PNMites should get their facts together

THE EDITOR: It is now the habit of certain soulless detractors of the Opposition to call radio stations and revive the story of Mr Panday throwing his hands up in the air at the crime situation in 1999. All this in an effort to justify the PNM government’s failure to deal with spiralling crime, and to imply that the UNC government also failed miserably in the war against lawlessness when they were in power. Nothing could be further from the truth and it is time to debunk this inexactitude by these hired callers. While they argue their weak points, they all fail to mention the crime statistics for that year, especially the murder rate. In 1999 when an exasperated Mr Panday flung his hands in the air the murder toll was 93. 

So, how can these vagabonds compare 93 with 172 slayings in 2002, 229 in 2003, and over 100 so far for this year. What stupidity is this? For someone with Mr Panday’s grace and gallantry,  who worked diligently during his tenure as PM to battle the criminals, 93  murders were way too much. Based on his own high standards, that was unacceptable, and hence his disillusionment. What has been Mr Manning’s reaction to the crime holocaust? He has not raised a finger, batted an eye lid, twitched his nose, and his face remains expressionless. He said that crime does not affect him, and the innocent victims are collateral damage.

Now Manning rallies his forces in a well engineered propaganda campaign to heap hot, burning coals on the Opposition and blame them for the climate of crime. Some of these imbecilic callers who  love to shout on the airwaves, also insinuate that the merciless crime upsurge is part of “ civil disobedience.” These vile callers, especially the likes of Mr Enterprise and Barataria Consumer, have conveniently forgotten that Mr Panday went on to say that he would never give up the war against crime and he would steadfastly fight it on all fronts, including holistically. The PNM apologists should get their facts together before they call in and they should speak the whole truth.

ANDREA-KARA
DHANPAT
Trincity