Glimmer of hope for TT

THE EDITOR: What a great pity it is that Patrick Manning was not called to the religious ministry at an earlier stage of his life, during the era of the late John O’Halloran and his other colleagues. By the preaching of just one of the ten commandments, “Thou shall not steal,” he may have been able to prevent the illegal and corrupt misappropriation of hundreds of millions of taxpayer’s dollars, including the $23 million that was spent by AG Selwyn Richardson later on in investigative and legal expenses in trying to recover a mere $11 million that was eventually recovered from O’Halloran’s estate.

The public should be fully aware that fraud and corruption in public office is nothing new to this country and certainly did not come into being in recent years or with the advent of the new Piarco Airport project. It started with the very first locally elected government in this country. And it never stopped and probably never will. It is somewhat pathetic that such a large number of individuals belonging to various political parties can be deceived into believing that their leaders and top executive members are paragons of virtue and bordering on sainthood. It is indeed a sad reflection of their basic level of intelligence.

But perhaps there is still a glimmer of hope for Trinidad and Tobago. If the born again, pastor Patrick is willing to go out into the highways and byways and preach all of the Good Lord’s ten commandments, especially “Thou shalt not steal” and “Thou shall not kill” throughout the length and breadth of TT, at least some of the inhabitants if not all will heed his admonition. Carry on Pastor and good luck, you will certainly need it. But do not waste any time, it may already be too late.

MARTIN KAVANAGH
La Romaine