No passion as a people

THE EDITOR: I would be pleased if you could publish the following in your “letters to the editor” section. We live in a country where there are no dire consequences for incompetence and gross mismanagement. Where there is no price to pay for poor performance or negligence. Our politicians disregard us with impunity, as all the “ole talk” will lead to inaction and we will forget in the proverbial “nine days.” Where is our passion as a people? Are we content to wallow in the mental bones that we are thrown from the established first world? Forget all the talk about 2020 etc as anyone knows that to be truly committed to success there is no starting tomorrow but only today. What ludicrous thinking to have a goal of us all becoming bilingual in English/Spanish when most of the nation is barely proficient in English alone. Why are we wasting resources and rhetoric on Spanish translation of street signs?

Do we not realise that most of the world, including most Spanish speakers have a very good working knowledge of English. Surely they recognise the word “street” and are not in need of its translation to “calle.” It is about time that there are consequences to follow when there is any faltering or failure. We cannot continue to encourage mediocrity. Systems have to be put in place to reprimand and effectively deal with non-performance, from the top down. Let us become more passionate about the reality that we have lost a generation to soft foreign morals and values.

After all is said and done, the privileged class (including people with easily acquired ill-gotten gains) can always flee this land for greener pastures, it is the grassroots, truly native people that would be left with the mess. Someone once said that, “do not wait for the crisis to come before you swing into action, for then it may be too late.” Let us recognise that we are surely heading towards that crisis and take action now to avert it. “Let me see the arms in the air!”

PRADEEP LATCHMAN
Port-of-Spain