Whatever is the “core” of the initial protest, all the groups are seeking to end injustice, incompetence, arrogance and corruption on the part of government and government officials. And as systems come to the fore to bring all the organisations into the stream for consensus for change, the strength and effectiveness of each group will be enhanced. But it will not be easy. Remember, the government remained unmoved by 100,000 signatures against murders. The Keith Noel 136 Committee is calling on 900,000 of us to participate in their referendum this week. Their cause is you — your safety, your future. Although 900,000 votes will not be binding on the government, it will demonstrate to them that we are on the move. So vote. Hopefully “yes”, or you can vote against the Referendum if you want — but vote.

You have the chance now to show the PNM and the UNC that we are about to rebuild our country (with or without them) from the ground up.