Destroying public trust and confidence

Well, either he forgot or he just does not care. Rowley became the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago because his party’s campaign sold the public –what I see now as utter nonsense – grand dreams of a country with less crime and a plan to end corruption, thereby saving us from an empty treasury, which should have eventually resulted in a revitalised economy.

On page 8 of the 2015 general election manifesto, the PNM reminded the citizenry of the “injustice, discrimination, favouritism, corruption and deception” under the People’s Partnership (PP) administration (every time I think about the rampant corruption, I feel sick). On page 9, the PNM went into detail to highlight some of the PP administration’s “failures”.

What’s interesting about this is that after a year of attacking the middle-class with its economic policies, and the most asinine crime-solution proposals, the PNM’s current abysmal performance is exactly the same as the PP’s failures.

In speaking of the PP’s “record on crime”, the PNM manifesto talks about crime being out of control, especially white-collar crime like money laundering, bribery and corruption; an astronomical murder rate which has caused Trinidad and Tobago to be ranked as the 10th most homicidal and violent country in the world with even more murders than war-torn Iraq; poor border protection resulting in an influx of guns; lack of criminal surveillance and an unacceptably low rate of crime detection.

The PNM was fully aware of the problems coming in. The Prime Minister, who has been in both government and opposition for over two decades, was fully aware of the problems coming in. It is not far-fetched to believe that when a party wins an election and subsequently forms the government fully aware of the issues plaguing the country, sound plans (and hopefully convicted murderers) will be executed.

On page 23 of the 2015 manifesto, the PNM promised to “move swiftly to rebuild our Coast Guard, restore confidence in the armed forces and protective services, and reconstruct our anti-gang, forensic and criminal surveillance.” What the public got was another absurd appointment of an ex-military person to again fail in the position of Minister of National Security (MoNS), some crazy idea about joint border patrols with Venezuela who somehow would be able to afford this additional security when it can barely afford to feed its people, and “boots on the ground” (see my column What PNM crime strategy? published on Sunday, February 28 2016). With such failure, it is easy to see why the PNM’s words are still such an accurate depiction of the state of crime in our country.

All we have received after one year into the PNM’s five year term are excuses. Excuses that the MoNS needs more time – apparently one of the most important roles in the country was part of the On-the-Job training programme; excuses that the reason the corrupt police service is not functioning is because there is no permanent Commissioner of Police; and most recently, excuses for the supposedly imminent return of an ex-Minister whose corrupt nepotistic behaviour brought shame to the party.

Speaking of corruption, the 2015 PNM manifesto gave the assurance that state-sanctioned corruption would be a thing of the past.

On page 3, Rowley said that “...

we in the PNM envision a society where integrity and morality in public life is of the highest priority and the government serves the public good above all else...”. Apparently, this only matters when it involves a member of the UNC and their band of thieves. Last Wednesday, Rowley was asked to confirm speculation of Marlene McDonald’s return to Parliament; his initial answer to which is too ridiculous to repeat.

Nevertheless, when pressed further, despite the glaring evidence in official state documents of Mc- Donald’s corrupt behaviour, Rowley defended his consideration of her by saying that she has not been found guilty of anything yet due to protracted investigations.

Rowley is willing to figuratively let McDonald out of jail, contrary to the same logic used to push the unconstitutional 120-day no bail law. With this kind of explanation, you’d swear the goodly doctor believes that the country is populated with idiots.

We were promised reduced crime, but all we have is murder, mayhem, bodies and skeletal remains.

We were promised a zero- tolerance approach to corruption, but we have a woman back at the doors of Parliament after being banished when she used her political leverage for the benefit of her common-law husband and by extension, obviously herself.

Rowley is trampling on the trust and confidence of the majority of the public that propelled him into his position as the Hon o u r - able Prime Mini s t e r.

Do not take our country for granted!