Irate public asks: Do you hear us?

IT was supposed to hear people’s views on Local Government, but participants at a consultation bitterly asked whether anyone was actually interested in what they had to say. Members of the public became irate towards the head table at the eastern “regional consultation on the draft policy for Local Government reform” held on Wednesday at the Bureau of Standards Macoya. The programme for the all-day session listed some 24 speeches to be delivered, mainly by officials of the regional corporations of Tunapuna/ Piarco, Arima, Sangre Grande, and Mayaro/Rio Claro.  The event included discussion sessions. One Mrs George was loudly applauded when she asked why such detailed official presentations had been delivered at an event whose purpose was to elicit the views of the public. “Are we in the correct forum?” she asked, urging “Let the people talk!” “I came here to be able to tell you for example about the manners which are lacking by the people in your corporations. We don’t want to hear you lament it, what we already know. What are you going to do about it?!”

Urging annual training for councillors, Mahindra Maharaj of Tunapuna said: “We have councillors who are supposed to be like the directors of a board who cannot read or write memos. At that, the chair of the proceedings, Councillor Prisca Ferguson of the Tunapuna/Piarco Corporation, cut him off, chastising: “Please stop making comments, and ask questions.” When a middle aged woman asked why the boundaries of regional corporations did not neatly fit in the boundaries of electoral constituencies, she was interrupted by Ferguson who curtly asked: “Yuh finish?” The audience murmured its disapproval of the interruption. A Mr Jules asked if the hearing was just another talk-shop, saying: “What will ensure our suggestions won’t be placed on a shelf for another 30 years?” Valerie Ragbir asked how NGOs such as hers could communicate with the Ministry of Local Government. A young blonde woman was upset at the event. She said: “I am asking this forum, what does ‘consultation’ mean? If this is a consultation, it seems to me to be like a dictatorship. It cannot work!” Her remarks were loudly applauded.