Poor work ethic major a problem in country

Primarily, that person’s death was avoidable.

Compounding the insult is the neophyte politician who tells the population the person did not die because of HIV. It is evident he lacks information about HIV and health issues in general.

People who contract HIV don’t die from AIDS; they die from related issues as a result of their immune system’s inability to resist simple things like pneumonia.

So cause of death would not read AIDS/HIV, but simply “pneumonia.” Further complicating matters, in recent times, cause of death in many instances have been simply given as “unknown.” This bothers me because several years ago I took issue with the Blood Bank when asked to donate blood for a friend. Donors were provided with a questionnaire that sought to ascertain one’s life story: one’s sex life, including sexual orientation, if one has a criminal record, number of tattoos, number of body piercings etc.

The questionnaire was both intrusive and ridiculous. And I made it known to the staff. They indicated they were “only doing their job.” It implied that if one manages to answer all the questions correctly, then there was no need for the blood to be tested.

This basic assumption is seriously flawed. All blood must be tested to determine at least type and, one would expect, other possible infections, including hepatitis, sickle cell etc.

Clearly, this is not the case with the Blood Bank here. This explains how several people have become infected from transfusions.

And it is possible that many others have been infected and are unaware. Someone should be held accountable. But in a land where the blame game is the only game, it is an exercise in futility to expect someone would be held accountable.

I have made the point on several occasions that one of the major problems facing the nation is our poor work ethic. This explains why bpTT would refuse to have its platform built here and why we have challenges in every sphere, in particular State institutions.

It explains why BWIA/ CAL, WASA, Petrotrin, TTE C, NHA/HDC, government schools etc are forever operating in the dark.

Meanwhile, we have yet to see any bank record a loss, despite recurring claims of recession and depression. The almost non-existent murder detection rate by the police can also be explained by our sorry work ethic.

And while I agree with the Prime Minister that the Government is not responsible for solving crime, he should know that when the Government wishes to take credit when crime is down, then it will be blamed for when it goes in the opposite direction.

I have also indicated on numerous occasions that cleaning up TT is not a job for the faint-hearted. It is not a job for anyone who sees it as just “doing a job.” Cleaning up the country requires testicular fortitude of the highest magnitude, since we did not wake up this morning and became lawless. We have been on that path for quite some time and no one saw it fit or necessary to bell the cat. Now that the box is finally opened, it is disingenuous to act surprised as we watch our citizens die.

Rudy Chato Paul, Sr D’Abadie