$850M for what?

THE EDITOR: I am also congratulating you on a job well done in yesterday’s editorial, June 1. It is my understanding that the politicians are elected to serve the people and not bestow their illusions of grandeur  upon the population in an effort to hoodwink them into believing that they are being served. In the case of the elaborate stadium that is costing a whopping $850 million to build, can anyone enlighten us who asked for it? Who really needs it at this time? Why can’t one of the existing structures be expanded to accommodate the additional training facilities? Whose grandiose idea or scheme it is to feel that we are indeed to stupid that we will stoop on bended knees and say, “Thank you oh gracious one for this most extravagant gift.”

Everyday over 200,000 persons from South-Central and East who travel to Port-of-Spain have been clamouring year after year for a solution to the traffic woes that they face. The hard working productive persons in this country cannot get any relief from this monster traffic congestion. Where is the relief plan to end the traffic woes? In the meantime the frustration is overbearing and a solution to solve the traffic situation is so remote that one wonders if vision 2020 traffic plan should be renamed vision-less 2020 except for this grand $850M sport plan. What foolishness? Basic amenities are lacking for persons at the Port-of-Spain General hospital and a visit will surely reveal how deplorable the conditions are for sick persons.

No air-conditioning, no wheelchairs, no doctors, no lockers for patients to store their personal belongings and no answers from anyone. A basic thing like a cupboard for sick people to put a change of clothing does not cost much so why can’t we do better? One million dollars can outfit the entire hospital with lockers. Patients have to store their personal stuff on their beds and on the floor but the young and healthy need a $850M stadium. The facts would show that persons who have excelled in sports are highly disciplined, responsible and committed to excellence. Their achievements would be as a result of hard work and sacrifice and they did not depend on anyone but themselves. The high school dropouts are not interested in anything except hanging out and terrorising the working class to get easy money. Only when you can get rid of the guns and the drugs can you seriously think about discipline in sports.

Why can’t the business sector who has a full page advisory to the Government for a solution to crime also add that this is a crime against humanity to waste $850M of the taxpayers’ money for a sporting complex that is not requested or needed at this time. The irony of the situation is that the people who work cannot get any relief to ease their burdens so that they can work harder but their taxes are used for people who never worked to play and train. What if everybody decides to stop working and go train and make use of the $850M facility. This is gross mismanagement of public funds that will only benefit a handful of persons and reminds me of a past episode when there was a similar hue and cry with the headline “Houses before horses.”

Some twenty years later the current Minister of Housing is announcing that there is a severe shortage of housing for 60,000 persons. Vision! Most of the population would agree that $850 million could be better spent to relieve some of the suffering that the general population is experiencing. Greater investment in agriculture is needed to reduce the cost of basic food items, the users and trainers need to eat first and then train in the fancy stadium. A revised taxation rate to free up some extra dollars to give working class a break.

Encouraging the growth of the business sectors in the area of manufacturing of local products by subsidising the cost of labour, thus creating meaningful employment for people. The use of modern technology to solve crime thereby increasing the efficiency of crime detection is also money well spent. When would people go to train in this fancy stadium? Right now people are afraid to leave their homes or be out after dark. The only persons who are free to do as they please are the bandits. So now we have a spanking $850M palace for bandits to roam. Please somebody let good sense prevail, this madness must stop now.

K  DEANE
UWI, St Augustine