THE EDITOR: The UNC is moving to a point where they will eventually lose a lot of their constituents. I say this as history has shown that people are bigger than politics.

They care about what concerns them now, who are going to take care of these problems. People are not concerned about futures. And this is where the UNC is failing. Could it be a last stance to bring new life into a damaged organisation? Is it an attempt by the leaders to show they have a unique agenda? Is it simply a stance that “we are the opposition and they are the government, and we must go against everything they do?” From the outside, our thoughts are that the UNC is more concerned about their agenda and not ours, the agenda of the people. Why?

Pressing problems now are (a) Caroni workers who will lose their jobs, (b) crime — crime — crime, (c) other industries that may become bankrupt and retrench even more workers, (d) doctors not providing medical care, (e) any  problem that affects us now. Sorry but talk about constitutional change is landing on deaf ears. We all know these things take months and even years, after all we don’t want to rush into some patch and glue fix-up of our constitution. So why is the UNC forcing people to wait until they get their wish for constitutional change when our major concerns are the five issues presented?

In the USA, the Democrats were adamantly against the war in Iraq, as the UN did not sanction it. Here we have the world’s greatest democracy, yet somehow the opposition ended up supporting the government for the sake of national unity and security. Why can’t the UNC take this lead? Even in the UK, where most of the people were against the war, everyone seemed to end up supporting their government for the same reasons, as Americans. But not in TT. No siree, a hundred or so murdered, another hundred kidnapped, thousands on the bread line and sick people dying is simply not as important or equal in value to the nation as constitutional change.

Talk about equity! Since when does a constitution bring equity when we already have laws against discrimination and hate? Equity, integration and harmony are an attitude of the people, not a legal document. Our leaders are the primary promoters of developing a just society that guarantees equity, racial, religious and social integration. We already have this.

Ask any Trini and they will make a claim that hatred and discrimination is rampant in TT. The only place we hear of these despicable problems is from the mouths of politicians. What we should ask the UNC is why in the name of building a better nation did they not address these “severe” issues when they held power for so many years. Why now, only when the election has been lost and the party is placed in the lower social rank of opposition? I see no problem addressing the current pressing issues with amendments to existing legislation.

I see no problem taking care of the priority issues the people have defined now. I see no problem why constitutional change cannot be evolved gracefully and properly over a period of time. Constitutions are not simple documents. They are the conerstones of nations. Rushing to create one before the next election is not productive or good for the nation. But no, Trinidad and Tobago must have a new one now. Let people die from murder, kidnapping or poor health. As far as the UNC is concerned this is a small price to pay for nation building. Wrong!

The PNM may not be perfect. How many governments are? But it is what we got as a result of a democratic vote and this institution should not be held hostage by undemocratic forces. Maybe one of the constitutional changes we need is to provide the government with more executive power so it can run the nation when it wins a free and fair election without harassment, stonewalling and political pettiness from other organisations. If the President of the USA can have veto power, then we ought to provide the same power to our Prime Minister. When your car shuts down, you fix it first before you look at getting a new one. So why can’t our nation be run under the similar and very basic principles?

MICHAEL ROBINSON
Caroni

THE EDITOR: What is really happening in our beautiful island of Trinidad I really don’t know, and I doubt very much if the Prime Minister does either. This country has become a veritable paradise for kidnappers and murderers, and all this good gentleman says every few days is he’s “concerned.” Perhaps this is his solution to the problem, who knows?

And there’s the Commissioner of Police — his solution is to have media conferences every five minutes — that does a whole lot for his personality and little for crime. Remember Mr Chin Lee? Seems he has become a nonentity. His ‘Anaconda’ programme last year was a dismal failure, perhaps he should try a new name like ‘Operation Manicou’ or something — you never know, it may all be in the name! Perhaps the only sensible approach to this crime problem, and there is no guarantee of success — is to bring in experts from somewhere like Scotland Yard or the FBI and let them try their luck. The local police have demonstrated convincingly that they are out of their depth and it’s time to try something else.

JEREMY BOYD
Soogrim Street
Gulf View

THE EDITOR: The sensational headline screams ‘Chaos in Library’. The children are savaging the library pretty much like the American and British troops are savaging Baghdad.

The terrifying invaders creating the chaos are our children, descending on the new pristine National Library, in all their smelly hordes, coming down from South East, Belmont Junior Sec, Tranquillity, Mucurapo, Morvant/Laventille. Funny, how it is the same catchment area for the bandits, the castaways of the society. These problem children, largely illiterate in any real meaning of the word, with troubled family backgrounds — ‘miss, my mudder in foreign and I eh have nobody to sign mih card miss’. Deemed problems at home, at school, they seem already condemned to achieve recognition and visibility solely through banditry.

Sacred Institution my foot! A library is not a monument! It can only achieve sacredness by the contribution it makes to our society. And it is great that the National Library has brought these children off the streets from the malls, into the self proclaimed learning tower of Port-of-Spain. What does the society do? Recoil in horror from the youth we have produced. They smell so bad! They talk too loud! Their language and behaviour are as foul as their smell. We do not even want them in a school in Westmoorings. The comments about their urban children of ours do not differ (except for the smell) from the comments made by the Chair of the Senate, as she sought to extract some degree of behaviour form our supposed exemplars in the Senate. They are learning well from their mentors, the priests, politicians, policemen, businessmen. The stench of venality, corruption and bad behaviour stalk the corridors of power. What do we expect from them! What indeed! What! When the areas which spew them forth are by words for generations of neglect. Morvant, Laventille are high on the list.

So, they are off the streets and in the library. Let the Ministry of Education, let the TTUTA, come forward to work with the libraries to see how we can keep them there, let us find the resources to run special programmes for them. You would think someone from the Ministry or from TTUTA would call! Let us get rid of the offices for which the building was never intended and give these youths the space to BE, create, find self, expression. Let us challenge them to be the best they can be behaviourally, educationally, for themselves first, then for the nation. For welcoming them in the space is not to assume the condoning of negative behaviour patterns! Let us call in the artistes, Leroy, Ataklan, Mavis, Resistance, Bunji, Sandra and Fay Ann to vibes with them; to read for them. The nice middle class children don’t need the library. Don’t need the computers. They have them at home. They can go to lessons after attending their prestige schools.

Once again, we are saying to these children, we don’t want you. How will they give themselves a bligh! How will they give themselves recognition and visibility, without which human beings really cannot live. How, except through bad boy/girl rankings. In 1970 we used to say the children you do not educate will come through your windows with a gun! And what about our striking librarians. Mostly women, (and, it is not an insignificant fact that this new National Library was conceptualised, nurtured, fought for by a group of professional women). Is my profession gone to mercenariness, everyone! Just like the doctors!

True, the staff is swamped — But, the library administration, did during the last year, anticipate this very situation and make recommendations for additional staffing which has not been provided — But the staff attitude stinks! It reminds me what a introverted, middle class profession librarianship is! And of the scorn and rejection I remember experiencing as a young recruit into this browning profession; in those days black, natural hair, from the bush of Santa Cruz and from a country school St Georges; and, bold and shameless enough to admit publicly that my mother did domestic work to feed and educate her children! Snobbery is still evident. Though some of the skins are darker, the problem of class is a very real one! Frankly, I have been amazed that the administration of which I am proudly a part had the courage to take the stand it has; but then the Executive Director, NALIS is an amazing person.

It is clear that when no one nourishes the self esteem of our children, they cannot be expected to care about what becomes of the pampered darlings of the society. Make an industry of them. Who cares! Any one of these rejected children could have been birthed from me. I tell you, we are creating aliens, and all that aliens do is destroy. And yet every day, every night we feed them with the diet to ferment destructiveness. The one-eyed monster spews the violence, the sex unceasingly into their minds. Whether it’s the films, or the news — right is right, and arguments are to be settled with a gpun — and if you have the bigger gun — well! Where is the relief in selfhood when our music, our plays, our soul still are denied in the very media that continually condemns them a quota. We have created them. They could have come from my womb. They could possible come from you. Will we reach out to them. And we ready for le Deluge! I think it is already upon us. If this problem exists in this section of society, make no mistake — It is the problem of the entire society and will engulf us if we do not deal with now. For then, truly will come, the CHAOS!

EINTOU SPRINGER
Maraval

THE EDITOR: The very last game of the recent Davis Cup tournament saw Trinidad and Tobago matched in the Doubles against Guatemala, the highest ranked team in the region. Both teams were in a must-win situation as the loser would be relegated to Group 4.

This turned out to be a very close, hard fought game and the Stone brothers, with a lot of skill and determination, brought the match home for their country. It was a tremendous achievement performed under high pressure and done in the name of Trinidad and Tobago. So it was really quite surprising and disappointing to read Shirley Kelsick’s recent letter to the editor, which amounted to a scathing attack on the Stone brothers for “indiscipline and lack of fitness”. For sure, seeing players arguing over rules and line calls is uncomfortable and upsetting. But while the other teams were able to protest through their coaches, TT’s coach was relatively quiet and inconspicuous throughout the entire tournament, leaving the players little choice.

This, along with the fact that the vast majority of questionable calls seemed to go against the home team, significantly increased the pressure on the players, thereby inciting their reactions. How much better if this emotional energy could have been put to more productive use in actual play. The victory in that final doubles match was just reward for the Stones and for Shane in particular, who played five singles and four doubles matches during the 5-day tournament; so much for lack of fitness. It has become a common failing of our people to belittle the achievements of our countrymen, only focusing on the negatives. Only when we can criticise constructively and also give praise lavishly will we begin to take pride in the many positive contributions made by our national sporting heroes. So my congratulations go out to Shane, Troy, Ivor and Dexter and I look forward to greater success in the future.

CLIFFORD MURRAY
Westmoorings

THE EDITOR: Are the Law Lords screwball thinkers or what? A man beats three women to death, is convicted, sentenced to death appeals to the Privy Council which substitutes his murder conviction and subsequent death sentence to a finding of guilty of manslaughter!

Why? Because he had previous “good character”? So, if the man had a string of convictions for petty offences it would be quite in order to hang him? What logic is this? He beat three women to death! How does “manslaughter” come into it? To beat a person to death requires a sustained, determined, violent attack. Even the first murder could, by no stretch of the imagination, be deemed spontaneous, after which the murderer says ‘Oops, sorry, I didn’t intend that’. The man attacked and continued the attack until his victim was helpless. He then repeated his actions twice, on two other defenceless women, and the Law Lords deem this ‘manslaughter’? ie a careless and accidental loss of life. I repeat: What kind of thinking is this? Where does it leave crime suppression in this country? Where does it leave the defence of women? Where does it leave the families of the victims?

On another matter. The intimidation or even terrorising of retail staff in a small store on Charlotte Street and the beating up of the security guard by three shoplifters, where the police turned up only 45 minutes later begs the question once again as to why a uniformed police presence is not deemed essential on each and every business day on this busy (and lawless) street. One would think that the cutlass murder of a shop assistant over the matter of a $1 ball point pen would have convinced authorities that this was obviously necessary. Not so?

GEOFF HUDSON
Port-of-Spain

THE EDITOR: The doctors’ impasse seems like a never ending story. I think it looks like a clear case of playing chicken, as in the case of who will back down first kind of thing. Mr Imbert talks about and treats the doctors as if they are expendable, and maybe they are to an extent, but I wonder if the wealth of their total experience and expertise is indeed expendable.

He is very flippant in his remarks and talks about the coming of the Cuban doctors as a reliable solution to the problem. However, you cut or splice it, being a doctor first requires the human need to exercise compassion and to know the lifestyle connected to the type of patients being treated, before a patient can feel connected to that doctor. Both the doctors from India and Africa can adapt themselves to the people here, since all our backgrounds have deep connection and linkage with these two types of people. The only thing we have linking us with the Cuban doctors is the sun, the laid back life, and our Prime Minister.

I agree, that the actions of some doctors leave much to be desired, but in the same light since there are some doctors who are very dedicated to their profession. Mr Imbert’s statement in the newspaper that they in the Ministry are not worried about the doctors, because they are bringing in Cuban doctors to full their posts, is the same thing as scab labour. Where are the unions now? Tsk! Tsk! A classic example of dedication is a very close relative of mine, who is a practising doctor in the Chaguanas area. His parents sacrificed everything. They were very poor and humble people, who did everything possible to send their son to medical school abroad. Wearing hand-me-downs, and eating the barest of foods they did what they had to do to ensure that their son fulfilled his and their dream of becoming a medical doctor. Alas! His mother did not live to see her dream come true, but he is a doctor that any family would be proud of. I am. He sees patients up to at times 10-11 o’clock at nights, and might I add that this is a nightly routine.

So for Mr Imbert to equate that dedication with a “generous package” and a “46 percent” increase is like comparing mauby to champagne. There is no comparison. What the Minister should do, is what the Ministry of National Security should also be doing, and that is to weed out the “rogue elements”. If a doctor should be in the wards, doing his duty, then ensure that he does just that, and not doing otherwise. In the same instance, I personally know of a nurse who uses her working time to do her errands, but who checks on these things? Mr Imbert should start climbing the ladder from the first rung, and then maybe you can reach the top, without falling down on his derriere.

R BOODAN
Valsayn