Talk to us, Mr Manning

The spiralling crime rate, which unfortunately has become the norm in this country, the increase in the cost of food, lack of water to many areas of the country and so on. And this latest waste of taxpayers’ money by the PM has shown me that, whether the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago agree or not, Mr Manning is going to do whatever he wants.

Let’s take the aluminum smelter issue. How many people have protested this, taken their concerns to the steps of Whitehall, only to be ignored? Does PM care that some people have lived in Chatham all their lives and are afraid of the effects that this smelter will have on them? Does the PM care that many people cannot afford to feed their families, have no pipe-borne water with which to bathe or drink, that citizens are being affected by murders, kidnapping, rapes and burglary, that people in this country are just fed up of watching their country plunge in a downward spiral? Obviously not. If he did care, he would have put that half a million US dollars to better use, like helping the citizens of this country who face hardship every day.

I think that many will agree with me when I say that the PNM government simply does not listen to the people of this country. Our concerns fall on deaf ears. And I have to ask, is this right? The people elected the PM, chose him to run the country efficiently, to look out for their best interests. What irritates me is that the PM puts other people to speak for him, like Colm Imbert, on the issue of this private jet. Why did he not address us himself?

Well Mr Prime Minister, if this is published and you read it (which I suspect you won’t), I think the people of this country would like an explanation from you about this jet, among many other issues. We don’t want to hear from Colm Imbert, or any of your other speakers. Face us yourself. You owe it to us to explain your actions. Tell us why you are wasting taxpayers’ money on a regular basis when people of this country are suffering daily. We demand to be heard. The people of this country put you in office so kindly show us the courtesy of addressing us yourself.

M FITZPATRICK

via e-mail