N Touch

Behave yourselves

THE EDITOR: I feel compelled to write to your newspaper to express my dismay at the behaviour of Basdeo Panday and Kelvin Ramnath in our Parliament.

We the people are saying, enough is enough … We the people are saying, your behaviour is abhorrent and disrespectful to our Parliament and law-abiding citizens of this country. We the people are saying, Panday and Ramnath, behave yourselves. We the people are saying you are the reason for this racial division in this country and if you believe that we are stupid people not to see through your plan to get more votes for the local government elections which is imminent, you are very wrong.

B SANDY
Maraval

Advice for Law Association

THE EDITOR: Your article “Unjustified Caution” alarms me and should act as a wake-up call for the majority of honest, decent and patriotic citizens.

Some segments of society think that they are awfully clever and try to denigrate the Airport enquiry. To date, what has the Commission done wrong? The Law Association should be aware of its status in this society. The Law Association should guard zealously its integrity. It is imperative that the Law Association gets it right before going public.
The Law Association must be aware that the whole system of law, order and civilised behaviour operates within parameters of which it is the custodian. The Law Association cannot afford mediocrity. I refuse to believe that the Law Association is not concerned with the fact that local and foreign firms, local and foreign nationals conspired and illegally, indecently and bovinely gorged themselves on some of this nation’s wealth. I refuse to accept this from the learned gentlemen. A certain political party had 100 attorneys to deal instantaneously with political questions. I feel the Law Association can muster three times that number to deal with letters from the Commission.


AUGUSTUS LEWIS
Marabella

Ethnic cleansing of Afro Trinis?

THE EDITOR: On Friday June 6, 2003 Newsday printed a letter titled “Ethnic biases in Health Sector.” This letter states that doctors, “the majority of whom are of one ethnic group, are quick to remove the wombs of our African women.”

 Mr John Francis Williams of Port-of-Spain also states that such operations are also being done without permission. This letter is basically stating that there is ethnic cleansing of the Afro-Trinidadian by performing hysterectomies (removing wombs) on “African women.” He also implies that doctors of Indian ethnicity without permission were doing this. It is public knowledge that the majority of doctors in Trinidad and Tobago are of Indian ethnicity, either Indo-Trinidadian or Indian-born. This was well-publicised by many commentators as well as the Minister of Health. Except in emergencies, where death is the next option, all operations are done with written consent. In emergency situations, when permission is not obtained beforehand, efforts are made to contact the closest relatives as well as the most senior doctors, consultants and registrars. The emergency decision is then made collectively.

Emergency hysterectomies are done for massive bleeding, usually following childbirth. Such patients can die within hours. It is difficult to discuss hysterectomy under normal circumstances to a young woman and is traumatic to discuss following childbirth. By the time a decision is made to perform a hysterectomy, following a period of observation and resuscitation, the patient would have lost lots of blood and may be delirious and possibly unconscious. The senior doctors thus make the immediate decision, preferably with the patient and/or relatives. Such emergency cases are rare.


PHILIP AYOUNG CHEE FRCS
San Fernando

Abortion for 9-year-old rape victim

THE EDITOR: Rosa at nine years old became pregnant following a rape. Rosa is the daughter of migrant farm labourers who left their home in Nicaragua to work in Costa Rica. When the story hit the media in Costa Rica, the entire situation was treated as a freak show.

There was no concern for Rosa. Worse, the authorities in Costa Rica held her father as a suspect and so sought to remove parental rights. Rosa’s young parents, at 28 and 25 were both illiterate and had no idea of their rights. A small Commission from Nicaragua visited the family and managed to take them home. This group of women learned that Rosa’s wish was not to have the baby. But with all the publicity the case had attracted, it was very difficult to find doctors willing to do the termination, especially given the risk of complications in such a young patient.

On purely medical grounds the continuation of the pregnancy would almost certainly have had devastating impact on Rosa’s body, not to mention her mental health. Needless to say, the anti-choice community showed no regard for Rosa and did everything they could to block her access to an abortion. She had the abortion. Pro-choice women are continuing to support her and her family in Nicaragua. Psychologists who have observed the family can find no trace of abuse within the family. A suspect is before the courts in Costa Rica. Our government should remove the legal barriers that restrict access to safe abortion.


V A ASHTON
La Brea

TT, A legendary Canaan

THE EDITOR: The election tumult for local polls is around the bend and approaching at top speed. I am hoping that it will greet us on July 14, ready to tell the country the state of the nation.

In 1962, after intense agitation, we were rewarded with self-government. The trend of political growth continued until 1976 when we were made a Republic. As a self-governed country, the nation rapidly developed a noticeable state of escalating affluence. Throughout the nation, wealth and expansion continued. New dwelling houses mushroomed by the thousands, new roads appeared continuously and motor vehicles are now over-crowding the highways. New state buildings also joined the trend; a modern national library is among these.

The rapid growth of the country seems to have influenced a rise in criminal activities. Kidnapping, robberies and abductions are the atrocious offences being committed on a daily basis. I have searched my mental archives and have discovered that Trinidad is a legendary Canaan from the Bible. We must cease to be self-centred. As a small country, we are flourishing in assets. Oil and asphalt are holding world markets and liquid gas is joining the group of exports. We must not let anything hinder our progress. Elections, in this country, have always awakened dormant racial intolerance and inflamed it to high levels. Loyalty to nation must transcend party allegiance.

When you candidates are writing your classic speeches for election audiences, I solicit that you preface your masterpieces with the following excerpts: “To thine own self be true;” “Love thy neighbour as thyself;” “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you;” “Differences must not be mended by the court but simply by Jesus Christ;” “You must love one another as I have loved you;” “Those who live in glass houses must not throw stones.” All denominations have accepted these philosophical citations in one form or another and all will benefit from their strategic use. If we place ourselves at the mercy of God, help will be our reward. Let us never forget our patriotic duty. We all know that elections aggravate racial polarisation — but couldn’t we, for the nation’s sake, strive to rise above pettiness and do better?

SALER  AMEERALI
Chaguanas

Where are protesters now?

THE EDITOR: I notice the US and UK have both made strong protests to the Burmese military junta on its illegal detention of the rightful Burmese leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

I have not seen similar concerns expressed by Germany, France nor all those democracy-loving peace marchers who vehemently protested Saddam Hussein being attacked and ultimately, successfully removed from power (and thousands of grave sites of his anonymous political opponents subsequently and tragically unearthed.) Where’s the moral here? Why no thousands of marches protesting the election winner, Aung San Suu Kyi being imprisoned? Why the apparent silence from Chirac and Kohl, those holders of the high, moral ground? Wimps!


GEOFF HUDSON
Port-of-Spain

Good move, Ramesh

THE EDITOR: I feel moved to commend former Attorney General Mr Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj for filing a constitutional motion at the Hall of Justice declaring as “unconstitutional and illegal” the Government’s refusal to appoint both the Equal Opportunity Commission and the Equal Opportunity Tribunal.

I have the distinct impression that Mr Maharaj is genuinely interested in the inequities in the administration of justice, which can be minimised with little time and cost. I believe that the Act was designed to protect workers against arbitrary age discrimination in hiring, retention, compensation, and other conditions of employment. And the sooner this Act comes into force — the better it will be for some of our sisters and brothers who are at a disadvantage and others who are exploited. If the Act, according to Attorney-at-Law, Mr Garnet Mungalsingh, has been assented and proclaimed, the Government must obey the law and implement it. If the act requires an amendment, according to Attorney General Glenda Morean-Phillip, amend it later as suggested by Attorney Mungalsingh but the law must be obeyed meanwhile.


HARRY P T CHARLIE
Princes Town

Arrogance at station

THE EDITOR: Kindly permit me space in your paper to express my disgust at the behaviour of certain officers of the Princes Town Police Station. I had the displeasure of visiting the Station for a private matter.

While there I was saddened by the attitude of a particular WPC whilst dealing with a member of the public. Isn’t it the duty of a police officer to seek the interest of all citizens? Well, apparently this officer couldn’t care less and maybe she was not trained properly when it comes to dealing with the public, since she was clearly lacking communication skills. She was rude and arrogant to a woman who appeared to be much older than her, leaving the woman in tears. Is this the kind of secure and respectable environment we have to live in? Doesn’t she realise that it’s the same tax payers that pay her salary. Take note Mr Police Commissioner. Clean up the Police Service and probably you can save the public from ill-mannered officers like the one mentioned above. As for the WPC try and take some classes in anger management.


S  MAHABIR
Princes Town

Mamaguy by Israel?

THE SO-CALLED Road Map, the initiative of US President George W Bush to broker a peaceful settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, now seems destined to go the way of all previous attempts to bring this age-old conflict to an end. The Road Map calls for both sides to take a journey to peace through a programme of simultaneous action — beginning with the Israelis withdrawing troops from Palestinian areas and halting expansion of Jewish settlements on the West Bank, and the Palestinians curbing the activity of militant groups such as Hamas and putting an end to suicide bombing attacks on Israeli soldiers and citizens. Since the leaders of both sides have initially accepted the terms of the Road Map, the world dares to hope again that the prospect for peace between these two warring peoples would at last become a reality.

But now it seems that the Bush plan has attracted little more than lip service from the leaders as the tit-for-tat violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians continues without any apparent concession to the demands of the Road Map. In fact, Tuesday’s attack by an Israeli helicopter on Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi in which a bodyguard and a bystander were killed may well spell the doom of the Road Map which was launched a week ago at a summit meeting in Jordan. Rantissi, who was wounded in his leg and chest, vowed revenge from his hospital bed in Gaza, saying that Israel and its “pig” leader Ariel Sharon would never be safe.

President Bush has issued the required ritual-like condemnation of the Israeli attempt to eliminate the Hamas leader, and the action may even help him to understand the recalcitrant and obstreperous nature of the Israeli leadership but, poor fellow, what can he really do to rein in the Sharon regime and the rampant Jewish military? It is no secret that Mr Bush does not dare apply any serious pressure on Israel for fear of upsetting or alienating the Jewish-American community whose economic clout in his country is formidable, if not overpowering.

In this entire situation, the Israelis know that they have it made, that they don’t even have to listen to  Bush. They know that the $3 billion in aid they receive from the US every year is untouchable; they know that this money has been used largely to build their settlements in occupied Palestinian territory; they know that the infrastructure grids and road system they have laid down in these areas are intended to connect the settlements and weave them into a whole; and, of course, they know that they have the military might to keep the Palestinians under subjection so there is no question of being forced to abandon their occupation. Therefore, while they may find it convenient to go through the motions of another peace process, the Israelis also reserve the right to attack and punish the Palestinians and their militant groups whenever they see the need to do so.

In these circumstances, what are the real prospects for peace? It seems to us that the Israelis are engaging in a huge mamaguy since we know there is no question of their voluntary withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza and the abandonment of their settlements there. It will be interesting then to see how they will negotiate the journey of the Road Map. On the Palestinian side, the big question is whether the new Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is recognised as the leader authorised to negotiate a peace accord without Mr Arafat and whether he has the authority and influence to keep Hamas and other militant Palestinian groups in check. The world will always hope for peace, that the deep seated bitterness existing there can be overcome; but we are not optimistic.

Matrimony and managing solid waste


Do waste and weddings go together? They do on the lawn in front of President’s House where, as a Friend of the Botanical Gardens, one Saturday morning a few weeks ago, armed with a Litter Picker, I collected a large, black garbage bag full of crown corks and bottle tops, glass and plastic bottles, cigarette packs, packs and small plastic pots that once contained reels of film, styrotex cups, plates, newspapers — and enough sprays of plastic flowers to make a wedding bouquet from flower beds, around the benches and on the lawn itself.

Given the divorce statistics these days many think traditional white weddings are an appalling waste of money. However, even though June is the month of brides and white weddings, it wasn’t the frills and furbelows, whistles and bells of white weddings (or even the waste in front of President’s House) that, way back in 1981, prompted me to write  —  with many apologies to The Book of Common Prayer . . . “Managing Solid Waste is like matrimony: it is not to be enterprised nor taken in hand unadvisedly, lightly, want only to satisfy men’s carnal lusts and appetites for clean scenes like brute beasts that have no understanding of the many problems of collection and disposal of garbage, but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, soberly and in the fear of environmentalists and conservationists, duly considering the causes for which the Management of Solid Waste was ordained.

Motorists who have been steupsing every time they pass a certain heap of garbage that’s been a feature of the scenic Lady Young Road for the past two months or more, would do well to ponder on this preamble. Readers who rarely travel that route into the capital aren’t likely to be aware of the tug of-war that takes place every time the boundless enthusiasm of Solid Waste meets the normal working routines of the St George County Council. Solid Waste, having proved its worth in the miraculous post-Carnival clean-up —with the full approval of the Port-of-Spain City Fathers — met its match in the biggest local authority in Trinidad. That much was obvious to all who noted the huge, beautiful blue-and-white garbage container bearing the legend “Solid Waste Management Company Limited” which was left, most discreetly, just around the bend (and well out of sight of) the large, unlovely heap of garbage on the Lady Young Road.

Some three or four days later that blue-and-white container was reverently removed. Whatever garbage it contained, and from whence that garbage came, none could tell — but the awful eyesore around the corner remained until Saturday, June 6 (1981, remember) as a monument to what Solid Waste can, and cannot, do. It seems the Company cannot tread on the toes of the St George County Council whose prerogative it is to collect the garbage on the Lady Young. To carry off that heap of garbage unadvisedly, lightly and wantonly would bring down the wrath of County Councillors with the full force and majesty of the Law. Solid Waste can, and does advise the County Council by telephone (when they can get connected) but more they cannot do beyond the gentle hint of leaving one of their containers conveniently close to the garbage (as they did on the Lady Young Road).

The collection of visible roadside garbage is but one of Solid Waste’s problems, and is but the tip of the stinking berg dumped out of sight of motorists all over Trinidad. Or so the Solid Waste people say — and one can well believe it. Plans must be made, equipment ordered and a labour force trained to collect garbage from traces, lanes and alleys in squatter settlements where few, if any, county council garbage collectors have dared or cared to enter. This is no light undertaking since basketball is the sacred pastime of many unemployed youth who do not take kindly to interruptions of serious practice sessions to allow scavengers to do their work. The anger of the sporting youth of the nation is only matched by those worthies who want the garbage cleared away, but object violently to the desecration of swampland (and quite right, too) while those who make a living out of garbage put in their two cent’s worth on being deprived of their means of livelihood when the garbage is covered with earth. This, in turn, brings out the conservationists who demand to know where the earth to cover the garbage is coming from, and why no one is designing and building recycling plants for the national refuse.

 At which point the worthies part company with the professional scavengers – and Solid Waste could well be forgiven for holding its collective head and bawling. Which is why the management of Solid Waste is like matrimony; the plans are made, the ceremony has been performed by Government, the bare bones of equipment are the gifts of taxpayers, the post-carnival honeymoon is over, and Solid Waste and the public are slowly and painfully learning to live together like any other young couple. Hopefully, the mothers-in-law of County Councillors will leave them alone to work things out without interference. Let us hope that as time goes by this will be a long and very happy marriage.” Solid Waste has had many ups and downs since then, mostly, of late, downs. Smoke still rises from the Beetham Landfill as scavengers burn the plastic coatings off valuable copper wire. Blown by the Trade Winds that smoke, laden with carcinogens (cancer causing agents), spreads a transparent veil over the city, entering air conditioning ducts, irritating lungs, threatening the elderly, asthmatics and small children. The Beetham is coming to the end of its days – and still there is no sign of a new site for the city’s garbage. And now, there is CEPEP . . .