THE EDITOR: This is an open letter to the Member of Parliament for the Fyzabad area, Mr Chandresh Sharma and the Commissioner of Police.

Dear Sir, this is a gentle reminder of the plight of the farmers, to whom a letter that was recently written by myself (and published by our newspaper) referred, concerning the cattle and sheep rustling in the PCOL and New City areas of Fyzbaad.

I wish to inform you and the rest of Trinidad that the young men involved are still distressing the farmers and even though adequate information was given, the Fyzabad police officers are not lifting a finger to help alleviate the problem. Is it that we are paying our police officers a salary to sit and talk on the phone all day and to issue tickets to unsuspecting motorists, while the criminals are allowed to roam freely?

Please Mr Commissioner, we have reached the stage where little old ladies returning from church are having their purses snatched in broad daylight and I, being elderly myself, wish to suggest that you get these officers at the Fyzabad Police Station off their buttocks and start doing what we pay them to do. This being to secure the interests of us, the law abiding citizens of this country!

THEOPHILUS BROWN
Fyzabad

THE EDITOR: We the people of Cedros would like Mr Patrick Manning, Prime Minister and the Ministry concerned to investigate immediately why the CEPEP team had been stopped in the Cedros area, after such great and commendable tasks, which can be easily seen by those who have eyes to see.

We would like this project to be continued promptly in the Cedros area and by the very competent team which had done quite an excellent job in the past. Failing to respond to our request, we would be forced to journey into Port-of-Spain to voice our dissatisfaction with some extremely visible protesting placards. We do hope that before we have the cause to do so that the Prime Minister (whom we know to be a very reasonable and caring person) and the relevant ministry will take heed to this very serious issue because the citizens of Cedros deserve and have a right to work, and be given work like any other citizen in Trinidad and Tobago.  But if the ministry should fail to respond positively, then such actions would seem to be extremely unfair and discriminatory.

CONRAD B VALENTINE
PNM Activist
Cedros

THE EDITOR: I couldn’t agree more with your expression of complete distaste at the ongoing Airport Inquiry and obscene waste of public funds. You question to what good purpose? One very important and salient point that you have omitted is that of “free advertisement” for a certain sector — not the taxpayer obviously; he can only bear the cost and grin (or grimace). He must see the Inquiry daily on television to see where his tax dollars are going! (Something akin to stoking the boiler daily to keep the furnace going).

Whilst all this expenditure is ongoing (it seems eternally!) We hear that BWIA have had a plane repossessed by the lessors with Trini passengers stranded high and dry — even with government reassurance some weeks back of assistance. When? Do they seriously expect a Yankee company to wait until they feel so disposed to hand out the promised funds to those with hands outstretched? Constant warning is being voiced that with the commencement of the rainy season the Nation had better prepare for more flooding since government funding provided (if any at all) for clearing the rivers, etc is inadequate. Ironically, just at Carnival we heard the other side of the coin where citizens were without water in the dry season because of slow release of government funding. Have those that suffered in last year’s floods yet been recompensed? In view of the expenditure on “Inquiry” and repayment of debts to Muslimeen one can understand the delays.

An ironic twist is that it has recently been announced that the same oil giant that Mr Manning recently forgave the penalty payment for non-fulfilment of a contract has achieved the highest ever recorded quarterly profit — certainly of any oil company, if not all companies! Even if Mr Manning played a small part in that record I am sure they are appreciative of his help. It’s all evidence of priorities, you see, from a “caring” government — the taxpayer is, of course, #1 on the list (for his donations).

VIRGINIA VERITY
Port-of-Spain

THE EDITOR: The destruction of the St Joseph Farm is nothing less than a desecration of mother earth and all her beautiful wonders.

The farmers of Ramgoolie Settlement have started their protest action and the national community understands and is lending support to the cause. However, the nation must also pay attention to the irreversible environmental damage that will be caused by the construction of housing units on the most fertile lands in Trinidad and Tobago. We as a people often pay lip service to the environment. Very few of us ever go out of the way to protect our natural beauty. We wait until it is too late to do anything. This issue is however different. We must stand up for the natural wonders that belong to the St Joseph Farm. Where will all the birds go to nest? Where will the University of the West Indies do its soil testing?

This government seems ambivalent to the fact that the environment is precious to all and vital to the national interests. What is the government’s policy for the environment? Does it exist at all? It is time that the government come clean on its true vision for the environment. The St Joseph Farm must be saved! I call on all like-minded environmentalists to join me in this crusade to save in this instance the St Joseph Farm and to force the government to develop an environmental policy that is practical and appropriate.

A ANDERSON MORRIS
San Juan

THE EDITOR: It is so interesting to hear comments from the public at large regarding sex education, the distribution of condoms etc. I think we all agree that education is one of the key factors here, I would also like to add ‘responsibility’ — Responsibility of the parents.

My concern regarding the “Hodder” science book, which I have seen, is where do we draw the line at sex education, and at what age? Do we want to educate the children, because they still are children, on the “pleasures” of sex at eleven, or do we want to educate them in a clinical and biological manner; together with the responsibilities involved, ie diseases and pregnancy, and the moral values that must be maintained when dealing with sex-education?

The sad thing is that the “Hodder” science book may be a good science book, but do we want to compromise our values or complement them? As long as I am a member of a PTA board and a parent of a teenager and pre-teen, I will oppose the introduction of this book to the schools, and I urge all principals, teachers (and parents) to follow the principles and objectives that you have set for yourselves and for your students and refuse to allow this book into your schools. There must be an alternative that is suitable to what we want for our children of Trinidad and Tobago, and not because it is being used in Hong Kong and England.

A PANTIN-DANIEL
A very concerned parent
Diego Martin

THE EDITOR: In a court matter, a lawyer is reported to have postulated that a politician, in the furtherance of his professional, can say just about anything he sees fit. This is perfectly in line with a widely held view that, as individuals, we can do as we damn well please and to hell with others. Such a view belies our being a nation but, instead, just a number of persons each out for our own ends at whatever cost. We are not only tolerant of such attitudes and behaviour but, strangely, seem to not only condone but admire them.

This is why a public figure can be exposed as having assets (safely unseizable off-shore) the provenance of which cannot possibly be explained by his legitimate income “in the struggle” he boasts “on behalf of the dispossessed” (he should have shared some with them!) And yet remains, unscathed, in public office, strutting his stuff totally unfazed, an heroic Robin Hood in reverse~ When we can establish some kind of national standard for minimal levels of acceptable ethical and moral behaviour — when we can do that, we will then realise what a long, long way we have to go! Like a recovering alcoholic, getting out of denial is the first major and axiomatic step.

GEOFF HUDSON
Port-of-Spain

THE EDITOR: I am a firm believer in basic education, A-B-C. I fully agree that the foremost message to school children should be abstinence with a big A.

Fine. I also thought that our religious institutions and parents had been giving that message for years. If we were genuinely confident in that message, we would not be troubled by however many condoms anyone distributed. I am therefore taken aback at the latest bacchanal about the distribution of a lot of information and a few condoms near schools. I see this effort as additive. It does not in any way destroy the integrity of the good work parents should have done at home and religious leaders, in their churches, mosques and temples. The next big letter is B for Billings. This is a method that has the approval of the Roman Catholic Church. It is a method that is especially appropriate for sexually active teenagers. It needs considerable knowledge of the female reproductive cycle and it relies on trust and intimacy, precisely the values we want to inculcate. One of the contributions Catholics could make is to ensure that the Billings Method is an integral component of any school-based sex education curriculum.

Finally, there is the big C, Condoms. This is widely recognised as the most reliable barrier method — for reducing the risk of unwanted pregnancy and for reducing the transmittal of sexual infections. There is a sense in which Mr Mikki Grant has already made his point most abundantly. One small action on his part has exposed 30 years of ambivalence, hesitation and in-betweenity among policy makers. He has already exposed the huge difference between the sense of urgency and impatience which non-governmental organisations experience, and the remoteness and torturous pace of government bureaucracy. Our various governments have had a complete curriculum for sexuality education since 1973. How much longer should we wait patiently for the government to act?

PETER ALMANDOZ
Port-of-Spain

THE EDITOR: With our traditional concept of the commanding heights of political power one would have thought that always the chariot of the commander would have been greased along with a masquerading of flashing blue lights and blaring sirens. But, this was not to be the case on Saturday May 10, 2003 at Cocoyea Village, San Fernando.

On that day, at about 2 pm I was visiting at the Blackett family, when, from the roadside and from behind the steering wheel of a motor car, a gentleman showered greetings: Happy Mother’s Day! Now, I apologise for being that inspired and encouraged to so gush out: Good Day, Mr Manning! Still, that driving exercise for me could not have been about show; rather, it was about him being morally qualified to so drive the ship of state — freely. And, too, that that driving concern had come about from a positive and permeating quality of the relative reality of his spoken language. I wish to support and encourage you Mr Prime Minister; and to state that with that quality of caring ans sober deriving that you could never be off the road, up or down. And, that without all that flashing blue light a 20/20 vision is possible. That, when, as you do, put the people first! You, the Right Honourable Patrick Augustus Manning. Thank You.

RICHARD DINDIAL
Cunupia

THE EDITOR: I have some very sound advice for Mr Basdeo Panday. It comes from chapter three of the epistle of St James: “Once we put a bit into the horse’s mouth, to make it do what we want, we have the whole animal under our control. Or think of ships: no matter how big they are, even if a gale is driving them, the man at the helm can steer them anywhere he likes by controlling a tiny rudder.

So is the tongue only a tiny part of the body, but it can proudly claim that it does great things. Among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a whole wicked world in itself. We use it to bless the Lord and Father, but we also use it to curse men who are made in God’s image: the blessing and the curse come out of the same mouth. My brothers, this must be wrong.”

BRIAN NORIEGA
D’Abadie