Position Statements

Inflation rate, a sure sign that we are in a recession!

Dec 24, 2009

Politically motivated protests

Dec 20, 2009

Every time someone or some group stands up against the government of Trinidad and Tobago on issues affecting the people of Trinidad and Tobago, Colm Imbert and his colleagues brand such a stand as "political". By so doing he attempts to diminish the issue because in his mind being "political" is probably a bad thing.

Politics according to Wikipedia, is a process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic and religious institutions. It consists of "social relations involving authority or power" and refers to the regulation of a political unit, and to the methods and tactics used to formulate and apply policy.

Minister Imbert usually speaks of "political" as it pertains to methods and tactics used to formulate and apply policy by civil or even official political groups. The very policies that his colleagues would otherwise force down our unsuspecting throats. Ironically, he does not view as "political" the examples set by him, his leader and his colleagues, when they attempt to take away the rights of citizens; squander the resources under management for the citizens; keep citizens insecure and afraid; prevent citizens from having access to efficient services such as health care, education and the like; penalize citizens for saving and securing their future; cover up official corruption; and ensure only a few good friends prosper.

In a civilized, democratic society policy making should be about increasing the rights of citizens; ensuring that citizens grow and develop; ensuring that citizens are safe; ensuring that citizens get the best education and health care; ensuring that savings are rewarded; ensuring that corruption is removed from the system to ensure that every citizen enjoy the resources provided to the nation.

So yes, when we march against more taxes we are being "political". When we march against corruption, we are being "political". When we march against the draft constitution, we are being "political". When we march against the destruction of our environment, we are being "political". When we march against high food prices, poor health care, poor education, thievery and arrogance in government, we are being "political". And yes, Minister Imbert, we will continue to be "political" because it is the only way we will get a better society for all after all we cannot depend on our "representatives" for that.

Seriously, what is the use of the Commonwealth?

Dec 01, 2009

Much has been made of the Commonwealth Heads Meeting in Port of Spain . The Prime Minister and his guests obviously had a good time over a three day period at the expense and inconvenience of citizens, but seriously, what is the use and purpose of the Commonwealth?

Unlike the European Union, APEC, NAFTA, NATO, OPEC or even CARICOM, the Commonwealth seems to be nothing more than an expensive talk shop made up of former colonies of Great Britain with no real purpose.

On the other hand, the European Union, for example, was set up with the aim of ending the frequent and bloody wars between its neighbours, which culminated in the Second World War. As of 1950, the European Coal and Steel Community began to unite European countries economically and politically in order to secure lasting peace. By 1957, the Treaty of Rome created the European Economic Community (EEC), or “Common Market” which has eventually broken down trade, travel and residence barriers for all its Member States and its citizens and have aided in the growth and development of the European citizen.

APEC is the premier Asia-Pacific economic forum. The primary goal is to support sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. They are united in their drive to build a dynamic and harmonious Asia-Pacific community by championing free and open trade and investment, promoting and accelerating regional economic integration, encouraging economic and technical cooperation, enhancing human security, and facilitating a favorable and sustainable business environment. Thus facilitating the growth and development of the APEC citizen.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) began on January 1, 1994. The aim of NAFTA was to remove most barriers to trade and investment among the United States , Canada , and Mexico . Under the NAFTA, all non-tariff and tariff barriers to agricultural trade between the United States and Mexico were eliminated. Thus facilitating the growth and development of the NAFTA citizen.

The Parties to NATO reaffirmed their desire to live in peace with all peoples and all governments. They are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. They seek to promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area. They are resolved to uniting their efforts for collective defence and for the preservation of peace and security. Thus strengthening the defence of the NATO citizen.

The OPEC members coordinate their oil production policies in order to help stabilise the oil market and to help oil producers achieve a reasonable rate of return on their investments. This policy is also designed to ensure that oil consumers continue to receive stable supplies of oil. Thus increasing the prosperity of the OPEC citizen.

CARICOM seeks to break down trade and travel barriers for citizens in Member States with the aim of fostering growth and development among its members. Thus assisting in the growth and development of the CARICOM citizen.

All of these blocks are designed to bring tangible benefits to Member States and the citizens but what do we get from the Commonwealth?

There is no general free trade policy with Commonwealth Members, many citizens require visas for travel within Commonwealth States and there is no common defence policy.

The so called agreements on Climate Change reached in Port of Spain will have no effect if USA , China, India and Europe don’t embrace them. Human Rights are subjective and left to the discretion of individual Member States and the leaders of those States.

In fact over the last decade trade and travel restrictions have increased between wealthy Commonwealth States and the poorer ones.

The significance of the Commonwealth Meeting might be judged by the fact that from all accounts neither the Queen as Head of the Commonwealth nor the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom stayed to the end of the Meeting and international significance was only given to the Meeting when “outsiders” decided to attend.

So just what is the use of the Commonwealth outside the drinking from the golden goblet and of course the Commonwealth “games”?

Why do people follow tyrannical leaders

Nov 30, 2009

Recently I have been viewing a discussion on the titled topic and have decided to add my two cents.

People follow so called tyrannical leaders for the same reason they follow noble ones. Sometimes they just don't know the difference. In addition, it is sometimes easier to follow the tyrants because to do otherwise is to face being ostracised by the community and even death.

Society is based on group identity. People align themselves to groups that they believe will protect them and assist them, whether these groups are based in religion/spirituality, economics, academics, ethnicity, geographic location, secret societies (usually economic), political (usually economic and security) or overlapping subsets of each.

These groups are usually headed by people who understand the human psyche and whose sole aim is self advancement, they manipulate the followers accordingly for their (the leader's) own benefit. They appear strong and firm in their beliefs and can usually communicate their message effectively, essentially manipulating the minds of their followers who cling to whatever ideology brought them together in the first place. The group dynamic then takes over and any dissent is portrayed as an attack on the group. When the group system is firmly established, the leader has the momentum to take the group in any direction he then chooses, many times without the group realizing until it is too late.

People who challenge the status quo (real leaders) that is established by the group leaders are attacked by the sycophants who surround the leaders and who feel that by standing up for the leader he will in turn show gratitude. They point to the fact that the challenger is standing alone and therefore cannot be right, after all the group cannot be wrong, even if heading towards a precipice in a maxi taxi.

History has however shown that the world has only been changed by those who have stood up alone against all odds and criticism and have challenged the status quo when it was not working for the people. Unfortunately, these people have usually paid with their lives for doing so. Ironically, their lives are usually snuffed out by the very people for whom they were fighting.

 

The hope of the nation rests on the courage of Kamla Persad Bissessar

Nov 25, 2009

The UNC is by far the best poised to remove the PNM from office in the next general election. In the general election of 2007 the UNC lost the government by a slim margin in the 5 seats of San Juan/Barataria, Chaguanas East, Point a Pierre, Princes Town South-Tableland and St. Joseph. In those seats the UNC lost by 1,821; 2,671; 1,291; 1,021; 3,020 votes respectively (a total of 9,824 votes) whilst the COP received in the same seats 3,917; 4,993; 3,740; 1,437 and 4,145 votes respectively (a total of 18,232 votes).

Additionally, in the seats of San Fernando West and Tunapuna the UNC lost by 5,065 and 4,645 respectively whilst the COP received 4,951 and 3,823 votes in the same seats respectively.

The challenge the UNC faces is that a significant number of opposition voters did not support the leader of the UNC at the last election and even less continue to support him today. As such the party finds it difficult to grow by the few thousand votes needed for an election win outright.

The COP was seen as the best alternative to the UNC but that party has suffered from what many have deemed an unattractive leader because of his lack of dynamism and his inability to communicate his party’s agenda to the people. This is symptomatic of the small crowds at COP sponsored events and poor poll showings. Since the last general election Mr. Dookeran has seen his popularity fall or remain stagnant (depending on which poll you believe) but it has not grown. The COP has a far more difficult task ahead of it if it is to capture government. Even though the COP received 148,000 votes in the last election, its support base is far more scattered unlike the concentrated support of the UNC and the PNM.

The important factor therefore is the leadership of the UNC. On January 24th 2010 the party has an opportunity to put the party on a national footing. Should they elect a leader that is attractive not just to the UNC faithful but to the general population of Trinidad and Tobago, the UNC will stand an excellent chance to form the next government. Such a result would most likely see a coming together of the majority of people opposed to the policies of the government.

There is no doubt that the majority of citizens of Trinidad and Tobago are looking for an alternative to the corrupt and arrogant Manning led PNM government. The question has always been “Who we go put?” A UNC led by Kamla Persad Bissessar will answer that question unequivocally. Ms. Bissessar is an intelligent, articulate, charismatic lady who has shown loyalty to her party and the people who support it. She is widely appreciated and loved and is not seen as having any racist or religious agenda and is therefore able to easily reach across geographic and ethnic lines. She has the experience having been a member of parliament and having served as education minister, attorney general and opposition leader. She has been and continues to be one of the most popular constituency representatives in the country and someone grounded to her support base.

There is no doubt in my mind that Basdeo Panday has played a very significant role in the development of Trinidad and Tobago. To say otherwise would be highly disingenuous. But we all recognise that there comes a time when the growth has stopped and the decline has begun.

As we look forward to the future, the only ray of hope on the horizon seems to be Kamla Persad Bissessar winning the leadership of the UNC on January 24th and as such I strongly encourage her to contest.

The time for ignorance to be replaced by knowledge and understanding

Oct 04, 2009

Knowledge, understanding must replace ignorance

We all know the myriad problems facing our small twin-island state. The question that has to be answered therefore is: what is the way forward? I have been around the politics and the senior politicians in this country for the last 18 years and have seen the change from the NAR to the PNM, the PNM to the UNC, and the UNC to the PNM. Whilst there have been changes in the names of the parties in government, what has been consistent is that very little has changed by way of policy, direction and beneficiaries of state resources. Governments and governing parties have all been cursed with the disease of governing for the few at the expense of the majority.

It is truly amazing that in 2009, in a country that is populated by 1.3 million people and filthy rich in energy resources, we have 30 per cent or more of the population living under the poverty line; poor health services because of a lack of medical supplies, beds, healthcare professionals or healthcare assistants; children dying because they cannot get money for life-saving operations; a horrendous lack of pre-school places available to those who need them most; many sub-standard primary and secondary educational facilities for the ordinary citizen; poor drainage, roads and bridges nationally; flooding that is as common as rainfall; poor community facilities; an almost total lack of facilities for senior citizens; one of the highest rates of murder in the world; and one of the most dangerous cities in the world as our capital city.

We are where we are today because ever since independence governments and parties have governed this nation by cliques. As a result, a small handful of individuals has prospered to astonishing levels whilst the great majority have been left behind to eke out a living as best they could or to wallow in poverty whilst those who govern us celebrate their existence with champagne breakfasts as they convince us of how lucky we are to have them in charge of our destiny. As citizens, we are made to believe that the colossal waste of revenues to build obscene mansions for the Prime Minister or massive hotels for the rich and famous, as opposed to the construction of pre-schools, hospital rooms and community facilities, is somehow to our benefit because, after all, we the citizens own these monuments.

Yet if we dare to protest for water, personal safety or healthcare in front of these monuments we can be abused by riot police and carted away to spend the night in a filthy prison cell somewhere. When we look around at the choices for moving forward, however, we see very much the same lurking in the shadows. Little men controlled by big business cliques with vague manifestoes only awaiting their opportunity to be masters over the very citizens they pledge to serve. What can we do? There can be only one solution for moving forward as a people. We must govern ourselves by actively and conscientiously choosing who will be entrusted with leadership of our communities and not having someone foisted upon us. We must not allow any elite business group to install its puppets into the corridors of power.

We the people must move away from being controlled by the propaganda that flows through the media airwaves and print and must transform our consciousness away from victimhood to independence. This is no easy task, but it is a journey that must begin today and it a journey that must be undertaken by all who value their existence and respect their humanity.

The time of ignorance must come to an end. This is the time for knowledge, understanding and progress.

by Garvin Nicholas

An informative reposnse to the 2009/2010 budget by the Opposition Leader

Sep 12, 2009

Introduction
As I listened to the Hon Minister ramble on for more than three hours I recalled the saying of the Seventeenth Century French writer and moralist Francois de la Rochefoucauld (1613–1680), who so long ago said: “As great minds have the faculty of saying a great deal in a few words, so lesser minds have a talent of talking much, and saying nothing”. I do not wish to be uncharitable to the Hon Minister but I am sure most of you would agree that she had very little to say, and took a rather long time saying it. I believe that the Minister lost her way because, unlike the UNC in Government, the PNM does not start from an ideological mooring, but rather acts as it suits their political fancy (by vaps, as it were) regardless of the consequences to the country.

The UNC starts from its belief that the purpose and function of any government is the welfare and well-being of all its peoples on a sustained basis; the Budget is therefore not a statement to be taken is isolation: it is part of a continuum designed to bring the greatest happiness to the greatest number of our citizens. The emphasis and objective are, and must always be, the happiness of our people. That being so, the big and obvious question must be: Who determines what will make our people happy? This simple answer is: the people, of course. Not he PNM; not the little corrupt cabal that runs the PNM whose sole concern is their own welfare and well-being; and certainly not the Member for San Fernando East or his ubiquitous obeah woman. That is why prior to this our Budget response we embarked on a series of consultations with the several stake holders in the society to elicit their views as to what they regarded as important in their lives and what they wanted. I am told that the Government also went through similar motions with several organisations, just as they did last year. But just as they did last year they ignored most of what the people said. That is the difference between the PNM and the UNC. And that is why after nine years the people still say that the years between 1995 and 2001 were the best they have ever had, and that the UNC was and has been the best Government this country has ever seen...and today, after nine years of PNM they yearn for those halcyon days.

Over the past two weeks, we, on this side, have met national stakeholders to hear from them what their concerns were and how they felt these should be addressed. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all these patriotic citizens who took the time to participate in these consultations, and for informing my presentation here today. What is of great concern to me, is the fact that many of these persons and groups advised that they had also spoken to and expressed the same issues to the Minister of Finance. As such I am as disappointed, as I know they are, that in her budget 2010 document, she chose to gloss over the major problems facing the citizens of this country and opted instead to wallow in statistical misdirection in her attempts to justify her government’s expenditure of over $300 billion since 2002. I recall that during the debate on the 2008-2009 Budget we on this side, after consultation with the people, told you that the critical problems affecting the people in general were crime, the lack of proper health care facilities, the lack of a regular supply of pipe-borne drinking water, unreliable electricity, increasing poverty particularly among the aged and those on fixed incomes, bad or non-existent roads, high prices, and in particular high food prices, failure to deal in a sensible manner with agriculture, poor drainage and flooding, lack of access roads to agricultural lands, the use of agricultural lands for housing, real unemployment and the lack of purpose and direction in training and education and many more; These were some of the matters which required urgent attention but you ignored the needs of the people because your Budget is not about that. Your Budget is how you stay in power.

Instead of addressing these simple problems plaguing the people this PNM Government presented a Budget of over $50 billion...and after an expenditure of such a huge amount of money the people are still without a solution to the problems I have just enumerated. It is no wonder that the 2008-2009 Budget was such a disaster. You started by basing the Budget on an estimated price of oil a $ 70 per barrel and gas at $.4 per mmbtu. The fallacy of this kind of budgeting is that you can fix the price of gas and oil at any arbitrary figure and so provide projected revenue at any level you want; but that is revenue on shifting sand. If you base your expenditure on that kind of uncertainty then what do you do when you do not realize it. You go into a tail spin. If however you start from the cost of basic needs then the people will get the most important things first before the money runs out. Water, roads, health care, drainage before tall buildings. Your approach is wrong. Mr Speaker, the Minister premised her budget statement with a lie. Exercising her best public relations gimmickry, the Minister of Finance titled her Budget “Strengthening efficiency, addressing the challenges”.

Unfortunately her presentation did no such thing.
Having safely extricated herself from the fate of other less fortunate CL Financial depositors, the Minister seems to have lost sight of what the real challenges facing this country are. As she did in last year’s Budget she does so again in Budget 2010. She does not even make the slightest attempt to address the real challenges facing T&T:
• Runaway crime
• Massive corruption in the state sector,
• poverty,
• sabotage of the agricultural sector,
• over reliance on the energy sector,
• inadequate and inefficient health sector,
• the abandonment of the aged and the those in assistance of social assistance,
• state sponsored environmental destruction
• worsening business environment
• massive flooding
• high food prices,
• inadequate access to housing for the poor and middle income
• difficulty in accessing foreign exchange,
• collapsing public infrastructure
• productivity loss due to traffic jams
• underemployment
Budget 2010 continued in the vein of the past seven budgets: making false promises they have made before which they never intended to keep even when they had all the money in the world. Do you think they will keep these promises now when money is scarce. A preliminary assessment of the state of this nation is that the biggest problem we have is the government itself. The problems to which I have just alluded pales into insignificance when you think about the corruption, incompetence and maladministration of the PNM led by Prime Minister Patrick Manning.

Fiscal indiscipline
Mr Speaker, the Honorable Minister of Finance spent the better part of her speech patting herself and her colleagues on their collective backs and repeatedly boasting of the government’s sound fiscal discipline and management of the economy. Mr Speaker, joke is joke; but does the Minister really believe that the population of this country is so stupid as to swallow that self-serving panegyric? One year ago, she came to this House and presented a budget with a projected surplus. Within weeks she had to review the budget. And then not once but twice! And still end up with a deficit larger than the one predicted. Mr Speaker, that is the exactly the point I was making earlier on: they had no priorities and so could not adjust their projected expenditure. Had they started with a list of priorities they would have been able to adjust. And to add insult to injury the Minister comes to this Parliament and has the temerity to say:
“In making the decision to continue our expenditure programme, the records will show that we got it right.” (pg 4 Budget Speech 2010) The records show that you got it all wrong! Not only is the Government unwilling to accept responsibility for bringing this country to its knees, the Honorable Minister of Finance actually comes to the Parliament and expects the population to believe that having to borrow $8.5 billion dollars to cover state sanctioned corruption is a good thing? And as with all things under the PNM is gets even worse!

The Minister would have us believe that the fall in revenues was unpredictable, no one knew that energy prices were going to fall, and that is why the deficit is as large as it was last year. Of course, no one knew that the price of oil and gas would fall. That is precisely why you should priorities expenditure.OK. So you did not know that the price would fall last year. But what about this year? This year the Minister knew long in advance that energy prices would be low and that revenues would be low as a result. Yet, Mr Speaker she has returned with another whopping deficit of $7.7 billion dollars. I like this Minister. She appears to be smiling in the face of every adversity…or least, she appears to be. She came to the Parliament and tried her best to convince the nation that all is okay with the economy and with the country despite the drastic reduction in revenues, and she continues to spend, spend, and spend subjecting the future generations to increasing debt obligations.

Against the backdrop of:
• a global recession,
• falling demand for our manufactured goods,
• domestic contraction of the economy,
• low prices for our primary export products with projections for continued low prices and
• falling revenues,

The insistence of the Government to continue the same level of expenditure can never be justified. It is illogical, it is irrational, and makes no economic sense. I am sorry to say this but it is simply stupid. This administration, having long shut its ear against the cries and pleas of the population, continues in merry oblivion to the realities of the crisis in which they have thrust this country. In a period of two years, the Minister has increased the public debt of T&T by a massive $16.2 billion which is equal to 44 per cent of the government’s projected revenue for fiscal 2010! This can be nothing short of gross fiscal mismanagement. I predict that the Minister’s freehandedness with the public’s money will result in a deficit in 2010 of more than the $7.7 billion she claims here today.

Riches to rags
It is said that those who do not learn from the mistakes of history are condemned to repeating them. Or, to put it another way doing the same thing over and over expecting different results is the first sign of madness. Thirty years ago, the PNM took this country from riches to rags. During the oil boom of the 1970’s the PNM Government was characterized by wild excesses, throwing money at every national problem without addressing the issues; productivity levels collapsed while income levels rose, make work projects developed as government gave handouts rather than provide productive employment; imports skyrocketed as food production was sacrificed to the energy sector, state sanctioned corruption flourished and squander mania at a level previously unheard of level was the order of the day. Today, some thirty years later, the PNM has repeated the feat, but on a much much larger scale. The last seven years has witnessed a repeat of the wild excesses by the government. In one year this government spent more than previous PNM governments would have during a whole term in the 1970’s—such was the level of excesses. They made the same mistakes—the make work projects, the import dependence, the failure to diversify the economy, the state sanctioned corruption, the failure to train future generations, the mega projects, the inadequacy of the savings. Once more the PNM has taken the country from riches to rags. This time it took a mere fourteen months to accomplish. Mr Speaker, if the people sound irritated it is because they are. I am of the firm view that this Minister and her Government are guilty of criminal neglect.

For seven years the Opposition UNC came to this house and pleaded with this government to restrain itself from the excesses it practiced. For seven years we cautioned the government of the need to save, for seven years we warned the government of the potential for price shocks and the severity of the impact it would have on the domestic economy. For seven years the Opposition UNC cautioned the government about putting all its eggs in one basket, and the need to diversify the economic base of the country. For seven years the PNM refused to listen, and as revenues increased, expenditure increased simultaneously. This country earned almost $250 billion in revenues over the last seven years. It has spent $292 in the same period. Yet today our citizens still have to sleep on the floors of our nation’s hospitals because of the absence of bed space, our education system is irrelevant to our needs as a developing country, functional literacy remains a significant issue, our agricultural sector remains underdeveloped, the manufacturing sector is in decline, the minimum wage is unacceptably low, tourism is in decline... the only thing growing in this country is crime and under this PNM government criminal activity including white collar crime.

Management—As an effective management tool, budgeting involves planning, coordination, control, evaluation, reporting and review. It follows then that the budget must contain sufficiently specific or quantifiable targets, the attainment of which can be easily be determined by costing or performance audits. Thus, the occasion of the annual budget presents an opportunity for the stewardship of the government to be assessed in regard to the level of achievement of the objectives which would have been identified. This is why most Budgets begin with a review of the previous year’s expenditure, specifically in terms of attaining the identified goals. For the first time that I can recall this year the Review of the Economy is missing from the bundle of documents given to us. Planning—The annual budget should provides a plan of action for the next financial year, specifying the government’s long term and short term objectives and quantified targets, and therefore requires the identification of the government priorities. At the level of projects and programmes, the choice is between alternative courses of action so as to address the traditional public sector goals of, (i) optimal allocation of resources, (ii) stabilisation of economic activity, (iii) improvement of the standard of living (usually assessed as an equitable distribution of income) and (iv) the promotion of economic growth are all pursued in an organisational context. In the short-run, achievement of these goals has to be coordinated by means of administrative and legal instruments among which budget policy and procedure are the most important. Planning in the budget process reflects political pressures as well as financial pressures and financial analysis.

Moreover, the budget statement must reflect the ideology of the government, manifested in the identification of the government’s priorities, its policy objectives and specific targets to be attained during the fiscal year. And the Public relations (PR) manifesto called the Vision 2020 Operational Plan 2007-10, 2008-2009 Progress Report is a study in misdirection. As an example, on Page 29 the Government lists with great pride that 95 per cent of the population was now receiving a potable water supply. On page 271, the report indicates that in 2008, the same 95 per cent of the population had a potable water supply. It goes further, in 2008, 76 per cent of the population did not have a water supply on a continuous basis. One year later, Mr Speaker, in 2009, the figure was still unchanged. That means that despite the expenditure of $2.4 billion on WASA in 2009, there was no improvement in the number of persons receiving a water supply. So where has the money gone?

Moreover, according to the data, it cost taxpayers $10 billion between 2005 to 2009 in order to have a 3 per cent increase in the number of persons who receive a potable water supply. Using CSO population figures it was estimated that 3 per cent of the population translated into 39,257 persons. And here is where it get scary, Mr Speaker, by using the data provided by the government, I have calculated that this government paid an average of $254,731 per person, to provide a potable water supply to an individual. A Quarter of a million dollars per person Mr Speaker. It gets worse. If we assume, that more than one person lives in the same house, let’s for sake of argument say two persons per house, and this is extremely conservative, it means that it cost tax payers half million dollars per house to have access (not a regular supply, mind you) to potable water. At those figures it is cheaper to purchase a small reverse osmosis machine for every single one of those persons, and never have to worry about WASA line maintenance again!
So you see Mr Speaker, the data provided concealed more than it revealed.

Budget fallacies
2 per cent growth 2010:
This Budget contains many fallacies. The Minister of Finance, in the midst of a global recession and the first tentative steps of what may be recovery on the international scenario, and in the midst of a significant downturn in the domestic economy, manages to project a return to positive growth in 2010?
While I respect her learning in the law, this Minister has demonstrated absolutely no knowledge of basic economic principles and management practices since she has been in this house; claims not to understand what “roll over” means…in the insurance industry, of course, but incredulously is predicting a 2 per cent growth in real GDP in fiscal 2010? How has she come upon this figure is anybody’s guess? If there is going to be a 2 per cent growth in 2010 then there must be certain sectors within which the Minister expects there will be sufficient growth to lead to an overall 2 % growth. Which are these? It cannot be oil as oil prices and output are low and are not expected to grow in the short term. It certainly cannot be gas because even the Minister accepts that gas prices are expected to remain low for some time and this will discourage exploration. Is it agriculture? That is impossible given that the sector contributes less than one per cent of GDP on an annual basis? Is it tourism? Manufacturing? Construction? What?

Mr Speaker none of the current sectors are in a position to generate adequate value added to pull this economy out of the hole it is in, and certainly the Minister’s 2010 budget offers nothing to spark a resurgence in ANY sector of the economy. We on this side have absolutely no confidence in the Minister’s projection of positive growth in 2010. We see nothing to engender public confidence and to stimulate consumer demand. We see nothing here to stem the fall in business confidence. It is clear that she is seeking to generate business confidence but her words and the actions of the government do not match. The Minister has been wrong on every projection she has made about the economy in the last two years, and we are certain that she is wrong again. In fact it appears that the Minister has pegged her hopes not in the development of the non energy sector, but in the rebound of natural gas prices. International events indicate that this is foolhardy, and once again, reckless.

Motor vehicle related taxes
I now turn to the motor vehicle and related taxes. The UNC philosophy is premised on a simple tax code, with low taxation rates but with high compliance. In this scenario, the existence of nuisance taxes is to be avoided. This population will recall that during the term of the UNC government we did not raise a single tax even though oil was at an average of $10 per barrel. Nuisance taxes make life too difficult for the ordinary people. And the taxes expected to be raised by increasing the fines on traffic offences is based on the presumption of continued lawlessness. This is the first time I have seen the success of a budget based on an increase in crime. It is in this light that the increased penalties should be examined. A budget is not the place to deal with fines as a deterrent road fatalities. That is for a legislative and administrative programme. Mr Speaker, the Minister is not foolhardy enough to believe that a $1,000 fine for a broken taillight or the 1,000 per cent increase in the fine for illegal tints will stop the carnage on the nation’s roads. Certainly she does not think that the population believes that this was the purpose of the increased fine. As a matter of fact I find it curious that the Minister seems more intent in preventing dark tints than in penalising speeding drivers.

Mr Speaker, the fine for murder is death and yet every day someone is murdered in this country. These fines will have no effect on the rate of road carnage because of the increase in fines because the resources required for policing are woefully inadequate. There are simply not enough police officers available for these fines to make a difference. What are required are not increases in penalties, it is increased policing, and in the absence of that , these fines must be viewed for what they are: a desperate attempt by a government on the ropes to grab money from anywhere possible to fund their squandermania.

If the Minister was really serious about stopping the carnage in the roads, police officers would not have to hide behind posts and raise a stick to signal a speeder. They would be equipped with speed guns. If the Minister was really serious about addressing the carnage on the road she would have implemented the use of the breathalyser. The conclusion is obvious. These fines are pure and simple desperate attempts to prop up government expenditure. Incidentally, what became of all that camera equipment that was brought in for the Summit Conference. Are they still there? If they are there are they working? From a $50 billion budget last year to picking the pockets of motorists to fill the void cased by squandermania, how far we have fallen, and so fast. Mr Speaker there has also been some issues raised by motorists about the process used by the police to determine the legality or illegality of the tint on vehicles. I am advised that a special piece of equipment is required to prove that the tint is illegal and that therefore the Ministry is putting Licensing Officers at a disadvantage in the execution of their duties. And talking about the Licensing Office can this Government explain why this authority is not computerized? Would that not reduce crime?

Property Tax
I now turn to the infamous and notorious Property Tax. Mr Speaker, for the first time we have seen government introduce tax on wealth. The Minister advises that property taxes are old and colonial and she is therefore moving to modernise this. But does she understand what a property tax is? A property tax is a tax that is levied on property in a particular jurisdiction and the income from the tax levied is pooled with other property taxes from the jurisdiction to be used for the benefit of that jurisdiction in which the property is located. It has its rationale in the US School districts system where property taxes finance school boards, and the level of tax usually reflects the standard of the school in the area.
Applying a property tax in the scenario she has presented is regressive, as it is related to the provision of no service and the revenue goes into the consolidated fund. This too is to be seen for what it is, a desperate attempt to raise funds to satisfy the government spending craze. The property tax is also regressive for another reason. It penalises initiative. Mr Speaker, in T&T there are many pensioners who have managed to save their money and have invested it in a home during their working lives. Their saving then is manifested in their home. These persons are now being asked to find what is a substantial sum to pay on an annual basis when they are already in a difficult situation of fixed and low incomes.

The Government encouraged many persons to acquire homes via the NHA and now the HDC. These are poor persons. The government offered them grants and loans to fix up their homes. And now, like a thief in the night has blindsided them with this tax. A small three bedroom home in an average neighborhood may be rented out for about $5,000 per month, or $60,000 per year. The owner of this home would now be expected to find $1,800 per year which is a substantial figure for a pensioner! Moreover many of these persons would already be servicing mortgages! The punitive effect of this tax will be felt most by those who built in what were once rural areas like Princes Town, Couva, etc., which have become towns and these who live along the major roadways of this country. We on this side believe that this tax is regressive and I want to suggest that the government reconsider the financing of its wastage in another manner. But as with everything under the PNM it gets worse. What happens if the homeowner has a parlour or a produce shed under his house within which he sells extra produce form his garden as is common along the roadways of this country? It becomes a commercial property and will now be levied at twice the rate of a residential property! I wonder too Mr Speaker about who will be responsible for the assessment? It is to be noted that the Minister is referring to a nationwide exercise? And how frequently will the assessment be done?

Frankly, Mr Speaker, this tax sends the wrong signal to citizens. It discourages home ownership and this will have implications for the construction industry which the Minister is seeking to stimulate. It hit the middle class squarely in the solar plexus. The Minister has taxed foreign used cars and homes. Like last year the Minister seeks to penalise the middle class and the poor. She seeks to penalise the investment in property. Soon under the PNM only the very rich will be able to afford to buy new vehicles and to own a house. In classic fashion however, the Minister has given with one hand, incentives to stimulate the construction sector and has with this tax, neutralized the effect of the incentive.

Broken Promises
A Government of broken promises; that is what the PNM has become. A Government of lies, deceit and hypocrisy. There is a saying attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, that warns, and I quote: “There are three signs of a hypocrite: when he speaks he speaks lies, when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when he is trusted he betrays this trust.” Mr Speaker, every year since 2002, the Minister of Finance comes to this Chamber and commits to undertaking projects, which in many cases includes funding for them in the draft estimates and in the development programme, or in the PSIP. Unfortunately it has become the habit of the PNM government not to undertake these project, often with no explanation and no accounting for the funds assigned to them. Sadly many of these projects are actually critically needed infrastructural projects, and in many cases public works such as schools, preschools, hospitals, highways, drainage and the like. In other cases policy related promises including National Development Plans are also scheduled and never delivered. We are all too familiar with some of these projects. They have been with us for a while, repeatedly promised by this Government and never delivered. As such, budgetary promises tend to be viewed with suspicion and sarcasm. We are convinced that if the government did not deliver the projects which they promised when they had money, they most certainly will not do so now, when funds are scarce as a result of the current international and domestic economic climate and their profligate expenditure.

Moreover, I find it shameless that the current Minister of Finance would have been reduced to extracting from her predecessor’s bag of broken promises, to pad her Budget Speech 2010. This is an unprofessional practice, and an unethical one. Plagiarism should apply to politicians, not only to priests. I am certain that the minister has no intention to implement these recycled commitments and as such to include them in her presentation is nothing short of intellectual dishonesty. The result has been a population that no longer has confidence in the words of the government even when they are enacted in statute. In the case of this government, history has shown us that they cannot be trusted at all. Sadly, the Minister of Finance, a political neophyte has shown how quickly she is able to adapt to the PNM tradition of making promises meant to be broken. In listening to the Honorable Minister of Finance on Monday, if the population had a sense of déjà vu, a strange familiarity with many of the proposals and projects identified in the presentation, you were not alone. So was I, all too familiar with some of the proposals and broken promises to the national community. Let us look at just a few of them.

Praedial Larceny
In her recent presentation, the Minister of Finance announced with a straight face: “Mr Speaker, praedial larceny is a major disincentive to agriculture. This Government is committed to putting an end to this illegal activity and will soon implement the Agriculture Ranger Squad (ARS) to reduce the incidence of theft within agricultural communities. The Squad will provide a 24-hour police presence in designated agricultural areas. The first phase of the project is earmarked for the county of Caroni with focus on the Carlsen Field community.” (Budget 2010) One year before, this very Minister in this very House stated: “Mr Speaker, praedial larceny is one of the greatest scourges that plague our agricultural sector and is a definite disincentive to potential investors in the sector. The Government will be taking stringent measures to put an end to this illegal activity. At the National Consultation on Food Prices last year, a new arrangement including support from private security services was announced to treat with the question of Praedial Larceny” (Budget 2009).

For reference Mr Speaker you would recall that we had proved that a Praedial Larceny Squad existed in the establishment and had long been so. In fact it carried a regular complement of 39 persons of varying ranges. The praedial Larceny squad still exists in the 2010 estimates of expenditure for the Ministry of Agriculture. The 2010 Agricultural Ranger Squad will in fact have the same function as the Praedial Larceny Squad and for all intents and purposes is the same in principle. It appears that the Minister simply renamed the Squad. What an achievement! But it gets worse. The PNM Government promised a Praedial Larceny Squad as far back as in the Budget Speech for fiscal 2007. The Minister of Finance said then: “Government will provide funding, manpower, equipment and adequate logistical support for the establishment of a Praedial Larceny Police Unit.” (Budget 2007) Even then it was already a part of the Minister of Agriculture. The Praedial Larceny Unit was not established in 2007 as promised. But this new Minister of Finance has the dubious honor of making the same promise in two consecutive years. We look forward to 2011 to see a return of this promise because it is clear, if the government did not implement the project when it had money, it certainly was unlikely to implement it in times of low revenues.

Point Fortin Hospital
Perhaps the most repeated promise, and by extension the one they most fail to keep is the promise to build a hospital in Point Fortin. This year the Minister said: Mr Speaker, approximately 500 beds will be available upon the completion of the Point Fortin, Arima, Sangre Grande and Scarborough hospitals which will be constructed on a phased basis. The irony is that the Minister appears blissfully unaware that the Point Fortin Hospital has not been started up to the time of her speaking. In the 2004 Budget Speech, theMinister of Finance had promised: “Construction is expected to begin during this year on: the National Oncology Centre at the EWMSC, the St James District Health Facility, the Point Fortin District Hospital” (Budget 2004.) It didn’t start then. In 2005 the promise was repeated thus: “Construction of the new Point Fortin Hospital will also start in 2005.” (Budget 2005)
It didn’t start then either! In the 2006 Budget Speech once more the Point Fortin Hospital was promised. The Minister said then: By 2007, we expect that construction of the Point Fortin and Scarborough Hospitals, the National Oncology Centre and a new wing of the San Fernando General Hospital will all be completed.” (Budget 2006)

Presenting the 2007 Budget, the Finance Minister said: The construction of the Point Fortin and Scarborough hospitals, as well as a new wing of the San Fernando General Hospital are projected to be completed in 2007. The construction of the National Health Laboratory will also commence in 2007. Budget 2007) They did not build it in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and they certainly will not build it in 2010. On the Promise of highways, or is it the highway of promises? Mr Speaker the Minister of Finance announced that by the end of March 2010, it is expected that construction will begin on the following new major highway projects:
• The extension of the Solomon Hochoy Highway from San Fernando to Point Fortin;
• The construction of a new highway from San Fernando to Mayaro;
• The extension of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway from Wallerfield to Manzanilla, and
• The construction of a Causeway from Mucurapo to Chaguaramas. (Budget 2010)

These too were not new ideas having been promised several times before and not delivered. In the 2004 Budget Speech the Minister of Finance had promised that in 2005, the construction of the Solomon Hochoy Highway to Point Fortin was scheduled to begin. In 2005, the Minister’s budget speech committed the government to extend the Churchill Roosevelt Highway from Wallerfield to Manzanilla. The causeway from Mucurapo to Chaguaramas was promised in the 2006 Budget, as well as the construction of a new highway from San Fernando to Princes Town. In the 2007 budget again highways were promised to San Fernando to Point Fortin, San Fernando to Princes Town, and Wallerfield to Manzanilla. Mr Speaker the mega farms were promised before, the CNG was promised before, and the construction of several ECCEs are an annual promise now.

Exchange rate
I now turn to the Exchange rate. We on this side are aware that matters regarding the exchange rate must be handled carefully. We are committed to a stable exchange rate, one that is predictable and which will remain stable for an extended period of time. But the actions of this government are causing us on this side and citizens generally, great distress. On one hand central bank rationing foreign exchange to citizens and firms, and thus the market is being tightly managed. But the government fiscal indiscipline over the 2008/9 and in the upcoming fiscal year 2010 will end the predicted reduction in foreign exchange earnings from the energy sector has put severe pressure on the exchange reserves. In last year estimated that Central Bank lost about $1.5 billion of foreign reserves in trying to meet consumer demand. Our foreign exchange reserves then, fell by $1.5 billion. At that rate we will likely lose another $1.5 billion in the new fiscal 2010. The Minister is spending at a rapid rate, living in the hope that energy prices will recover while the rest of us are living in knowledge that things are bad.

The Minister is engaging in a course of action which will burn a huge hole in our reserves in fiscal year 2010, and I warn of a very real possibility of a serious problem. In case you think I am being alarmist, I want to remind you that the PNM in 1983 to 1986 engaged in the same reckless behavior and burned all the country’s savings in three years resulting in bankruptcy. The level of the burn by this government is substantially greater, so the crisis may emerge much sooner. The Minister must make a definite statement about the foreign exchange parity. Already, despite being managed by the Central Bank, citizens are having grave difficulty in accessing foreign exchange and are being subjected to a process of rationing. Manufacturers are unable to guarantee payment for inputs. Containers at the port are accruing charges daily as payments are delayed, so affecting adversely their competitiveness. Mr Speaker, the Government’s reckless expenditure pattern is pushing this country towards a possible devaluation in the short term, and I expect that the Minister would make a firm and authoritative statement, one that she could back up, in regard to the government’s policy about devaluation. I want to point the Minister in the direction of true management. Under the UNC, the price of oil dropped by 50 per cent from UD$ 19 to US$ 9 while the UNC was in office. The effect on the exchange rate was zero. That is prudent management Mr Speaker, of the kind that this Minister and her Government are incapable. In boom times when money is aplenty, almost anybody can manage an economy. It takes knowledge and ability to steady the economy when funds are scarce.

Business
Our manufacturing sector continued its precipitous decline throughout 2008 and now 2009, as the government focused on make work projects and handouts rather than the development of permanent well paying jobs, so the Prime Minister could declare full employment at around 5per cent back in 2007. I guess now that more than 10,000 jobs have been lost and the unemployment rate has once more reached 5 per cent, the Prime Minister will continue to crow that the country has again achieved full employment. This would be the first Government that achieved full employment by a loss of jobs. Mr Speaker, when the PNM was elected into government in 2002, this country was ranked as having the 39th in the world in terms of competiveness. By the 2007 General Election, the ranking had dropped continuously to 84th place. According to the 2010 Report, by 2009 this country had fallen again to 86th place in terms of its economy’s competitiveness. With all the money at its disposal, and as the Prime Minister continues to dream, asleep at the wheel, about Developed Country Status the Nations ability to compete on the global scale continues to dwindle. But as with all things under this PNM government, it gets worse.

You see while the overall rating of the economy is 86th, the country fared much worse in terms of some insightful sub indices: Under the sub index measuring “public trust of politicians” this country was ranked at 100! Colombia was ranked 12 places above T&T under the PNM at 88! I see some members smiling on the other side—do not. There is more. How do you think this country ranked in regard to the assessment of the extent of the diversion of public funds to companies, individuals or groups? T&T was placed at 81 meaning that this country was more corrupt than 61 per cent of the countries in the world. Do you see why this government cannot account for the billions which it bilked from the treasury? Do you see why so many projects were left undone? Do you see why this country’s international competitiveness is low? When the assessment was done on the sub index favoritism in decisions of government officials when deciding on policies and in the award of contracts this country was ranked at a sickening 107th out of the 133 countries in the study. Every country in the Caribbean ranked above T&T! Out of a rating of 1 for governments which usually favor well connected firms and individuals and 7 if corruption of this source never occurs, T&T scored 2.3 which suggests massive corruption in the award of contracts! The world knows that this government, led by the Honorable Patrick Manning is corrupt to the core! And they have not even heard of the open pillage of the country’s treasury which the UFF inquiry is revealing!
If you feel sickened now Mr Speaker then perhaps you should not listen to the next one.

When the wastefulness of government spending is assessed, it comes as no surprise, given this level of corruption, that T&T placement was poor. Of the 134 countries surveyed, it was found that only 44 were guilty of more wasteful spending, than this PNM Government. One of the core rationales behind this GCI assessment, is to identify factors which inhibit the economy’s competitiveness so that a nation can take the relevant action in order to ensure the development of its economy and the future prosperity of its citizens by extension. With this in mind, and given all that I have just revealed, it is obvious that this government is a parasite leeching the life force out of this country for the benefit of its friend and family of its friends. In order for T&T to develop and to achieve its true potential, it is imperative that this PNM Government, those Ministers opposite must be removed forthwith. The second index produced by the Global Competitiveness Report looks at the microeconomic factors which determine an economy’s current sustainable levels of productivity and competitiveness and is called the Business Competitiveness Index. This index is premised on the understanding that while a sound and strong economy provides the opportunity for a country to create wealth, it does not in itself create wealth.

Instead it is the quality of the national business environment and the level of productivity with which a nation uses the human, capital, and natural resources available to it, to produce goods and services which in turn creates wealth. When the PNM took over office from the UNC in 2002, the Business Competitiveness Index determined that T&T had the 39th most competitiveness environment. One year later the PNM had taken the ranking to 48th place and by the time of the last General Election in 2007, PNM lack of concern for this country’s business environment had pushed T&T into 74th place. The absence of a solid national business environment does not simply mean that firms would be placed at a disadvantage in the international market place, it also means that new firms will not be inclined to enter the domestic market. The fact that this country has been able to attract substantial direct foreign investment over the past seven years is not discounted. You see, what investment did come here, only did so after the government was forced to offer substantial tax concessions, guaranteed subsidized natural gas and so on. In some cases the government had to spend billions in infrastructural development, before the investors would look past the country’s poor business environment.

Once more, this government failure to develop the national business environment placed this country at a disadvantage and to compensate for it, the Prime Minister and his Minister of Finance has saddled this country with tax and supply obligations for decades into the future. The extent of the obligations which future generations have to meet remains a closely guarded secret by this government, concealed from those who have to fulfill the obligations. In this country, under the PNM, the price of gas is such a state secret that the government refuses to advise how much money we get from gas rents, and at what price the country’s natural gas is to being sold. Once more, when the Honourable Patrick Manning became Prime Minister in 2002, this quality of country’s business environment was ranked at 41st in the world. By 2007, T&T had fallen by a whopping 34 places to 74th.
Mr Speaker, despite knowing the damage the PNM has done this country’s global and business competitiveness, and the quality of the national business environment as well, the 2010 budget does nothing to effect a change. On the contrary, it repeats the same mistakes of the past and so the predictable worsening of the nation’s competitive edge will continue. In light of the foregoing, the recently established National Productivity Council is doomed to fail. It appears more likely that like the Vision 2020 document, the Council is merely a public relations gimmick to give the appearance that the government is doing something. In fact, like with the 2020 document, the government is once more going to squander the good intentions and reputations of those who have agreed to serve on the Productivity Council.

Mr Speaker, when I met last week with the business community representatives they advised that they had again submitted their concerns and proposals to the Minister of Finance so she knows what their constraints are. Every business—small, medium and large —cited the same problems, some of these were:
• Crime—the fear of being kidnapped, robbed or killed
n Difficulty in accessing foreign exchange as banks were rationing US dollars.
• Problems at the port causing delays and additional costs to importers, as the long awaited ASYCUDA computerization appears stillborn
• Higher electricity charges
• Inflation
• Difficulty in accessing labor
• Recently there has also been increased shipping costs
The Minister is aware of these problems, and in yet another budget, she has failed miserably to address them.

Crime
Crime, the most urgent issue occupied the least place in the Minister’s Budget. Mr Speaker what can I say that has not been said to this government about the issue of crime? We, on this side, have done everything we can in an attempt to persuade the Prime Minister to take a serious approach to controlling the spiraling crime scourge that has been terrorising the innocent citizens of T&T. But like Pharaoh, his heart has been hardened—pacemaker and all. We have heard every possible excuse for their failure to deal with crime. I am convinced that crime will never be addressed by this government because they are in bed with the criminals. From the very beginning of this PNM government’s tenure, they proved that they were not inclined to clamp down on the criminal element that was unleashed during the 2001 election campaign against UNC supporters. We saw the PM’s failure to condemn Cro Cro’s repugnant and atrocious composition entitled “Face Reality” which called on criminals to kidnap wealthy business persons. We saw a government. There is a Latin saying “Abyssus abyssum invocat” which means “Hell calls hell.” How appropriate in these circumstances when we have an arrogant and heartless government presiding over the worst reign of terror in the history of this nation. Mr Speaker the policy of this Government in the face of every crisis that they have created and exacerbated has been: excuses, denials, propaganda and passing the blame.

Over the past seven years the Minister of National Security and the Prime Minister have blamed everyone and everything for the spate of crime. They blamed the UNC, they blamed Venezuela, the blamed drugs, the citizenry, television, parenting, gangs, the Commissioner of Police, and so on and so on. They placed the blame everywhere except where it belongs—at the feet of the Minister of National Security and his boss, the Prime Minister. I sat here and cringed when I heard the Minister declare
“We will not waiver from our zero tolerance posture against crime”
What zero tolerance? Mr Speaker? For the past seven years the government has bent over backwards to accommodate the criminal element in this country, elevating them to community leader status, and rewarding them with high paying government contracts and jobs. Mr Speaker over the last seven years we have had Chin Lee, Martin Joseph, Mastrofski, Maguire, Snipes, Jon B.Gould, Steve Henry, Cameron Ross, Hilton Guy, Snaggs, Trevor Paul, James Philbert, Anaconda, Baghdad, Weed and Seed, Policing for people, Strategic Control Seminars, Community policing, police reform legislation, police service transformation, model stations, community leader truce signing, gang suppression, crime suppression unit, anti kidnapping squad, area lockdowns, mobile posts, crime and justice commission, inter agency task force, SAUTT, Scotland Yard, Penn State Justice and Safety Institute, George Mason university, Israelli Radar, Blimps, Eye in the sky, next blimp, high speed interceptors, helicopters, offshore patrol vessels and Fast Patrol boats, cars, jeeps, motor bikes, bicycles, body armor, crowd control training, water cannons, we had crime consultations aplenty, we even had an Orchestra and so many other initiatives…and everyone has failed.

Zero tolerance?
I wonder just who the Honorable Minister of Finance thinks she is fooling. They have been saying that since 2003! T&T is under siege from the criminal element. Despite the multiple assurances from Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, I do not think there is anyone in this country that has not been affected by crime, including members opposite. But Mr Speaker, instead of confronting the problem of crime head on, the Government resorted to public relations, catch phrases and meaningless buzz words.

Corruption
A concerned Abraham Lincoln said:
“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of the country will endeavor to prolong it’s reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.” Those words spoken two hundred years ago resonate with truth now in regard to T&T. Under the PNM, this country is viewed as becoming increasingly corrupt. n The unethical influence of the hand of the Prime Minister in sabotaging the appointment of a Director of Public Prosecutions despite his avowed agreement to do so more than a year ago,
• the failure to appoint a Solicitor General for several years,
• the sabotage of the appointment of a Commissioner of Police by the Police Service Commission so that the Government could have handpicked as their choice a man who had failed the polygraph test,
• The unsubstantiated attack on a sitting Chief Justice based on frivolous charges and the failure to penalize the Chief Magistrate for his part in the process
• The incestuous involvement of this very Minister of Finance in the multibillion dollar CL Financial bailout in which the Minister’s actions were revealed to be at the very least unethical and very likely corrupt, and fact that despite this complicity, the Minister has up to today not been the subject of a criminal investigation.
• The refusal of the government to enact the draft procurement policy
• The failure of Government Ministers to answer questions posed in Parliament
• The repeated failure of any of numerous special purpose companies established by this Government to report to Parliament on the millions expended by them.

All these point to a concerted, deliberate and orchestrated plot by persons occupying very high political office in government to avoid transparency, accountability. It is state sanctioned corruption. The well known corruption perception index, hereafter referred to as the CPI, established by the Transparency International measures the extent of the abuse of public office for private gain and therefore the degree to which businessmen and analysts believe that a country is corrupt. Mr Speaker, for clarification the higher the index, the more corrupt the country’s politicians and public officials are believed to be. In 2001, under a UNC government, the CPI ranked T&T at 31st in the world. When the PNM assumed office in 2002, they met an index ranking of 33. Within one year of the PNM, the perception of corruption skyrocketed dramatically by ten places to 43rd place and it has been rising steadily since, evidencing a public perception, internationally and locally that corruption is becoming endemic under the PNM. The data reveals that in six years of PNM governance from 2002 to 2008, during which time this country had the highest ever income, the prevalence of corruption pushed this countries ranking from 33rd under the UNC to a massive 72nd place in 2008, a leap of 39 places! And this does not take into the revelations of the UFF inquiry which unearthed evidence of massive corruption in the state sector.

The 2009 Corruption Perception Index is due to be released very soon and I have no doubt that once more, this country’s international image will take another beating as PNM corruption pushes this country further down. Mr Speaker, the actions of this government reveal its disdain for the population, and its flippancy in dealing with citizen’s questions about its expenditure of taxpayer’s money. It is as if the Prime Minister and his cohorts believe that the treasury is their personal bank account for which they do not need to account to the people. It belongs to the people of T&T and they have a RIGHT to know what you are doing with it, and they have a right to an input in what you spend it on! Mr Speaker, delivering the 2005 budget Speech in this Honorable House, this is what the Prime Minister said:
“Mr Speaker, my Government is committed to good governance. For us, this means putting systems in place to ensure transparency, accountability, the highest level of efficiency and effectiveness, equity, and adherence to the rule of law.”

Methinks he doth protest too much.
Under the heading “Procurement Reform” the Prime Minister promised this Nation: “….to further ensure transparency, accountability and good governance, this Government is undertaking a fundamental reform of its procurement process. The imperative for reform centres on the need for good governance, public confidence in the integrity of the procurement process, conformity with international best practice, and regional and international developments. Prevailing deficiencies in the legal and regulatory framework, human resource limitations and lack of regulatory oversight, further add to the urgency for a new objective and comprehensive approach to the Government’s acquisition of goods and services.” “Urgency” was the Prime Minister’s description. Then with great fanfare he revealed Green Paper on the Reform of the Government’s Procurement Regime dated June 2004 which was out for public comment and which listed a series of recommendations. With a straight face he told the country: “Implementation of the newprocurement regime is targeted for June 2006.” Mr Speaker, the new procurement regime will signal to the local, regional and international community, this Government’s commitment to a quality of governance that reflects the highest standard of Ethics, Transparency and Accountability in the conduct of the people’s business.”

In 2005, a White Paper on the Reform of the Public Sector Procurement Policy was published, in keeping with the Government’s states intention for a 2006 implementation of the procurement policy. Then, as the price of energy products began to climb to new heights and the potential for corruption loomed large, the Government recognised the limitations which a procurement policy would have on their ability to corruptly award contracts to friends and party hacks, and threw “ethics, transparency and accountability in the conduct of the people’s business” out of the window. As Government Revenues increased by 35 per cent in fiscal 2005 and then again by 37 per cent in fiscal 2006 the enormity of the boom began to sink in and the need for ethics, transparency and accountability no longer mattered to the Prime Minister and his cohorts. And so the reckless expenditure began in a frenzy. Basic human needs were abandoned by the government on the alter of mega projects. Mr Speaker, they have not turned back yet. The recklessness continues in the current budget. And corruption flourished. Frenzied by money, the Patrick Manning regime began ignoring the smaller projects which were desperately needed, and promised and began experimenting in mega construction. Simultaneously, the government began finding ways to avoid procurement issues, began pursuing design, finance, construct, and design build projects and began granting multimillion dollar contracts to international companies with increasing reliance on Asian companies. The Minister of Works and Transport, a former contractor himself, turned his venom against local contractors against whom he used to compete, and a war of words between government and local contractors erupted. But like all things under the PNM, it gets worse.

The nation realized that despite the increased revenues, their basic human needs were not being met and the questioning began. Schools in remote areas like Paramin, Rosehill, Point Cumana and Belmont, hospitals, access roads, drainage etc all were sacrificed to the Prime Ministers desire for tall buildings. The “people’s business” was forgotten. Mr Speaker, You will recall too, the Prime Minister ostentatious fantasies blossomed into a fetish for private jet rides and his attempt to join the ranks of the rich sheiks and powerful Presidents of the world when a multimillion dollar down payment was made to purchase a private jet. That was never announced by the Prime Minister. It was revealed by investigative reporting when the country had to find out after the supplier made the disclosure. Recently we had another similar disclosure of the government’s down payment for the purchase of four special purpose helicopters. As before, this Government does not see the need to tell this country when it committing billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money. Mr Speaker, when public pressure forced the government to reconsider the purchase of the private jet, the Minister of Nothing Works claimed that the supplier did not want to sign an anti corruption clause, conveniently ignoring the fact that the government had already made a down payment of several million dollars to the supplier.

Minister Colm Imbert said then:
“We are insisting on the insertion of a standard anti-corruption clause in the contract where if it is discovered that any person had somehow benefitted from this transaction the contract will be void and the seller will have to refund the money.” http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,74516.html
“A standard anti corruption clause,” the Minister said. Mr Speaker today I challenge this Government, I challenge Minister Imbert to provide copies of every contract issued by this government, and by agencies of this government above ten million dollars since 2006. Show me the anti corruption clause in the $368 contract awarded by UDeCOTT to an unqualified company CH Development and Construction Limited and in circumstances which have been revealed to be corrupt. The Honorable Minister needs to explain to this country what measures were taken by UDeCOTT to ensure that there was no corruption in the award of the tender, and now that it has been found that the contract was improperly awarded, what measures is the government going to take to effect the retrieval of the monies paid. Show me the multimillion dollar contract awarded by UDeCOTT to Turner Alpha Limited for a project without the company having been evaluated as was required! What has been done to deal with that?
And I can go on and on.

Recommendations
Mr Speaker, this Government has pushed this country down the slippery slope. There is much that needs to be done to pull us back. In the few minutes I have left, I wish to offer some suggestions for the way forward. I am certain that as my colleagues present their various portfolios these and other recommendations will be offered in light of the Government’s obvious inability intellectual bankruptcy.

Crime
1. Legalise SAUTT—SAUTT remains the country’s premier technology driven crime fighting tool and much money was spent to establish and equip it. Yet the government has not seen it fit to enact legislation to legalize the operations of SAUTT despite multiple assurances over the past two years that the legislation was coming soon.
2. More Judges and Magistrates and support Staff—the Law association told us that we could not deal with the massive backload of cases unless there was greater numbers of judicial officers to deal with them. This will also expedite cases and prevent justice from being delayed—and the problem of repeat offenders making bail and committing more crimes while awaiting trial—not to mention the cost to the taxpayer of keeping persons awaiting trial, in jail.
3. Computerise police, court, licensing division—so that police officers in vehicles can have access to criminal records, warrants etc at the touch of a button— perhaps with laptops in police cars as exists in the US (Dade County, Miami)
4. Establish a victim’s counseling Unit
5. Establish a Central Vigilence Authority Development of a Central Vigilance Authority to receive complaints, investigate and report to the parliament
6. Establish a Gun Court for dealing with all firearms related matters
7. Implement the breathalyzer law
8. Increase the compensation for victims of crime from the current limit of 25,000 to 250,000
9. Introduce technology to speed traps—speed guns, traffic light cameras
10. Ensure existing CC cameras operating and include business centres on EW corridor—not only highway.
11. More policemen. There are currently 1250 shortfall in the compliment of 7500 officers established many years ago. There is therefore need for increased appointment of police officers, with better screening of applicants and better terms and conditions.
12. Provide adequate funding for the EOC
13. Establish a proper witness protection programme
14. Appoint a DPP and Sol. Gen.,

Labour
1. Increase minimum wage to $15-$20—a living wage
2. Increase old age grant to 3000 and index to inflation
3. Increase payments—disability grants etc.
4. Increase enforcement of OSHA including foreign contractors and workers
5. Ensure compliance (even playing field) with minimum wages, terms and conditions of employment.
6. Employ CEPEP in more productive endeavors including the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
7. Increase allowance for approved deferred annuity
8. Increase the limit on pensions to $5,000 to allow pensioners to access the old age grant and NIS pension.

Works and Transport
1. Reprioritise projects on a need basis, and particularly putting a stop to new projects which have been assigned to foreign contractors.
2. Demand cost benefit analyses which must justify for every new project to be started.
3. Stop the rapid rail project until a feasibility study can prove its value.
4. Investigate with intent on pursue criminal charges based on the current revelations of the UFF commission. There is no reason to wait until the commission submits the report as the information and allegations are already in the public domain. The DPP assistant should act now.
5. A comprehensive bridge assessment and maintenance programme is required.
6. A logical approach to road repair—the highway between Betham and the overpass is being paved again for the umpteen time in the last five years bit many roads in this country are in complete disrepair causing protests by residents.
7. A comprehensive drainage plan is required to address flooding and to take into account existing and proposed development.
8. True attempt to introduce CNG stations and facilities.

The economy
1. There is need to stimulate the economy. The best way to do this is to stimulate local industry including the construction and manufacturing sectors. This necessitates local contractors to be employed - the importance if internal circulation of the investment as opposed to external migration of the resources assigned to stimulate the economy.
2. EXIM bank / ADB– increase allocation and reorient to facilitate easier and less expensive access to funding for local exporters and for importers with heavy local content.
3. Direct tax concession to investment in agriculture to stimulate greater private sector involvement
4. 24/7 operations of the port, and the establishment of Pt Lisas as a fully operational port.
5. Listing of profitable state enterprises on the stock exchange as a way of increasing the range of equity available
6. Balance the budget by reducing projects which are not critically necessary at this time.
7. Reduce the Non energy Deficit

Health
1. Point Fortin hospital
2. Chaguanas Hospital
3. Couva health facility to be upgraded given the development level of Pt Lisas.

Agriculture and
the Environment
1. Embark on a proper land distribution scheme to genuine farmers
2. Stop using agricultural lands for housing
3. Stop the smelter project and convert to more environmentally sound projects including light manufacture and agriculture in the area already graded.
4. Tax incentive for environmentally friendly projects and investments
5. Promotion of recycling as a major business with concessions.
6. Release for public examination, the National Transportation Plan which has been completed since 2007
7. Introduce a Praedial Larceny Squad within the police service
8. Link the programme of the alleviation of flooding with the plan to irrigation for farming.

Let the People Decide

Sep 01, 2009

 

Guyana , T&T Similarity from Ronald Persaud

Aug 22, 2009

" Guyana, T&T similarity?

IN 1962, a member ofthe Constitution Commission for Independence described Guyana (formerly British Guyana) as being more advanced than Singapore and most of the West Indian islands politically, economically and socially. Also its education standards and achievements were the best in the 1950s and 1960s. But then came LFS Burnham who by various manipulations achieved majority in Parliament, but not a two-thirds majority to change the Constitution. He then got Parliament by a single majority to pass a Bill allowing a referendum for a new constitution. This being achieved he then manipulated it in his favour and then proclaimed a new constitution with the position of executive president. This executive president constitution was a prescription for a dictatorship. He appointed his wife as minister of Education and took over all the denominational schools, with rapid decline in educational standards.

He used the windfall in sugar in 1974 to fund roads and houses for his supporters and wilfully suppressed the rice and sugar industries because they were supportive of the opposition. He used compulsory acquisition of properties of those who opposed him or migrated. He controlled police, civil service, administration of justice and all senior appointments. Appointments were then done by putting party "hacks" to fill positions whether they were capable or
qualified, ie, "square pegs in round holes" that resulted in serious declines in all sectors. He refused to live in the State House Official Residence, but took over the Visitor's Showpiece of Georgetown,ie the Gardens, then an architectural relic, and refurbished it at great cost for personal use. He moved into Parliament Building and used most of it for his private office. He also had a psychic as his unofficial adviser. He made sure his ministers and senior appointees were all submissive to him.

Citizens, Do you see a similarity here in Trinidad &Tobago?

So beware!You have been warned!

RONALD PERSAUD
Self-imposed exile"

Murders unlimited

Jun 15, 2009

A staggering 8 murders in 24 hours in Trinidad and Tobago.

Rising Crime

Jun 05, 2009

At the Post Cabinet media briefing of Thursday 22nd January 2009, Minister of National Security Martin Joseph gave the national community the assurance that the "totally unacceptable record number of homicides which occurred in 2008 would not be repeated this year". He was no doubt echoing the sentiment of the Cabinet chaired by the Chairman of the National Security Council who is also the Prime Minister.

 

There are of course many ways of interpreting what the Minister meant on 22nd January. By "totally unacceptable", he could have meant that the figure was either too high or too low and by saying "the figure would not be repeated this year", he could simply have been saying that the figure would be different (higher or lower it would not matter). 

 

One thing I have learnt in law and politics is that one should never take the spoken or written word at face value, especially from Members of Parliament. Words and their meanings should always be analysed. 

 

Having said that, I would not have been surprised if most, if not all of Trinidad and Tobago had adopted the interpretation that crime levels were too high and that the Minister would do all that he could to bring it down. That in my view would have been a very reasonable interpretation to make. However, faced with the reality of today one would no doubt now have to question the validity of that interpretation.

 

To 4th June 2009, there have been thirty (30) more homicides than there were in 2008 yet the Minister and his boss seem very comfortable in their positions. They treat each other as people who are succeeding and accomplishing not only their agenda but the entire Cabinet's agenda as well.

 

Surely, if the goal was to reduce the levels of crime in Trinidad and Tobago, the Minister and his boss, after the first five months of 2009, would have received clear F- grades for their efforts or lack thereof and should have been asked to resign. If ever conflict of interest was a legitimate reason to resign from the Cabinet, it is the clear conflict of interest between these people’s capabilities to reduce crime and the national outcry for a safer nation.

 

Garvin Nicholas

The Magistracy

May 29, 2009

I am truly amazed and in some ways saddened by the reaction of certain segments of the society to Justice John's comments on the issue of extraordinary sentencing and strange decision making practices by some magistrates as if to suggest that Justice John is in the wrong. As someone interested in equal justice for all, I cannot stay silent on this issue, even if speaking out against the status quo means acting to my detriment.

The matters specifically cited by Justice John were truly appalling.

In one instance a sentence of three years in jail was handed down to a 21 year old first time offender who pleaded guilty to the possession of 35 grammes of marijuana. The Court of Appeal substituted this sentence with a fine of $500 or seven days in jail. Imagine passing a sentence of 36 months in jail with hard labour when a fine of $500 would be more appropriate in the circumstances.

In another instance, a sentence of 12 months in jail with hard labour and disqualification of him from having a driver’s permit for three years was handed down to someone who had pleaded guilty to driving without a permit and insurance on May 12, 2008. The Court of Appeal substituted that sentence with a fine of $500 for not producing a driver’s permit, and $2,000 for not having insurance. The man was also disqualified from holding a driver’s permit for one year.

The disparities in sentences are extremely significant, especially in light of the untold damage that takes place in our nation’s prisons.

On the one hand two people's lives could have been completely ruined. The frustration brought about could have very possibly led to a downward spiral into lives of crime as with so many others. On the other hand, these men now have the opportunity to hopefully learn from their experience and continue their positive development.

The segments of the society that have come out against Justice John's comments seem to ignore this very significant fact.

I must say without hesitation that there are very good magistrates in the system, recently I was before a magistrate who went out of his way to ensure that the truth was found and that justice was done in circumstances where the police officer was lying to the court and it would have been easy to dismiss the claims of the defendant. Unfortunately, there are those magistrates who operate like tin gods and treat human life as some kind of disposable commodity which has in my view contributed in no small way to the frustration felt by the disenfranchised in the society and this must be addressed and corrected.

To pretend that we are without fault is the one sure way of ensuring that we will continue to be faulty.

Justice John's observations were spot on. Harsh, but spot on and I hope that those learned and respected institutions that have come out in condemnation of his comments will reflect on the reality and do what they can to correct it.

Justice must be done and seen to be done for the poor as well as the wealthy and powerful.

Garvin Nicholas

Sentencing Guidelines Needed

May 27, 2009

There is an urgent need for the introduction of Sentencing Guidelines for the Magistrates' Courts of Trinidad and Tobago.

Sentencing Guidelines would set out clearly the sanctions or range of sanctions that every offender can expect for his particular crime and circumstances whether for guilty pleas or findings of guilt after full trial.

Such guidelines would give the Magistrates' Courts, where some 90% of all matters are determined, a level of certainty not now enjoyed. Guidelines would also give attorneys the ability to more accurately advise their clients as to possible outcomes and may even encourage a culture of pleading guilty where there is a clear discount for not wasting the Courts' time.

Whilst there are many sober minded Magistrates presiding in the Magistrates' Courts, there are still too many instances of arbitrary sentencing being handed down to offenders that bring a feeling of uncertainty and discrimination to the nation's Courts.

In recent Court of Appeal judgements reported in the media, "Justice Stanley John strongly criticised Tunapuna magistrates Anna Ryan and Jo-Anne Connor for handing down excessive and unsafe convictions and sentences and told them to resign as he felt they did not understand the country’s laws."

"Justice John found the decisions of Ryan in the cases of Andy Caffie and Nandram Gosain for minor offences to be excessive and he varied their sentences. Caffie was on a marijuana possession charge while Gosain was in court for a traffic offence."

"John also overturned the conviction of Shawn Duncan on a drug possession charge, a case which Connor presided over."

Sentencing Guidelines would significantly reduce these instances from occurring in the future. Time lost by unfair sentencing can never be recovered.

Maraval Meeting

May 13, 2009

 

Garvin Edward T. Nicholas

Speech at Adam’s Bagels

12^th May 2009

Good evening - Diego Martin North East, Diego Martin Central, Diego Martin West, Trinidad and Tobago.

A special good evening to my colleagues at the head table and to the members of the press here to cover this meeting.

I am here this evening not to wallow in the morass that we find ourselves in as a nation today, but, to offer an alternative to the constitutional crisis we find ourselves in and to RE-ASSURE you that all is not lost.

I know, that when we look around, and we see this government giving away our patrimony via the untouchable Hart of Udecott; when we read of the almost 200 murders committed for the year to date (representing somebody’s daughter, son, mother, sister, brother or father); when we witness the failed billion dollar summit and a mamaguy signing ceremony; a Prime Minister who rules not for his people but by his ego and for his small clique of friends whilst seeking more power to control the lives and institutions of all he surveys; the crumbling institutions of the State; Ministers without moral fibre governing over our finances propped up by this Prime Minister; a tainted police service out of control; the degradation and threatened total destruction of our once treasured environment; and a government and a large segment of a nation driven by victimization, greed, racism, selfishness, hypocrisy, corruption and inhumanity …. I know it may be difficult to be HOPEFUL.

It may also be difficult to be HOPEFUL when your government after earning the most money in history, also borrows the most money in history.

Especially, when the borrowing is NOT to build schools, hospitals or playgrounds BUT to build a chemical plant we don’t want, on a site we want to preserve. When, the contract to build it is given to the country lending the money and we are mandated that the key labour comes from that country. When, we sell natural gas to the owners of the plant at a loss to us and on top of that we give them tax exemption for about 20 years whilst repaying the loan with interest using tax payers’ money.

It may be even more difficult to be HOPEFUL when we reflect on what has happened over the last week with the integrity commission and the behaviour of the President. Who, has in my view discredited not only the nation’s highest office, but also the University of the West Indies. By, allegedly mis-leading Justice Hosein, by allegedly brushing off the plagiarism confessions of Fr. Henry Charles, by appointing Mr. McFarlane who was ineligible to serve not only legally but morally in my view, and by maintaining a position of silence on these issues almost a week since the first resignation.

If the claims of Fr. Charles are accurate, then President Max Richards has dismissed plagiarism as something that “happens” among academics. This is particularly disturbing. After all, this President is a former UWI Principal.

Then there is the moral question. How could Mr. McFarlane have ever been considered as a candidate, when he is such a close associate of one of the most controversial figures when it comes to matters of integrity in Trinidad and Tobago?

And to top it off the President shows continued contempt for the nation by refusing to comment on this national debacle.

I must tell you that I am not surprised, given the recent behaviour of the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister.

BUT I BELIEVE WE CAN STILL BE HOPEFUL, WE MUST!

WE CAN because faced with all that I have described, WE still have the power to change the direction in which our society goes.

 

 “I believe however that we need to dream a great dream.”

Governance

In have started this dream and it, I see a Head of State that is none partisan, elected not by a simple majority in the Parliament BUT by a special majority, ensuring that he or she has the mandate to serve not the Prime Minister’s interest BUT the interest of the people.

I see, a Prime Minister with less power NOT more …. and in turn I see the people rising.

I see a Prime Minister limited to two terms of service. Elected by a process of proportional representation so as to make the vote of each individual really count.

Where members of Parliament are subjected to the power of recall when they play the fool.

I see the Chief Justice, the Commissioner of Police, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Solicitor General, and all Commissions and Commissioners being elected by special Parliamentary majorities after being scrutinized by the Parliament …. so as to de-politicize these offices and restore public confidence in them.

In this dream, there are stronger parliamentary institutions monitoring the workings of government and preventing the comedy show that we are subjected to on a weekly basis. 

Local Government

I see a strong local government brought about by genuine decentralization and devolution of power.

Where CEPEP, URP and the special purpose companies which have been set up to subvert tendering procedures and emasculate local government by politicizing labour are closed down AND INSTEAD I see local government  taking control of the cities, boroughs and regions they serve, ensuring the prompt and efficient delivery of services to the people they serve, by a large cadre of people with permanent jobs who are entitled to humane benefits that include vacation, maternity and pensions.

I see the decentralization of services that provide meaningful jobs to people in every city, borough and region where there is no longer any need to converge unto the cities every morning with the accompanying traffic problems.

I see the billions planned for the racket rail diverted to local government to enable it to provide the necessary infrastructure to communities by allowing it to issue substantial development contracts to community based companies and so spreading the wealth from the ground up.

I see local government being able to provide proper recreational facilities in every city, borough and region. And, complementing this development by providing organized sporting programmes to develop and harness the talents and abilities of our children.

I see a re-building of our communities where our children are protected and provided with a safe environment to enjoy their childhood.

Most of all, I us winning the battle over the gang culture that now threatens the lives of our children.

Education

More than 2 years ago, the government promised to provide 80 new pre-schools per year to ensure that there would have been 400 new pre-schools by 2012. To date just a fraction of the quota for 1 year has been fulfilled.

This is so even though many studies have shown that exposure to pre-school education puts children at an advantage. And, maintaining the status quo, ensures that the poor will always have a steeper hill to climb.

In this dream of a decentralized existence, I see high quality pre-schools, primary and secondary schools available to every child in every nook and cranny throughout Trinidad and Tobago.

This is to ensure real equality of opportunity.

I see the children in our nation enjoying their childhood once again.

I see children able to go to school and recreate where they live, not being forced to endure hours of traffic on a daily basis.

Healthcare

In my dream our healthcare system is people oriented and community based built around local healthcare professionals who are well trained and well respected.

The vulnerable have timely access to drugs that work.

Patients have beds and linens to lay down on.

And, importantly, leaders are so confident in the health system that they receive their personal healthcare right here instead of having to go abroad to a nation starved by 50 years of embargo to get superior healthcare. 

Judicial System and Magistracy

I see a nation no longer gripped by fear, because the crime issue has been addressed by a competent Minister of National Security; proper policing; the widespread use of forensic science and the crack down on the illegal drug trade.

I also see a judicial system that functions in the interest of justice and the people it is meant to serve.

Where trials are speedily dealt with, where preliminary inquiries are removed as a waste of time and money, where matters in the Magistrates’ Court are prosecuted by qualified attorneys, where clear sentencing guidelines are set out for certainty in the system.

And, we surely we must all see a prison system where the focus is not only on punishment, but on rehabilitation. To ensure that when people have served their sentence they can re-enter society and contribute positively INSTEAD of guaranteeing repeat offenders because of the further criminalization of citizens who have done some wrong.

The Environment

Human beings in Trinidad and Tobago have average life spans of 70-75 years, some happily live much longer, but whatever the life span granted to us, we owe a duty to those who come after us. It is our sacred duty to use only what we need and to protect the rest for the generations that will follow.

Instead, many of us have become very greedy and very selfish. We destroy the environment that has taken hundreds of thousands of years to develop, an environment that provides us with fresh water, nourishing provision, fresh fish and fresh air to breathe, to make a quick buck for a few of this generation without thought for who comes next.

It is time we govern not just for today but for tomorrow as well.

The Philosophy

There is much more to this dream and we will continue it on another occasion.

Already, some may say that the dream is too great, to complex, to difficult to achieve.

As someone before me has said, (and I do not want to be accused of plagiarism) …. “Before your dreams can come through, you must first have a dream.”

This government tries to fill us all with apathy, they want us to stop dreaming, to stop believing in a better society.

BUT my philosophy is different. I encourage you to dream lofty dreams, for (as someone else has said) “As you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.”

It is important to NOTE that for any dream to be realized we need to work at it.

We need to have the courage to set the example.

Change does not come about by words alone but by deeds.

We cannot therefore preach democracy and cuss people for the choices they make when we don’t agree with them.

We cannot preach harmony and then find all kinds of reasons to discriminate against others.

We cannot preach integrity and choose corruption when it suits us, or when no one is looking.

To embrace change, we too must change.

Let our actions be our words.

Let us show respect to gain it.

Let us show trust so that we can be trusted.

Let us show love so that we can be deserving of governance, now more than ever we need to be nurturers ….

This nation is consumed by the politics of hate …. that, needs to reversed.

If you love the other guys and their parties …. Continue to love them …. I Just ask that love yourself and your children more.

I don’t hate my political opponents, I dislike their policies and the effect these policies have on ordinary citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.

If you share the dream articulated here this evening …. I encourage you to go share it with all that you meet.

Let the dream become infectious so that it consumes all of Trinidad and Tobago …. and, remember that the things that bind us together, are far greater than those that pull us apart.

Good night.

President Max Richards must resign now

May 07, 2009

 

We reach

Apr 28, 2009

Schoolboy murdered

Ruby Baptiste, 76, spoke excitedly about the birthday party she was planning for her 12-year-old great-grandson, Adrian Richards. But as she sat on a chair in the waiting room of the Forensic Science Centre in St James awaiting autopsy results yesterday, Baptiste’s smile faded, her voice cracking as she made funeral arrangements. Police believe a “hit” was placed on Richards because he accidentally burnt the hair of a sister of a Laventille gang member.

Richards, who would have turned 13 on Thursday, was shot at least 15 times as he made his way to his home at Williams Street, Laventille, around 9 pm Sunday, Baptiste said, but police said Richards was shot five times. The boy, fondly referred to as Drummer Boy in his community because of his love for playing drums, was ambushed by a gunman who waited on a wall close to his home.

Besson Street Police said they had intensified their search for a 32-year-old suspect. Investigators have ruled out the possibility of Richards being involved in a gang. They said Adrian, who was with a friend at the time of the incident, ran into a nearby house seeking refuge. But as Adrian stumbled and fell on a couch, the gunman sprayed bullets into his trembling body.

Hunt for gang member

Richards, who attended the Morvant/Laventille Secondary School accidentally burnt a girl’s hair while at school, according to his great-grand mother. “His mother went to the school and Adrian admitted it was a mistake and he was sorry. “He said he found a cigarette lighter and told his friends, ‘Look and see what I will do with her,’” Baptiste said.

But instead of accepting the apology the girl made death threats. “She said she was going to send her brother to ‘do for him,’” Baptiste said. Describing her great-grand son as childish, Baptiste said Richards was “just playing” with the lighter. “He meant no harm. He found the lighter on the school’s premises and he decided to flick it to see if it would light,” Baptiste said.

But there was also another person who may have wanted Richards dead. Baptiste claimed a 17-year-old boy in the neighbourhood was constantly harassing Richards and threatened to “do for him”. “We reach the point where we were trying to get Adrian out of the school because the boy pay somebody in the school to beat up Adrian. “We went to the police, we went to the community police but nothing was done,” Baptiste claimed.

Safe in the Lord

Richards, a member of the drumming group Mawasi Experience, was killed after spending his final moments at a Penal church. This has brought comfort to Baptiste who was convinced her great-grandson was “safe in the Lord.” She said, “Adrian died in the Lord and that comforts me.

It’s very painful, but I am glad he got a chance to be in the Lord’s house before he was murdered.” On Thursday, there were plans for sharing cake and good food with family, friends and neighbours. But that celebration will now be replaced with a funeral, Baptiste said.

The Cost of the Summit

Mar 30, 2009

Condolences

Mar 21, 2009

No plan for Tourism

Feb 27, 2009

Having watched and listened to the Tourism Minister, the Hon. Mr. Ross, on the CNC3 morning programme this morning, I can safely say that tourism is without a plan.

 

Minister Ross has failed at the starting point. He has no idea what the value of Carnival is to the economy of Trinidad and Tobago (hotels, travel, taxi drivers, vendors, mass bands, etc.). As Minister of Tourism for over a year, the Minister should be in a position to tell the nation what the value of the biggest tourism event in Trinidad and Tobago is. How else can it be evaluated as viable or not? How else can he assess if it requires development or not? Maybe it is a drain on national resources, who knows?

 

As energy revenues become less reliable, tourism must be viewed as a sector for serious and sustainable development. The Minister stated that in addition to Carnival, the government is looking at conference tourism, eco tourism and cultural tourism as areas for development.

 

The Prime Minister stated in Parliament recently that the investment in "Summit Hosting" will yield increases in conference tourism. I am certain that the Tourism Minister cannot say what the value of conference tourism is at present and therefore what the projected increase is to be. Everything seems a bit willy nilly. What we do know is that we are spending over $500 million to market this new sector of conference tourism in addition to the billions that were spent on facilities. Interestingly the main benefactor to conference tourism is likely to be the Hyatt International, an organisation not owned by citizens of Trinidad and Tobago but already the beneficiary of a sweetheart management deal courtesy Udecott.

 

The Minister may not even be able to tell us how much we are spending to market Carnival (from his interview it would seem to be almost nothing) and he definitely cannot tell us what the projected increase in benefit is likely to be because he cannot now quantify or know what the present benefit is.    

 

Cultural tourism is another non-starter. Calypso is not being sustained in any significant way nor are any of the other diverse cultural expressions of this nation.

 

It can hardly be seen how cruise ship tourism can continue to be viable when the most visible tourism sights are the vagrants, the filth on the POS streets and the national crime rate.

 

The time has come for us to get serious and for the Minister to develop a proper plan for tourism before his next interview on television.

Martin must surely go now

Feb 20, 2009

There can no longer be any justification for Senator Martin Joseph to continue in his role as National Security Minister. He must go now!

 

At the beginning of 2009, Minister Joseph stated with emphatic authority that 2009 will see a significant decrease in the murder rate. On Thursday 19th February, it was revealed that there have been 90 murders for the year to date, 35 more than the same period in record breaking 2008 and 52 more than the same period in 2007. This is a drastic year on year increase of over 60%. At the present rate we could expect a final murder figure for 2009 in the vicinity of 875.    

 

The Minister is now saying that he has no confidence in the Police Service and is calling on citizens to help. Does he expect people to take up arms and become vigilantes as some businessmen are doing? Does he not understand the fear that grips citizens today?

 

After spending many billions over the last 5 years for which he has been the National Security Minister, he now reveals that drugs and guns are flowing into Trinidad and Tobago at an unprecedented rate.

 

The MND has to ask, “What has the Minister really been doing over the last 5 years?” 

 

Under his stewardship this nation has descended far and fast into a haven for criminal elements and we as citizens have witnessed unprecedented insecurity. Murders are as regular as bowel movements rich in fibre and drugs and guns flow through in a similarly uninhibited manner.

 

Neither the use of the nation's radar system that is able to detect the coming and going of all vessels nor the blimp nor the helicopters that patrol the sky nor any of the other highly sophisticated equipment that is available for crime fighting including monitoring citizens' phone calls and emails, seem to be enough for this Minister and his team.

 

The Minister comes back to the mantra of fast boats and gun ships as the answer. This is no more than a promise of delayed gratification and the justification for wild spending for a nation needing security now.

 

Dealing with the problem becomes more difficult everyday it is not dealt with properly BUT it is not insurmountable at this time.

 

The nation cannot afford the continued incompetence of this Minister, we need action now!

Patrick Manning is a very successful Prime Minister

Feb 08, 2009

When many citizens look around at the sky rocketing murder rate; the high level of inflation; the wastage of resources on non-priority projects; the corruption allegations at Udecott; the misuse of the Integrity Commission; the misuse of forensic accountants for witch hunts; the lack of monitoring of financial institutions by the Central Bank until it is too late and very expensive to bail out; the perceived inequitable treatment of citizens by the government; the collapse of almost every public national institution; the failing police service bedevilled by consistent allegations of corruption; the deterioration of the national infrastructure; the filth on the nation’s main streets; the high level of homelessness and vagrancy; the crumbling health-care, the unavailability of basic drugs for the sick and aged at health institutions; the deteriorating education system; the horrendous traffic situation; the flooding that occurs every time a rain drop falls; the obvious breakdown of the family structure due to societal pressures; the lack of effective social services; the inefficient water supply; the expensive electricity supply; the destruction of the environment; the destruction of the farming industry; the carnage on the roads; the lack of community facilities for the nation's youth; and, the systematic destruction of our culture…..one might be tempted to say that the Prime Minister and his administration are an unmitigated disaster and should be removed post haste.

 

BUT, to judge Prime Minister Manning’s performance by our own expectations, is to miss the point completely. We assume that this Prime Minister shares our aims and objectives for this country. We assume he is interested in providing security, public services or accountability to the people of Trinidad and Tobago, and as such we use these outcomes as the yardstick by which he is judged to have performed.

INSTEAD, we need to understand that this Prime Minister is more interested in the control of every agency of the State. He is intent on becoming the supreme leader of Trinidad and Tobago by way of constitutional reform. He is interested in being not just Father of the Nation but Father of the Caribbean, and it does not matter what kind of father either. He is content to be like the many fathers right here in Trinidad and Tobago who have abandoned their children or who beat their children into submission when challenged.

This Prime Minister is interested in providing opportunities for his elite band of friends to become billionaires even if that is facilitated by breaking all the rules set up for accountability and good governance or by facilitating the growth and development of foreign construction firms and consultants to the detriment of the local construction industry.

He strives to be the master of deception and secrecy.

In order to measure the success of someone, we must measure their goals against their achievements. In the case of this Prime Minister, he is succeeding on every front, he has even managed to cause to be erected, a multi-billion dollar hotel and conference centre and convince the population that it belongs to them even as 99% of the population cannot even afford to buy lunch there and the income from the project is managed by a man who appears to be a law unto himself.

If our goals and expectations are different from those of this Prime Minister, then it is we who have failed. We as a nation have failed because by voting in Prime Minister Manning we could never achieve our goals for our nation. We have consistently given him the opportunity to fulfil the empty promises he makes year after year and for us to continue to fall for the broken promise rhetoric reflects badly not on him but on us. We need to understand that we are in a bad relationship with Mr. Manning and his administration and the only way to sanity is to get out of this relationship. It is only then will we be able to move on as a nation. Prime Minister Patrick Manning is not going to change. Tobago came close to showing that it understands.

We have a responsibility to our nation and too ourselves to show that we are not a bunch of mad people. Insanity is after-all described as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

The week in review

Jan 25, 2009

An Executive President with too much power

Jan 10, 2009

I would very much like to take up the invitation by the Honourable Prime Minister to air my views on the proposed constitution. However on my visit to the website of the Office of the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, though I could find an up to date source of government information inclusive of a “Statement by the Prime Minister on the laying in Parliament of a Working Document on the Reform of the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago”, on 9th January 2009, I could not find an up to date draft of the proposed constitution. Instead, I had to be content with the draft laid in the House of Representatives on 18^th August 2006. As such, I will have to wait until I am able to peruse the entire up to date draft before making conclusive observations. In the interim, I will depend on the political journalist to inform me and will therefore limit my observations to the direct powers of the President.

 

What is being proposed is an Executive President. I say this because (s.41 (3)) of the draft laid in Parliament in 2006 clearly states that “the executive authority of Trinidad and Tobago shall be vested in the President” and there is little doubt that that has remained unchanged in the up to date draft.

 

The fact that the Executive President will be able to appoint 30 out of 37 Senators gives him absolute control of the Upper House. Independent Senators will become an historic creature. They are almost extinct in the present system. Since the President is elected by members of the Lower House, it stands to reason that he will have at least majority control of the Lower House also. In any event, the Executive Branch of government will be virtually unaccountable to either House of Parliament. In the present system Ministers are required to answer to Parliament by the mechanism of ‘questions to Ministers’, but this is largely ignored, and at present Ministers are members of the Parliament. In the new system, the significant majority of the Cabinet (17 out of 25) will be unelected and accountable only to the Executive President.

 

In addition, because Permanent Secretaries will be hired on contract they will be like Junior Ministers having to carry out the commands of their seniors without much debate and because the President will be able to veto any such appointment, the Permanent Secretaries will be beholden to one person, the President.

 

The President will also be able to select anyone at his whim to be his Vice President and he will appoint all tribunals. The fact that he will consult the Leader of the Opposition may in my view just give them an opportunity to have tea. 

 

Unlike a US President who has to get approvals from the independently elected Senate and Congress, the Executive President will have unfettered power. He will therefore be able to appoint almost every significant office in Trinidad and Tobago without any difficulty or opposition. He will be able to do whatever he pleases in Trinidad and Tobago except the one most needed, to raise the dead.

 

It has always been my belief that the Prime Minister and head of the Executive Branch of government should have his powers curtailed. There needs to be a greater devolution of power and resources to communities and people. This constitution goes in the opposite direction and further strips citizens of their power to challenge their leaders' decisions. This is may well be the last straw towards the complete erosion of our democracy and it must not be allowed to pass.

Penalised for thrift

Jan 07, 2009

When all is said and done, the recent pension/old age grant glitch untruth/debacle has once again highlighted that many senior citizens are penalized for thrift and saving.

 

The reality is that if you have never worked in an environment that allowed you to contribute to a pension or NIS, or you were unable to save, you are entitled to a $1950.00 grant. But if you worked hard all your life and paid your NIS contributions religiously so that you now receive $1000.00 from your NIS savings, you are only entitled to a $1800.00 grant which decreases by every dollar earned elsewhere over the $1000.00. This is absurd, citizens should be actively encouraged to provide for their retirement not penalised for doing so.

 

The fact that the government has chosen to call the pension a grant is to give the impression that senior citizens are being given a handout at the discretion of their masters. This too is absurd, most, if not all senior citizens have contributed in one way or another to the growth and development of this nation. As citizens we are all entitled to benefit from the resources that exist here naturally and civility dictates that our senior citizens are looked after.

 

NIS pensions should not be classed as income to measure the level of grant to be received, nor should benefits from any other contributory pension for that matter. People who opt to contribute to pensions have denied themselves income during their working years so that they would be able to enjoy retirement and not be a burden to the State or their relatives during those years.

 

It is also noted that citizens who managed to put aside some savings during their working years are denied access to these grants. This is yet another example of citizens being penalised for doing the right thing.

 

A national pension should be available to every citizen as of right. Imagine you could serve two terms as an unproductive, sometimes dishonest Member of Parliament and qualify for massive State pension benefits as a result, yet citizens who spend their entire years doing the right thing are denied the much smaller benefits. Where is the justice in that?

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Jan 01, 2009

ANOTHER LOOK AT THE CRIME STATISTICS

Jan 01, 2009

 

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police Gilbert Reyes, there were 545 homicides reported in 2008 and out of that figure, 365 were gang related. Two things immediately stand out. The first is that 180 murders in 2008 were not gang related and therefore "innocent" and second there was on average a gang related murder everyday of 2008, which means some poor young man living on the fringe of society.

 

These statistics fall short of actual figure of how many people were murdered in 2008. Even though 545 were recorded as homicides, up from approximately 392 in 2007 an increase of 153, there are still some 77 missing people unaccounted for, many of whom could be homicides and so the figure could rise to 600 easily.

 

In reality therefore, the actual homicide figure for 2008 is more likely to increase significantly.

 

In comparison, the Trinidad and Tobago homicide rate in the year 2000 was recorded as 10 per 100,000[1]. In 2001, it rose to 12.58 and continued as follows: 2002 – 14.33, 2003 – 20.69, 2004 – 20.07, 2005 – 29.69, 2006 – 28.53, 2007 – 30.38, and 2008 - 42.24.

 

To put 42.24 into perspective, the murder rate per 100,000 of Sierra Leone in 2002 was 50, in Columbia in 2007 was 37, in Venezuela in 2007 was 48, in Mexico in 2006 was 25, in Russia in 2006 was 16.5 and in Iraq in 2007 was 89.

 

Whereas in 2006, the homicide rates in the USA was 5.7, in Canada was 1.85, and in the UK was 1.37.

 

Incidentally, in 2000 South Africa’s homicide rate peaked at 49.6 and fell to 38.6 in 2007, in 2002 Columbia’s homicide rate peaked at 65.8 and fell to 37 in 2007, even Iraq’s homicide rate is falling. In fact, most of the major international crime hot-spots including Russia and Jamaica are showing decreases in homicide rates except Trinidad and Tobago.  

 

When the analysis is completed the definitive conclusion will be that the crime problem in Trinidad and Tobago continues to get much worse year after year despite the words of comfort from the top honchos in the government and the protective services. These words of comfort are useless without proper governance and, Trinidad and Tobago is sadly lacking in good governance.

 

The problem is not due to any international trend, nor to any bureaucracy in choosing a Police Commissioner, nor to any kidnapping bill, and definitely not to a lack of financial resources. It is soundly and unequivocally due to the incompetence of those who are charged with the responsibility of protecting the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago deserves better in 2009 and beyond.

 

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

Ahmadinejad congratulates Abrahamic faiths on birth of Jesus

Dec 26, 2008

The MND felt it fitting to publish the full text of a Christmas message from Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (it is all about the message)

Merry Christmas

Dec 24, 2008

The MND wishes all of Trinidad and Tobago a very Merry and Holy Christmas and a Bright and Prosperous New Year. As we reflect on 2008 it should be easy to decide what not to do in 2009. Understand that human life is the most precious resource and treasure each and every one.

Don't blame Imbert

Dec 24, 2008

I read with interest the letter penned by Minister Imbert entitled "Don’t blame me for the cascade, maraval floods" and wish to make the following observations:

 

All accounts suggest that Minister Imbert has acted with dispatch in dealing with the aftermath of the flooding in the Perseverance area in Maraval. There can be no dispute to that.

 

However, it must also be said that the honourable gentleman has been the Member of Parliament for that area for the past 17 years and that area has also been represented by his party at the local government level for the last 16 years.

 

During the period 1996 to 2001 the Diego Martin Regional Corporation, which has the responsibility for final approvals for developments in that area, was completely controlled by his party and at that time was chaired by the present Attorney General.

 

Minister Imbert had considerable influence over what could or could not take place within his constituency and to seek to absolve himself from responsibility is disingenuous to say the least.  

 

Further, during the last 17 years, Minister Imbert has spent at least 11 years in office as Minister of Works and Transportation, Minister of Local Government and Minister of Works and Transportation, Minister of Health, and again as Minister of Works and Transportation. If he felt and as he claimed, recognised that there were concerns with the new development, he could have used the last 5 years correcting the problems and doing preventative work to prevent the discomfort felt by his constituents BUT HE DIDN'T.

 

Also, flooding in Perseverance is not a new issue, in my tenure as Local Government Representative from 1992 to 1996, that area experienced serious flooding similar to what took place last week, though admittedly a little less severe. During that time period Minister Imbert served as both Minister of Local Government and Minister of Works and Transport and whilst there was clean up nothing was done to prevent the recurrence of the problem by either of his Ministries as evidenced by what recently took place and neither was the required funding given to local government to be able to undertake such measures.

 

So Minister it would seem that you may have to take some blame after-all.

 

Merry Christmas to all.

Nicholas: No good alternatives

Dec 14, 2008

From the Sunday Guardian:

Political Leader of the Movement for National Development (MND) Garvin Nicholas argues that many of the country’s political leaders have failed to listen to the voice of the people.

“Sadly, this is what has led to their downfall.”

Nicholas was commenting about several political groups being formed over the years, but did not survive the test of time, due to a number of reasons.

Among the political parties that were formed and fizzled were the DAC, Club 88, Citizens Alliance and NAR.

Nicholas, who pulled out of last year’s general election at the 11th hour, because his party was not ready to contest any of the 41 seats, feels a successful leader must listen to the masses.

“When a leader fails to address social and economic issues, this is where things go wrong for him or her. They get into government and stop looking after the people’s interest.”

Nicholas stressed that a good leader would go out into the communities and get direction and answers from people, not the politician pushing their own ideals.

The PNM, he said, was guilty of turning a deaf ear to several burning and pressing matters, while the two Opposition parties—the UNC-A and COP—had no plan in the pipeline to become an alternative government.

“For a country’s democracy to be strong, you must have a good alternative.” (SH)

Crime Plan

Dec 09, 2008

1. prevention;
2. detection;
3. prosecution; and
4. rehabilitation.

1. social displacement and peer group association (living outside of mainstream society);
2. frustration derived from: poverty, learning difficulties, poor schooling, family breakdown and abuse (revenge);
3. the example of leaders in the community and what is believed to be socially acceptable;
4. belief that they would go unpunished because of poor detection rates;
5. drug abuse; and
6. just being one determined to cause trouble.

The MND

Dec 06, 2008

Reference is made to the following paragraphs of a letter penned by the leader of the DPTT, Mr. Steve Alvarez in which he stated:

 

"The DPTT is eight years old and apart from its political leader writing in the press and raising issues with the media, the party has failed to be a viable alternative. Its “Vision for T&T,” a document indicating its plan for the country, is not published or distributed nationally. There are no well-known members of the party except Wayne Rodriguez, the chairman, and myself. The DPTT has no fixed office, telephone contact or branch offices.

 

The MND, led by Garvin Nicholas, is similar to the DPTT and has never participated in a general election or any national election."  

 

I commend my friend Steve on his thoughts, however I wish to point out that the DPTT and MND are very dis-similar on many levels. The MND was formed in October 2005 with the intention of contesting the 2007 general election but after thoughtful contemplation, we decided not too. The party was not ready and we did not want to make a half hearted attempt at the election as we believed the population deserved better, that national politics is a serious endeavour not to be taken lightly and we did not feel it was in the best interest of anyone to be part of any alliance at that time.

 

However, the MND continues to be an independent organization and sees itself as the party of the future and our published manifesto gives testimony to that. We intend to be the most viable alternative to the government at the next election. To this end we have been quietly getting our house in order by seeking out the most competent and untainted individuals who are loyal not to leaders per se but to country and noble ideals. We continue to develop policies that we believe can be relevant to the overall development of the nation, we are very cognisant of the people's desire for real change and we intent to give them that opportunity the next time around.

 

We are firm in our belief that the traditional political tactics of dividing to conquer or of smoke and mirrors deception and corruption do not represent the future. We believe that the hope that Mr. Obama has come to represent lives in every citizen of Trinidad and Tobago and we intend to facilitate the realization of that hope.

 

In the interim, our policies will continue to be posted on our website at www.mndtt.com and we remain committed to our ideals of a better Trinidad and Tobago for all citizens.

Excerpt from Selwyn Ryan's poll

Nov 24, 2008

"Given the positions that were taken on the specific issues identified previously, it comes as no surprise that there was no overwhelming support for the PNM as the party which people preferred to have govern the country. Only 27 per cent would prefer to see the PNM remain in charge of the country. Sixteen per cent would prefer COP while 11 per cent would endorse the UNC-Alliance as their party of choice. Only 9 per cent would welcome a combined opposition, an alternative proposed by Mr. Panday and the UNC-Alliance. As many as 26 per cent did not want any of these options while 11 per cent offered no opinion on the matter."

We told you so

Nov 18, 2008

It is not always sweet to be proven right and the MND hate saying to this government that we told you so when the result of the government not listening is the obvious hardship of our fellow citizens.

 

However, over the last seven years we have begged the government to slow down on its spending and save for a rainy day and that rainy day has now come. In response to our plea and the pleas of many others who shared our views and even articulated these views better than we have, the government, aided many times by the governor of the central bank, opted to rebuff our opinions and even tried to find ways of belittling them. Just recently Colm Imbert wrote that there was no need to fear falling oil prices and went on to disparage those who called for a review of the 2008/2009 budget.

 

The fact that officials are only now saying what has been said for the last seven years fills us with great dread because it means that things are much worse than they say. Food inflation has been in the vicinity of 70% per annum for some time, so too many building materials and other essential items. This has been so when the central bank was reporting inflation of 9%. As such we must tremble at what real food inflation is with a recorded inflation figure of 15%.

 

Our economy has been significantly mismanaged over the last seven years and the population will feel a great big pinch in the very near future as a result of this mismanagement.  

 

When we were supposed to be getting the fundamentals of the economy right, the government was spending faster than it was earning, even though it was earning somewhere between 500-600% more than it had in the past earned from unprecedented energy revenues.

 

When we should have been getting citizens trained and in to sustainable employment, the government was splashing out money in URP and CEPEP whilst making productive citizens of Chinese imports. How will the government now sustain URP and CEPEP? And what will the consequences to the citizens be if these programmes cannot be sustained? Will the murder spree deteriorate into widespread looting and mayhem? If in good times the murder rate increased faster than the rate of inflation what are we to expect in a recession?

 

We remember the Finance Minister saying that we were not going to be affected by what was taking place in the USA, now her tune has changed.

 

We remember the Governor of the Central Bank saying that all would be well, now he is calling on business to help curb inflation. How does he expect them to do that? By keeping the salaries of their employees low?

 

We also remember the Prime Minister and Calder Hart stating that there would be no cost overruns on UdeCOTT projects, but that too has changed in billions.

 

Government policies have driven up the cost of goods and services whilst Parliamentarians enjoyed massive salary increases, a few government cronies have creamed billions from the economy, but the hard working, honest, decent citizens are the ones who will suffer from the government’s policies.   

 

This Christmas, you can be sure that government ministers and their spouses will be flying all over the world shopping and having a good old time, on New Year’s Eve they will be drinking the finest Champaign and all along the way they will be asking hard working citizens who trust them to manage the economy on our behalf, to tighten our belts.  

Obama vs. T&T

Nov 07, 2008

I am very pleased indeed that Barack Obama won the US Presidential Elections not so much because he is black (don't get me wrong that is also a good thing), but because of his message of change that is so badly needed in the USA and in many other parts of the world. 

 

For too long we have practised the same politics, have done the same things and have expected to get different results. It is a matter of fact that the same consciousness that has created the mess we find ourselves in cannot and will not be able to change that mess. If we are to bring about change, we must be prepared to do things differently.

 

I also wish to take this opportunity to point out that Mr. Obama did not campaign, nor does he identify himself as an African-American, he is an American. He will also govern as an American. He will put Americans first, he plans to tax companies that export jobs out of America more heavily than those who create jobs for Americans. He intends to make America energy independent so that America will not have to be dependent on any foreign nation for its energy supply. He intends to invest in Americans, in their education, in their health-care and in their livelihoods.

 

In other words, he did not campaign as an African or as an Indian. He will not run abroad to bring in foreign consultants to build his country. He will not bring in foreign labour at the expense of his citizens. He will not by pass local companies to go to foreign countries to lease vehicles to impress world leaders. He will ensure that his citizens are first among world citizens not treat them with disdain. He will ensure his country is self sufficient in food, his citizens are safe, his economy is strong and sustainable, his country's children are educated and happy - that is his stated goal and he is big enough to bring in talent from every political colour to assist in bringing about his stated goal.  

 

So when local citizens applaud Obama and local politicians jump on the bandwagon - know what he stands for!

Saving the PNM from the PNM

Oct 21, 2008

Saving the PNM from the PNM Michael Harris Monday, October 20th 2008

We should all be indebted to Selwyn Ryan for his column in last week's Sunday Express (October 12) entitled "The danger facing Trinidad and Tobago". Notwithstanding the title and the passing references to the country, what the article really delivers is a critical examination of the difficulties facing the PNM, and what it points to is the very real possibility that the grand old party is about to collapse onto itself. The danger to the party and the difficulties it faces, according to Ryan, stem from the fact that "the Prime Minister seems locked on a path of self-destruction, and no one in his entourage seems willing or able to tell him that he needs to engage in course correction." The real burden of the article is revealed with Ryan's revelation that "many stalwart members of the PNM believe and whisper their belief that the Prime Minister is out of control, and that he is repeating the peculiar behaviour that led to his downfall in 1995 when the PNM lost the elections. Some gather informally to decide what must be done to avert political and national disaster. Their view is that the PNM is too important a national institution to be left to the PNM." Ryan then goes on to list and discuss five options which are being considered when stalwart PNM members meet informally and whisper behind closed doors. These are, briefly, as follows: 1 - Rally behind Manning; 2 - Organise to remove Manning from Office; 3 - Build a counter-movement within the party to be ready to take control when Manning stumbles; 4 - Seek a grand coalition with forces outside the party; and 5 - Resign themselves to the fact that there are no options. If the underlying assumption - that the Prime Minister by virtue of his attitude, his arrogance and his intransigence is leading the party to its destruction- is true and if the options for party members are truly limited to those outlined by Ryan, then we may already be witnessing the early phases of a grand implosion. But which party is it that is about to implode? It is difficult to fathom that political people, especially those within the PNM, are still unmindful that there are in fact two PNM's. Patrick Manning has no such illusion. From the very moment that he gained possession, almost by default, of the leadership reins of the party he has worked assiduously and tirelessly to make the party his own - lock, stock and barrel. The stalwarts, who now wring their hands in desperation, should ask themselves what did they do to keep the soul of the party alive in the post-1986 period when Manning drove Morris Marshall to an early grave and hounded Muriel Donawa-McDavidson, and other long-serving members out of the party. Indeed it was Muriel, political to the core as she was, who at the time clearly saw the writing on the wall and warned the party that Manning was bent of converting the People's National Movement into Patrick's National Movement. And we could ask where were these stalwarts prior to the general elections last year when Manning, in an unprecedented and utterly alien act for any leader of the PNM, called out the police to Balisier House to remove party supporters who were loudly protesting his treatment of Valley et al. But we won't ask because by then it was already too late. Manning had achieved his aim and he could have claimed then, what in effect he recently claimed, "le Parti c'est moi." Those stalwarts who still consider themselves as bearing true faith and allegiance to the PNM founded by Dr Williams, and who today have awoken to find themselves little more than a minority tendency within an environment over which they have absolutely no control, should ask themselves, critically and honestly, how could it have happened? How could they have let this one man, far from being the best among them, gain such complete and total control of their party? If they are prepared to speak truth to themselves they would have to admit that the original PNM carried within itself the seeds of its own subversion. These seeds came in the form of party principles or commandments enunciated early in the party's history and adhered to through all its years no matter how much its circumstances or its political environment changed. The first of these was the principle of the paramountcy of the leader. This principle affirmed that, as Ryan puts it. "The role of the party in the PNM is to support the leader who is the standard bearer of the tribe ." The second of these principles was that the party speaks with one voice. Essentially this meant that once the leader had spoken no contrary views or opinion could be uttered in public, not simply by cabinet members or members of the Government but by anyone in the entire party, on pain of excommunication. The third principle was that the party stands alone. This principle asserted that the party would never enter into any alliances, coalitions, or joint undertakings with any other group or party in the country under any circumstances. What these three principles effectively meant was that there could never be any open politics within the party, that any challenge to a sitting leader could only take place within the confines of party structures controlled by the leader and that any such challenge could never be made in the realm of ideas and policies but strictly on the issue of personality. Adherence to these principles swiftly turned the party into one where politics degenerated into nothing but rumour-mongering and backbiting and secret cabals, where the leader was allowed to insult, demean and embarrass members at will with no possibility of sanction and where new policies and ideas died before they could even be conceived. In such an environment all that was required to turn the party into the one man vehicle it has now become was the rise of a leader whose motivation had nothing to do with the good of the country or even of the party but solely with his own inward hunger for personal aggrandisement. Enter Patrick Manning. So that the first thing these stalwart adherents to the party founded by Dr Williams should ask themselves as they contemplate their options, is which PNM are they hoping to save? Perhaps they would find that achieving clarity on that question may well open up many new vistas

Mr PM, we can't take much more

Oct 21, 2008

Mr PM, we can't take much more Tuesday, October 21st 2008

I really think it is time we censure the Government. After all, the most burning issue facing the population - crime - did not even qualify for mention during the PNM's General Council meeting over the weekend. Imagine that! In the week just past, on two occasions the overnight tally of murders was five each; over the weekend, eight additional murders were committed, and all this is irrelevant to the Government of T&T, or as PNM chairman Conrad Enill opines when asked for a response, "Crime has nothing to do with the Government, rather it is people out there who are involved in nefarious activity." If we agree for argument's sake that safety and security of citizens is a responsibility of the State, and that the Government of the day has a responsibility to ensure that the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution are enjoyed by all, then that statement suggests either, that the PNM does not take seriously its charter with the people, or that those in power are oblivious and ignorant to the fears and uncertainties of John Public. I cannot for the life of me understand how, in the face of the murderous climate in the country, where young or old, male or female, nationals or foreigners, rich or poor, Indo, Afro, Caucasian, French Creole, Syrian tout-moon are at risk of falling prey to this culture of senseless slaughter stalking the land, this supposedly caring Government with all the State machinery at their disposal can do nothing, or is not prepared to do anything to bring relief to the citizens. Already we are overburdened by inflation, flooding, high food prices, fears of a global financial crisis which seem to be of little concern to the PNM despite admonitions from both local and foreign experts, whether the sky falls or not, whether we are likened to Chicken-Little or some such other infantile assertions by our learned leaders. By the time the bottom falls out, they will have demitted office and moved on to enjoy the spoils of their ill-gotten gains, while we the masses come to grips with the austerity measures that will be necessary to stabilise the economy. Mr Manning and company, we are tired and fed-up and we really cannot take much more of this. As a concerned citizen I beg, nay, I urge you to address these issues before playing Caribbean godfather and aspiring to be the emperor of the Caribbean. Your constituents need relief now, not after the Summit of the Americas, not next year, but now. Kenneth Sylvester

Take a stand today

Oct 20, 2008

If I were superstitious, I might conclude like many people I have spoken with in various communities that the Prime Minister has sold the young souls of the nation to keep the nation blind and ignorant so as to stay in power. But, as a rational human being, I cannot entertain such thoughts.

Instead, I have conclude that the Prime Minister and his team are either grossly incompetent or adopt the more cynical conclusion that they are using crime and other misadventures in the age old technique of smoke and mirrors politics to divert attention from the pilferage and mismanagement of the economy. Neither scenario is acceptable although the latter is far less so.

Government, like universal existence, takes place at many different levels. There is what is seen and there is what is unseen, there is the obvious and there is the mischief behind the scenes. Scientists have discovered that what is unseen is in far greater quantity than what is seen and I suspect it is the same for government.

On the most basic level of our consciousness, that which is put in our face daily, the Prime Minister and his team seem to be running Trinidad and Tobago like a failed investment bank. There seems to be the same level of arrogance, wild spending, lack of accountability, lack of regard for its customers (in this case citizens), no clear vision or plan for the sustainable growth and development of the nation AND there are widespread suggestions that the executives of this team have millions stored away in foreign bank accounts and homes spread across the globe just like executives from failed investment banks.

As a result of either scenario inflation is skyrocketing and so the cost of the living for ordinary citizens is getting higher and higher as their salaries more or less remain the same. In other words as the nation’s prosperity reaches unbelievable heights, the majority of citizens are getting poorer.

Food inflation, which does not form part of the government’s core inflation figures, is reported by the Central Bank to be 21.8% year on year. Yet to date the government have failed to get agriculture going in Trinidad and Tobago in any meaningful way. The local farmers are constantly being neglected, their crops are flooded out year on year and the government continues to promise mega farms as the solution whilst the majority of ordinary citizens catch their nen nen. One might be tempted to say that this is another smoke and mirrors political tactic when we look at what has been spent in agriculture.

Getting back to the main issue however, every year for the past 6 years the national security budget has been significantly increased. The citizens have heard promises of gun boats, gun helicopters and we occasionally see a blimp hanging in the sky. We have been told that the government know how many gangs are operating and that they have intelligence as to who are the members of these gangs. Years ago, the Prime Minister got up in Parliament and announced that he knew who Mr. Big was, but to date he remains a mystery to the population. The Minister of National Security promises every time he speaks that things will get better. But year on year the crime figures rise, a new record murder rate is set every year. This year the murder rate is moving faster than Usain Bolt.    

No one seems to be safe in Trinidad or Tobago anymore and we have to wonder if this will be the legacy we will leave for our children if they should survive, or will we as citizens finally say enough is enough. As far as I am concerned enough came a long time ago, so the question will be for the nation as to what for you is enough, 1,000 murders per year or 10,000 murders per year?

Citizens are being murdered on the streets, in their homes, at their work places, in bars and restaurants. Do we as a people find this acceptable?

Whilst brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, cousins and friends are gunned down the government embroils itself with what can only be described as smoke and mirror politics.

Whose agenda is being served when the Prime Minister gets up in Parliament and accuses a former Cabinet Minister in his administration of misappropriating $10 million?

Whose agenda is being served when the government insist on wanting to spend between $100 million and $200 million in vehicles to impress foreign dignitaries over a two week period? Already ministries are littered with $500,000.00 vehicles to deliver mail.

The government have spent billions on the waterfront project, who gets to use these facilities? Not the ordinary man in the street. Yet community facilities all around the country that ordinary citizens have access to remain run down and dilapidated.

Surely we are not so blind that we cannot see our nation deteriorate before our very eyes. Obviously we hear the utterances of arrogance that fall from the lips of Cabinet Ministers that show them being clearly out of touch with our most basic needs. Listening to the radio, we clearly understand our rights as citizens and the power that we hold.

We can achieve nothing however if we do not awake from our slumber. We are not being protected by those charged with the duty to protect us, our lives are being made harder by those we have entrusted to take care of us, but we have the power to change this.

Don’t let party loyalty get in the way of family loyalty. After all your representative will not put your needs before his own.

Take a stand today.

Are we better off

Sep 24, 2008

The time for all the economic minds to postulate and make the rounds on the television and radio is here again. The time has even come, surprisingly so, for the Governor of the Central Bank to sound a warning to the government about inflation. This warning will no doubt be echoed by one set of economic thinkers who will point out that the world economy is in a bit of turmoil, brought about largely by excessive greed, and that it is far better to concentrate on consolidation and savings. Whilst others might believe the government's spending is in line with good governance and it is far better to continue spending at phenomenal rates even if that spending brings no immediate or tangible benefit to ordinary citizens. Such is the political divide and the cycle of our existence in lovely T&T.

 

But whilst we ponder inflation rates, the collapse of financial institutions, the fluctuations in oil prices, global food shortages and the general global and national economic and social realities, it may be proper to ask the one simple question that really matters. Are we, as people, as parents, as children, as citizens better off today than we were seven years ago?

 

To answer this question we must examine the fundamentals of our existence.

 

Over the last seven years, the government's budgets surpassed $200 billion. Do we as a result of that feel like we are able to purchase more in the supermarket for ourselves and our families? Do we experience greater security in our homes, on our streets and in our towns and cities? Do we feel that our schools are performing better? Do more children have access to quality education? Is our water supply more reliable? What about our electricity supply? Are there less traffic jams on our roads? Is it safer and more affordable to travel on public transport? Is it safer and more affordable to travel in private transport? Are our roads and bridges in better condition? Does it flood less when it rains? Is our environment better off? Are our streets cleaner? Are there less homeless people about? Are our rivers and seas less polluted? Do we get better treatment at our health centres and hospitals? Are our young people becoming better adults? Are our senior citizens better off? What about the disabled, do they have greater access and more opportunity? In our villages, do we have better sporting facilities? Are there more organised sporting and community activities that bind us together? Are the NGOs that provide the services that hold the social fabric together better funded? Do we get a better public service? Are the women in our society more secure? Have we moved on from dependency on imported food? Are our farmers better off? Are we happier as a people? Do we respect each other more?

 

After more than $other billion, can we stand firm, hold our heads high and say that we are better off? And do we even want to be?

Minister Martin Joseph should be sacked

Aug 15, 2008

You will probably not hear me say this very often but I agree with Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj on the issue of Martin Joseh’s sacking.

Statistically, Martin Joseph has been the all time worst performing Minister of National Security in the history of Trinidad and Tobago. Already for this year there have been some 330 confirmed murders, which represents an increase of some 70% over the same period last year and last year was the worst year in our history.

There can be no justification for Martin Joseph to continue on in the office he now holds. His lame excuses and attempted defence on the increase in murders would have only been articulated by someone who has no respect for the intelligence of a sophisticated population such as ours.

He has managed to segment the murders into gang related, reprisals etc. and indicates that new initiatives such as the use of scientific tools like DNA evidence would allow him to reduce crime by 2020.

The first issue I take with his statement is this. How can anyone be able to identify the causes of each murder without even being aware of who committed it? This reminds me of the statements on knowing how many gangs were operating in T&T without the knowledge it would seem as to who were operating these gangs or where those operating these gangs could be found to be brought to justice. Another Mr. Big scenario.

With regards to his use of scientific methods, I wish to remind the Minister and the population that there had been calls for the use of DNA evidence in crime fighting since 2001/2002 by various people including myself, when the murder pattern now seen today was just being established. The Minister took 6 years to respond.

There continues to be calls for the use of CCTVs to monitor the cities, villages and road network but the Minister does not yet see the value in this tool (or it may be that he does not know someone who supplies CCTVs). It may take another 6 years or another 2,500 murders.

This Minister loves to cite global trends to justify his failures, but as he looks towards developed status I will use the opportunity to point out that in the 12 month period to June 2008 there were 155 homicides in London (population 7.5 million or 6 times that of T&T). In the 12 month period to June 2007 there were 175 homicides. That means a decrease in homicides in 2008 over 2007 by 11.4%.

NOTE: homicides include murder, manslaughter and infanticide. Therefore the actual murder figure is much lower.

I use London because of the diversity in population and the many similarities in gang culture, drug trafficking, money laundering and increased gun use, to use examples like Switzerland would be unfair. Even so London has a more widespread drug culture in my view with strong opium, heroine, crack cocaine and cannabis trades that attract the attention of law enforcement agencies. YET, the homicide rate in London is not only falling, it is about 1/3 of what it is in T&T even with a population 6 times that of T&T.

I should also point out that gun enabled crime in London is down over the same periods 16.1% from 3,200 for the 12 month period up to June 2007 to 2,684 for the 12 month period up to June 2008.

Another example that I believe would make for fair comparison is New York City. There have been approximately 305 murders in New York City for the year to date as opposed to approximately 296 for the same period in 2007 (I say approximately only because the figures are a couple days old). This represents a rise of some 3%. The population of New York City is approximately 6.5 times that of T&T and there can be little argument that New York City is still one of the most violent cities in the USA. There too can be found major international gangs such as the Russian, Italian, Irish and Chinese mafia and a proliferation of drugs and guns (that can be purchased freely). YET, even New York City have had less murders that T&T.

What we have in T&T is a Ministry of National Security that has seen its budget allocation quadruple over the last 6 years presiding over a population that if anything has decreased in size. YET murders have quadrupled over the same period.

Crime was significantly lower when there was significantly less money going to the Ministry of National Security, before the kidnapping bill was passed, before the change in the procedure in the appointment of the Police Commissioner and certainly before the appointment of this National Security Minister.

Will anybody take responsibility? 

69% increase in record murder rate

Aug 11, 2008

BY RICHARD LORD

National Security Minister Martin Joseph confirmed yesterday that there has been a 69-per-cent increase in the murder rate for the year—up to yesterday—when compared with the same period last year.

Joseph said there were 190 gang-related murders in T&T, also up to yesterday, and 91 for the corresponding period in 2007.

He said there were 16 drug-related killings for the year 2008 to date, while there were 23 for the same period last year.

Joseph made these revelations during yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister at Whitehall.

He admitted that the Government was “dealing with what is historically the most difficult crime to detect: gang-related violence.”

“We are right now looking at what can we do to put a greater handle on gangs,” he said.

He said it was for this reason that the law enforcement agencies were “shifting into technology—DNA, forensic (testing) etc—is what is absolutely important.”

Joseph said based on the Government’s Vision 2020 initiative, as it relates to crime and violence, “we know that we are far away (from that vision). It is unfortunate that it is taking us a little while but we will get to the Vision 2020.”

Joseph admitted that “an increased number of guns are coming into the country” a development proving to be “the real challenge” in the fight against the record-high murder rate in the country.

He said the illegal guns on the nation’s streets were “the root cause of the unacceptable crime and violence” in T&T.

Joseph said the Government was looking at legislative measures to assist law enforcement officers in dealing with the issue of illegal guns on the nation’s streets.

Joseph said the Government was not in support of a gun amnesty.

“We do not believe that a gun amnesty is going to give us the kind of assistance necessary...My understanding of a gun amnesty is that (with it) you get money for your old guns to buy new guns,” he said.

Responding to questions on the safety of visiting dignitaries for the Summit of the Americas and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference being held in Port of Spain next year, Joseph said the National Security Council met last week and agreed to “aggressively address” the problem.

BREAKDOWN

National Security Minister Martin Joseph said yesterday there were 91 gang-related murders in the country between January and August 7 last year.

He said the figure for the same period this year was 190.

He gave additional statistics:

• Drug-related murders 23 (2007); 16 (2008)

• Altercation 18 (2007); 20 (2008)

• Robbery 24 (2007); 31 (2008)

• Domestic violence 13 (2007); 23 (2008)

• Revenge 15 (2007); 18 (2008)

• State witness 0 (2007) ; 1 (2008)

• Unclassified 6 (2007) ; 9 (2008)

Bloody Outrageous

Jul 22, 2008

"Bloody Outrageous" is the only way to describe the current murder rate in Trinidad and Tobago.

 

As the leader of the Movement for National Development I have been fairly silent on matters of State since the general election of 2007. I had adopted the approach that with a new constitutionally elected government in place I would not only give them the opportunity to try to correct the major problems facing the nation BUT even go so far as to offer my assistance in trying to make our nation safe for all citizens from every political background because there is after-all a time to fight and a time to co-operate for the advancement of the wider interest. 

 

Unfortunately, the current murder rate fills me with dread and horror as it must all our citizens.

 

For the moment, I find myself practising criminal law in the UK where daily I am faced with what is considered to be "serious crime". But putting this into perspective, "serious crime" consists mainly of wounding from punch ups and the occasional knife assaults. There is no doubt that at present knife crime is receiving some prominence in the UK media because it is now occurring very regularly in Inner London but in other areas of the UK it is rare to pick up a local newspaper and read of a murder and this is in a population of some 60 million people.

 

Trinidad and Tobago has a population of just 1.3 million people yet one can pick up the newspaper and find that over a 24 hr period there have been 4 murders and over the last 18 days there have been about 29 murders. That has to be a wholly unacceptable position to be in for any country far less one as small as ours.

 

Murders and crime in general are committed mainly when people believe they will not be caught or punished for their behaviour. The most effect deterrent tends to be the belief that one will be caught and punished, this is clearly lacking in our current environment.

 

In an effort to address this situation, I have suggested to the government to make widespread use of CCTVs to monitor our towns, cities, streets and highways. This tool has proved to be fantastically effective in detecting and prosecuting criminals. 

 

I have also suggested to the government to do away with the preliminary enquiry so that trials can be fast tracked through the High Court to get criminals off the streets faster.

 

It has been further suggested that attorneys be retained by the DPP to prosecute in the Magistrates' Courts to make the process more effective.

 

And I have even taken the step to introduce the government to Queen's Counsel (who lectures to High Court Judges in the UK on the issue) who has advised on reforming the hearsay rules to make trials more effective. 

 

Additionally but not exhaustively, I have suggested providing alternative activities to crime for young men in communities, such as organised sport.

 

Of course nothing happens overnight but there are indeed many initiatives that can be adopted by the government to show that they are serious about addressing the issue of crime fighting which seems to the average citizen to be generally ignored by the government.

 

I therefore implore the government, in as constructive a manner as I can, to show that they are serious about crime fighting as the country cannot stand more of this bloodshed.

 

Our image and any potential of a real tourism industry are being washed down the drain with the blood of our citizens.

A murder every 17 hours

Jul 22, 2008

Darryl Heeralal dheeralal@trinidadexpress.com Monday, July 21st 2008

search: Police officers during a roadblock along the Churchill Roosevelt Highway, Pasea, on Friday night. - Photo: ABRAHAM DIAZ

THERE are only 64 countries in the world smaller than Trinidad and Tobago and, in terms of land mass, we rank 171 out of 235 nations.

As per population, Trinidad and Tobago is 153 on the list of 235, the United States Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook says.

Now compare our size and population to the number of murders being committed here daily.

In a comparative study of more than 75 countries, Trinidad and Tobago was ranked the ninth most homicidal in the world in 2007, based on the number of murders committed per 100,000 citizens.

The per capita murder rate for homicides for every 100,000 is the international yardstick used to measure murder rates and to compare levels of violence.

Per capita rates are used by most international agencies, including the United Nations.

The study was based on a 2003 survey and presented on nationmaster.com, which is dedicated to compiling crimes figures for countries around the world and a 2007 list complied by wikipedia.com, an independent website.

Figures for the 2007 list of countries compiled (see below) were independently sourced using statistics from various government and police records for each nation.

In Trinidad and Tobago, in the five years since 2003, the per capita murder rate almost doubled, increasing by over 70 per cent from 17.61 to 30.15, one of the largest jumps in the countries surveyed.

So far for 2008, we are ahead of last year's murder rate by more than 100 - an increase of 71 per cent. The per capita rate predicted by police for the end of this year is expected to be higher than the 2007 figure.

The ratio of murder victims to the population of this country is in fact so high we rank above places like Brazil, which recorded over 51,000 murders last year, Russia over 23,000 murders, the United States over 17,000 murders and Mexico over 14,000 murders.

For this year so far, the per capita rate is just above 20 and if murder trends continue with a killing taking place every 17 hours on average, homicide investigators say we can expect over 500 murders at the end of this year.

If Homicide Bureau projections - based on murders committed so far and compared with trends for previous years - are correct, then we would end up with a per capita rate of over 38, making Trinidad and Tobago as homicidal as Colombia and South Africa.

South Africa, Colombia and Russia, which had ranked in the top five homicidal countries five years ago, have all been able to get their murder rates down with Russia and Colombia making the biggest drops.

And while this country has dropped on the per capita list from 2003, our rate has gone up exponentially, increasing by over 70 per cent in five years.

In terms of per capita murders in the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago is second only to Jamaica and ranked more violent than Haiti, which is 17 on the list with a per capita rate of 11.5.

In Trinidad and Tobago, since 2001, the murder rate has on average increased by 24 per cent every year with the biggest jump being in 2005 with a 48 per cent increase in homicides over 2004.

There was a 4.6 per cent drop in the rate in 2006 over 2005.

Comparatively, the per capita rate since 2001 has leaped by 159 per cent from 11.6 to 30.15 at the end of last year, Homicide Bureau figures show.

In the six years between 1996 and 2001 there was a total of 662 murders, while between the start of 2002 and the end of 2007, 1,809 murders were recorded.

For this year so far, more than 290 murders have been committed.

Homicides committed along the East/West Corridor have accounted for over 70 per cent of the country's total murders every year since 2002, police figures show.

When gang murders first started escalating in 2002, former police commissioner Hilton Guy said that, based on the police's information, corruption with State-funded projects, including the Unemployment Relief Programme and NHA refurbishing project, was fuelling the gang violence.

Several special units in the Police Service formed to deal with gang violence say, based on their intelligence, corruption within these programmes continues to fuel the murders and with gangsters using money from these projects as a financial base to buy guns and drugs.

The United States, Canada and the United Kingdom have all issued travel warnings about the increasing incidence of homicide and kidnapping for ransom in this country within the last few years, all of which are still current.

None of the travel warnings from these countries has been downgraded.

There have also been several international media reports in the last five years about the violence in the nation, including the LA Times, Miami Herald, the BBC and other British media.

Two weeks ago, the British government, concerned about drug mules from this country, said it would now require a visa for Trinidad and Tobago nationals entering the UK if the situation is not turned around in six months.

Government catches up with MND policy

Jul 01, 2008

'Commonwealth should step up security' PM warns of looming food crisis... Juhel Browne jbrowne@trinidadexpress.com Tuesday, July 1st 2008

quick chat: Local Government Minister Hazel Manning, left, shares a light moment with Housing Minister Emily Gaynor Dick-Forde during yesterday's launch of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port of Spain. Looking on is Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance Mariano Browne. -Photo: CURTIS CHASE Prime Minister Patrick Manning says there is intelligence from specific "leading" countries which recommends that all states develop specific national security responses in order to deal with threats that could result from widespread hunger. "We are also being warned by, and will ignore at our peril, the protests and riots over food and fuel that have already taken place in several countries, developed and developing, and which could be the harbinger of much wider and deeper conflict if the global situation persists to the point of irretrievability," Manning said yesterday. Manning did so as he described this country's hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2009, as one on which the fate of the world hangs in the balance, given the combined influence of the body's 52 member states. "Next year here in Port of Spain, we must therefore issue a call for greater and urgent global action to save the planet and our civilisation," Manning said. while delivering the feature address at the launch of the CHOGM 2009 and its logo at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Port of Spain. Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma, who attended the launch, said next year's CHOGM will be a significant event for Trinidad and Tobago, given the challenges now facing the world. Manning said global warming, record high oil prices and their impact on the supply of food, have together created a worldwide challenge the Commonwealth cannot ignore. "Indeed, ladies and gentlemen, intelligence assessments by certain leading countries in the world have already pointed to the need for the level of... individual national security, to match the problems that would be created by widespread hunger, competition and conflict over resources and mass movement of people across borders," Manning said. He also stressed the need for better consumption of global food and energy resources, as well as greater equity in their distribution. "The world, particularly those who are blessed with abundance, can no longer afford to be excessive or wasteful. Already, the few consume too much and the majority too little, contributing to the extreme poverty that affects over one billion people in the world today," Manning said. He did, however, express hope that all is not lost, but noted that the will to deal with the challenges facing the Commonwealth and the world at large must be met by the implementation of plans of action.

Make food production a national priority

Apr 06, 2008

Food shortage and the mis-use of land resources are no longer just political talking points. Food shortage is now a global reality that will only be exacerbated by population growth, increased wealth, global warming and ignorance.

 

Trinidad and Tobago, as a small twin island State cannot continue its ever increasing dependence on food imports for the survival of its citizens.

 

The effects of global food shortages and a consistently weakening US dollar are quickly undermining our security as a nation. The purchase of basic food items is becoming more and more difficult for middle class Trinidad and Tobagonians. When a large part of the population can no longer afford basic items to feed themselves and their children, they will revolt. This is not a prediction, it is a lesson in history.

 

It would be a real pity if we as a nation suffered such a fate following the most affluent years of our history.

 

The focus has to be on food security before anything else. The Ministry of Agriculture needs to be working hand in hand with the Ministries of Local Government, Social Services, Planning and the Environment to ensure that an elaborate plan is put in place for sustainable growth in the production of food in Trinidad and Tobago.

 

There should be incentives not just for large farms but for small and medium size farms as well. By encouraging and facilitating agricultural entrepreneurship the sector will grow and flourish at a faster rate with greater efficiency.

 

There is merit in seeking to develop the infrastructure and ambience of the nation's towns and cities. There is also merit in dealing with the traffic problems that face citizens on a daily basis. Some may even say that there may be merit in trying to make international travel more efficient for the Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues BUT none of these noble attainments can be enjoyed by a rioting population with empty stomachs ....... a most crucial point.

 

There is an adage that says the higher you climb, the harder you will fall. Trinidad and Tobago is riding high on gas the wealth from gas prices, now is the time to ensure we build a sustainable foundation for when NOT IF the gas runs out or the prices fall or the food prices catch up with the gas prices.

 

The US farmers will not sit back and watch their profits dwindle as they pay more for gas or as the value of their currency falls. They will adjust their prices to make up the shortfall. This means that for the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, food will indeed continue to become more expensive and food inflation will continue to set new records.

 

Without food security there can be no national security. The billions of dollars being spent on fast patrol boats to prevent foreign nationals from entering our shores will not protect us from the hungry mob that already live here.

 

The time has come for us to re-prioritise. Let us get the basics such as food production, education, health and national security correct before we move on to the more esoteric accomplishments.

MND wishes Ivor Archie well... BUT

Jan 22, 2008

It is without doubt that Justice Ivor Archie is qualified and competent to hold the position of Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago and as such the MND wishes the new Chief Justice well.

 

It is unfortunate though that this appointment has been met with so much disquiet from many quarters as this office requires national confidence and support at this time.

 

It is even more unfortunate that there is a perception of arbitrariness in the selection process. It is the President's call.

 

This argument is raised everytime a new Chief Justice is appointed. So it has been and continues to be a matter of concern on both sides of the Lower House of Parliament. 

 

As such, the MND would like to recommend to the government and opposition as they ponder constitutional reform to consider electing all major offices such as President, Chief Justice, DPP and Commissioner of Police by special majority vote in the Lower House of Parliament.

 

This method will go some distance in removing the stigma of political bias in the appointment of these very important offices and will give the Parliament the opportunity to vet prospective office holders on behalf of the citizens they represent whilst going a long way towards strethening our young democracy.

Political Leader's Speech at Launch

Oct 29, 2005

Once upon a time there was a twin Island State, called Trinidad and Tobago, and it used to be the most glorious place on earth. Many blessings were bestowed upon this Caribbean nation…. Beautiful beaches, breath-taking ranges, streams, hills and waterfalls. An abundance of natural resources that would bring untold wealth and prosperity. A people that are extremely sociable, hardworking, intelligent, humorous and high-achieving, known throughout the world as diplomats and carriers of peace.

[ full article ]

More Position Statements >

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Dec 18, 2007	Season's Greetings
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Oct 07, 2007	In response to our critics
Oct 03, 2007	MND to go it alone
Oct 01, 2007	Election 2007
Sep 12, 2007	The DNA Legislation
Sep 12, 2007	Political Funding
Sep 11, 2007	Meeting Electricity Demand
Sep 04, 2007	Condolences
Aug 23, 2007	Response to 2007/2008 Budget
Aug 18, 2007	Andre Monteil cleared of any wrongdoing
Aug 14, 2007	Budget 2007/2008
Jul 31, 2007	Walkabout
Jul 09, 2007	Murder spree continues - the Minister has failed
Jun 17, 2007	MND Committed to the Environment
Jun 03, 2007	Crime, Corruption, Stupidity, now Terrorism
May 19, 2007	Our Foolish Prime Minister
May 18, 2007	PNM's Cronies and Sleaze
May 18, 2007	MND - DECENTRALISATION THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH TRAFFIC PROBLEMS AND IMPROVE THE LIVES OF THE CITIZENS
May 17, 2007	Poverty on the Rise
Apr 14, 2007	Freedom Rally
Apr 10, 2007	Letter to the DPP
Apr 09, 2007	SEA and Education Standards
Apr 08, 2007	Sexual Deviance in Politics
Apr 01, 2007	Pension
Mar 21, 2007	Who is watching our watchwords? - Productivity
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Feb 09, 2007	The question of Manning this Government
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Jan 29, 2007	MND calls for Unification against decay of our Society
Jan 25, 2007	MND condemns action against Constitutional and civic rights
Jan 10, 2007	Hanging; A backward step
Jan 01, 2007	Happy New Year
Dec 22, 2006	Seasons Greetings
Dec 18, 2006	Energy Crisis Looms
Dec 16, 2006	354 Murders in One Year Still Totally Unacceptable
Dec 16, 2006	Advertising Campaign
Dec 15, 2006	We Told You So
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Nov 22, 2006	Calamity of Rising food prices
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May 10, 2006	Intrigue and Corruption in the Justice System
Apr 21, 2006	Three parties unite
Apr 21, 2006	NAR, MND and DPTT join forces
Apr 20, 2006	MND wants two terms for PM
Apr 20, 2006	MND gives insight into plans for T&T
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Mar 31, 2006	NGOs in Crisis
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Mar 12, 2006	PM retains veto on appointment of CoP
Feb 24, 2006	Shameful Prime Minister
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Jan 25, 2006	PNM's Plot
Jan 20, 2006	Government’s Crime Plan a Corruption Diversion
Jan 18, 2006	Congrats to Chilean and Liberian Leaders
Jan 13, 2006	Crime
Jan 13, 2006	OSHA
Jan 06, 2006	Armed Helicopters and the Drug Trade
Jan 04, 2006	Gun Amnesty
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Dec 30, 2005	Day of Thanksgiving and Renewal
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Oct 21, 2008	Saving the PNM from the PNM
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Select Speeches

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Oct 29, 2005	Mandy's Speech at Launch
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Oct 28, 2005	Deputy Chairman's Speech
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