We must force Govt into action

THE EDITOR: As I approach 2004 and reflect on 2003 I believe it is important to make a few comments. This year has been a record-breaking year for much that is bad and unholy. There have been some positives but they have been few and far between. With all that we might have accomplished, violent crime, kidnappings, road deaths and the ethnic differences that continue to divide our cosmopolitan society to its further detriment, stand out. It would seem that we as a people took the positives and turned them on their heads. As I approach 2004 I continue to feel a sense of great depression because we as a nation continue to let a really good thing slip away. Our nation has been blessed with tremendous natural resources that yield billions of dollars annually. The climate is relatively stable and even in periods where we should have hurricanes and natural disasters, we are spared. Although we have an unacceptable level of illiteracy, our citizens still manage to excel on the global stage.

With what we have going for us Trinidad and Tobago could and should be a virtual paradise. But, instead we, yes we, allow a few people with motives less than noble divide us, stagnate us and cause us to live in fear. Citizens of Trinidad and Tobago deserve so much more. Let us force the government to really take us to developed status as is relevant to us by 2020. That mans first bringing us to 2004 status in 2004. Ours is a contract with the government where they are charged with the responsibility to govern to the benefit of the majority if not all. Government officials, like any other elected or appointed official are by the very nature of the contract accountable to all. National Security is a key component of that contract and government must protect us whilst preserving our rights as human beings. Many of the utterances that suggest arrogance and elitism is simply not acceptable of elected leaders. Contrary to what anyone might think, no one has any divine right to rule over us, they have been put there because they asked to be put there to serve our needs.

The national security at present is woefully unacceptable and the government must take full responsibility for this appalling situation even if they might not be wholly responsible for it. When one person dies unnecessarily falling victim to crime, that is one person too many and that’s how crime needs to be addressed. That person is the father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister or friend of others. When we treat victims of crime as mere statistics, then we cheapen the value of our own lives and make it easier to have it taken away. It is also time for us to say collectively in 2004 that we want a health care system that works. This means that service should be timely, accessible and of a high standard. It is not acceptable to have to wait months for X-rays or urgent operations. Neither is it acceptable to engage the services of foreigners to carry out tasks to the detriment of local professionals and who will perform at sub-standard levels and be accountable to no one. Neither is it acceptable for health care professionals to hold the poor to ransom.

I also invite the population in 2004 to understand that the education system is key to controlling social and economic development as well as the national security of Trinidad and Tobago. The majority of first time offenders I have come across are unskilled, semi-literate and misguided, yet there is a distinct lack of focus on national education. As citizens we are unable to say what is the Government’s plan for education, or anything else for that matter, except maybe that we are hoping to be the headquarters for the FTAA. We as citizens and parties to the contract of governance need to know what plans they have for the reduction in class sizes that are now way out of control, what are their plans as regards class assistants or psychologists to identify students with learning disabilities or victims of abuse and/or neglect, how many school places are needed to fill the need in primary and secondary level education,  or how many new schools will be built to accommodate this deficit. How are we adapting our syllabus to make our education system relevant to our time and space?

Then of course there is the issue of our social service. How are we in 2004 going to deal with the high levels of poverty that are not quenched by the corrupt URP and CEPEP? How can we ensure that there is a plate of food on every table every day in this wealthy nation called Trinidad and Tobago? When will we have cities free of vagrants? These are just some of the concerns that must take centre stage in 2004 and they will only get to centre stage if we the people put them there. In addition, we must be prepared to put them there as a united people not as cliques of ethnic, social, religious or economic interest.

GARVIN NICHOLAS
Port-of-Spain