Letter to the Prime Minister

In the grand scheme of things in Trinidad and Tobago, I am considered a nobody because I am not wealthy, my name does not invoke fear and/or respect and I have never held a political position, so I do not expect you to know who I am; however, after today, I hope you remember me and this message.

I have been considering writing you this letter for some time because quite honestly sir, I am sorely disappointed in your performance as Prime Minister. Leading up to the 2015 general elections, I wrote several scathing articles criticising former governments under the two major parties because from my vantage point, it seemed, and now still seems to be that your PNM and the UNC are taking turns to destroy our people.

In fact, I saw staining my finger for either of the two major parties as choosing a seat on the Titanic: it was either a vote for continued rampant corruption, or a vote for a party that always seems to be more loyal to financiers.

Either way, our citizens lose.

Nevertheless, elections came and went and your party won and for a few days, I felt hopeful; my article on Sunday, 13th September, entitled The Audacity of Hope, is testament to that. I assumed that as you are in your sixties and having finally achieved your highest political accomplishment, you would have done what was necessary to fix Trinidad and Tobago without fear or favour, but I was profoundly mistaken.

From the very beginning, you surrounded yourself with incompetence by making several questionable ministerial appointments. How sir, do you select a Minister of Communication whose communication skills are poor at best.

How sir, do you select a Minister of National Security who has little theoretical knowledge or practical experience in national security and criminal justice. Let’s face it, this is not the American armed forces where persons earn their stripes and promotions by dodging bullets in Iraq and Syria; in Trinidad and Tobago, military status is obtained through nothing more than the number of marijuana field-burnings in which they were involved.

And how sir, do you select another ex-trade union leader with archaic views to lead the Ministry of Labour in the 21st century at a time where it needs to be updated to protect workers (especially your civil servants) from being exploited with fixedterm contracts.

Whilst I knew that you did not have the right ideas to eradicate corruption, reduce crime and buoy the economy, many people believed your pre-election ideas and promises. Not surprisingly to me, you have failed them on all points, and quite frankly, it is because you have refused to unfetter yourself from the shackles of political financing in order to investigate and unmask the “big fish”.

On the issue of crime, I have listened to you speak, and you seem to believe that this responsibility lies with the protective services and the population, which is true, because police officers will not be able to solve crimes if they do not receive public assistance.

Accurate in theory, but you seem to forget that the police service is corrupted to its core, so without public trust in the TT PS, how can there be progress in that regard? Don’t blame the population for not helping the police because for us, it is about staying alive.

As PM and head of the National Security Council, you are ultimately responsible for the state of crime in our country regardless of how hard you try to transfer it to others. And now because you lack the political will to effectuate the change needed to fix a morally deficient police service, the failure of Trinbago will remain a stain on your otherwise decent political career.

If you do not start implementing strategies to turn this country around, you will ride off into the sunset as the man who oversaw a bloodbath and the most abysmal period of job haemorrhaging, thereby making you the worst PM this country has ever seen, and that, I hope, is not what you want your legacy to be.

Right now we need a bold leader; a man willing to do whatever it takes to restore the sanctity of our land and the sanity of our people, in line with the attempts of your Tobagonian predecessor, ANR Robinson. Your success as PM is our success as a country and no patriot wants you to fail; in fact, we need you to succeed.

So with all due respect sir, it is time for you and your administration to shape up or ship out. Best Wi s h e s , Dr J.